V. C. Sreejan
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V. C. Sreejan is a literary critic writing mainly in Malayalam. Born in 1951, he is now works as a lecturer in English in Government College, Kasaragod. He has published more than 100 articles and 8 books in Malayalam and 5 papers in English.
Chinthayile Roopakangal, (1991) is a collection of articles on the role of metaphors in philosophy, psychoanalysis and literary theory. It includes two introductory essays on Jacques Derrida.The last two essays discuss novels by O. V. Vijayan and M. T. Vasudevan Nair.
Pravachakantew Maranam, (1993) includes an early piece on the absurd (1972), an essay on Bertolt Brecht's theatre, an introduction to Brecht's Three Penny Novel, a study of Ambikasuthan Mangad's story and an essay on the politics of deconstruction.
Kathayum Pratyayasastravum,(1993) contains an introduction to Western Marxist literary criticism, and an introduction to structuralism. It includes an essay on the Dhvani theory which argues that Dhvani is the same as metaphor in the broad sense of the term, an essay on the ideological underpinnings of some short stories and essays on T. Padmanabhan and Paul Zacharia.
Vaakkum Vaakkum, (1996) is devoted to the reading of poems by Vyloppillil Sreedhara Menon, P. Kunhiraman Nair, K. Ayyappa Panikker and Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan. The other works discussed include novels by O. V. Vijayan, V. M. Basheer and short stories by T. Padmanabhan and Zacharia.
Arthantaranyasam, (1999) discusses the relevance of the classical Indian concepts of Dhvani and Rasa. It begins with an analysis of the theory of metaphor and its relationship with the concepts of Freudian Unconscious and Marxian concept of ideology.It is argued that in their classical form Dhvani and Rasa are not useful in reading modern texts.Rasa is rejected as such, and the Dhvani theory is given a more prosaic interpretation along the lines suggested by Mukulabhatta. Instead of reviving these theories, these are to be destroyed and a new concept can be created out of their ruins.
Aadhunikotharam: Vimarsanavum Vikalanavum, (1999) is a closely argued resonse to some Malayalam critics and writers who maintain that Malayalam literature has already entered into its post-modern phase. With reference to the Western writers, it is argued that this claim is not true.
Vimarsanatmaka siddhantam, (1999) is an expository book on the work of Frankfurt School.
Novelvayanaka, (2003) reads 12 Malayalam novels without using many critical tool borrowed from the west. Part of the text itself is taken as the model for reading and interpreting it. It brings out relays of meanings across the works. It reveals a current of non-religious spirituality running through the works read.
Prathivadangal, (2004) is a thoroughgoing criticism against the Marxian philosophical concepts.
Works in English:
- Obscure Cameras:The Unconscious,Ideology and Metaphor.JICPR vol.XVI.no 2.
- Fields, Matrices and Hors-text CURJ April2000
- Sanskrit, Indulekha and English .The Early Novels in the South Indian Languages.Ed.Sankaran Raveendran.Calicut University 2000.
- Signs Taken for Signifiers.Haritham 13(2001).
- Rasa:The concept and the Figur.CURJ Feb.2003.
- Aesthetics of Metaphor.Unpublished doctoral dissertation.University of Calicut1993.
Critical Responses:
- Harris,V.C.The Critical Scene.The Book Review.July 1992.
- __ __. Khatanavadanantara Chintaka.Bhashaposhini.June1994.
- Narayanan,M.V.Bharathiyathayude Askithakal.Mathrubhumi weekly.14 March 1998.
- Sudhakaran,C.B.Sreejante Rashtriyam.Madhyamam Weekly.2000.
- __ __ . Utharadhunikathayude Keraliyapathangal.DC Books,2001.