Table of Contents
- Question 38: Match List - Classical Sanskrit Texts & Authors
- Question 39: Author of Uttaramacharita
- Question 40: The Vachana Movement in Kannada Literature
- Question 41: Books Written by Nirad C. Chaudhuri
- Question 42: Match List - Foundational Postcolonial Texts & Years
- Question 43: Focus of "Women of Palestine" and "Indian Women in Struggle"
- Question 44: Postcolonial Critics Using Structuralist Ideas
- Question 45: History Time Period in Brij V. Lal's Rama's Banishment
- Question 46: Match List - Contemporary & Dalit Literature
- Question 47: Toufann - Adaptation of Shakespeare
Question 38
Identify the correct pairs.
A. Kalidasa - Amoghvarsha
B. Bhavabhuti - Uttararamcharita
C. Bhasa - Urubhanga
D. Rajashekhara - Rajatarangini
E. Somadeva - Kathasaritsagara
Choose the correct answer from the options given below;
Analyzing classical Sanskrit literature pairings:
- (B) True: Bhavabhuti authored the famous Sanskrit play Uttararamacarita (The Later Story of Rama).
- (C) True: Bhasa authored Urubhanga (The Breaking of the Thighs), a play based on the Mahabharata.
- (E) True: Somadeva authored the massive 11th-century collection of tales, Kathasaritsagara (Ocean of the Streams of Stories).
Why A and D are wrong: Amoghavarsha was a Rashtrakuta emperor and scholar, not a work by Kalidasa (A is false). Rajatarangini (The River of Kings) is a historical chronicle written by Kalhana, not Rajashekhara (D is false).
Question 39
Uttaramacharita by _______ is based on Valmiki's Ramayana.
Uttararāmacarita (The Later Story of Rama) is a masterwork Sanskrit play written by the 8th-century scholar Bhavabhuti.
The play continues the story from Valmiki's Ramayana, specifically detailing the later life of Rama, his tragic abandonment of Sita after his coronation, and their eventual reunion along with their sons Lava and Kusha.
Question 40
In Kannada literature, the Vachana Movement addressed:
The 12th-century Vachana Movement (associated with the Lingayats, led by figures like Basavanna and Akka Mahadevi) was fundamentally a social reform movement that addressed progressive values.
The poetry (vachanas) was written in simple, everyday Kannada (rejecting elite Sanskrit). It fiercely challenged rigid caste systems, gender inequality, and orthodox Brahminical/Vedic rituals, advocating instead for social justice, human equality, and personal, unmediated devotion to God (Shiva).
Question 41
Which of these books are written by Nirad C Chaudhuri?
A. The Continent of Circe
B. Principal Upanishads
C. A Passage to England
D. Our New Rulers
E. The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian
Chooses the correct answer from the options below;
Nirad C. Chaudhuri was a prominent, often controversial, Indian intellectual and author known for his Anglophile views.
- (E) True: The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian (1951) is his magnum opus, a massive memoir detailing his early life in colonial Bengal.
- (C) True: A Passage to England (1959) chronicles his first, life-changing trip to Europe.
- (A) True: The Continent of Circe (1965) is an essay/book arguing that the Indian environment historically "corrupts" foreign invaders, comparing it to the magic of the Greek witch Circe.
Why B and D are wrong: The Principal Upanishads was famously translated/edited by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Our New Rulers is a collection of writings associated with Sardar Patel.
Question 42
Match List I with List II
| List I (Postcolonial Text) | List II (Year of Publication) |
|---|---|
| A. The Empire Writes Back (Ashcroft, Griffiths, Tiffin) | I. 1990 (Listed as 1920 in typo text, treated as 1990 contextually) |
| B. Nation and Narration (Homi Bhabha) | II. 1993 |
| C. Culture and Imperialism (Edward Said) | III. 1989 |
| D. The Twice Born Fiction (Meenakshi Mukherjee) | IV. 1971 |
Choose the correct answer from the options below: (Note: There is a typo in the original question list for Option I (1920 instead of 1990). However, the pattern requires identifying the correct sequence).
Matching foundational texts of postcolonial theory and Indian literary criticism to their publication years:
A. The Empire Writes Back — (III) 1989. The seminal textbook on post-colonial literatures.
B. Nation and Narration — (I) 1990. Edited by Homi Bhabha (Note: The prompt text erroneously listed 1920 instead of 1990).
C. Culture and Imperialism — (II) 1993. Edward Said's massive follow-up to Orientalism.
D. The Twice Born Fiction — (IV) 1971. Meenakshi Mukherjee's pioneering study of the Indo-Anglian novel.
Question 43
Women of Palestine (1982) and Indian Women in Struggle (1980) deal with:
Both "Women of Palestine" and "Indian Women in Struggle" are sociological/historical texts that focus directly on female militancy, activism, and political involvement.
These works document how women in conflict zones or highly oppressive socio-political climates step outside traditional domestic roles to engage in direct resistance, political organizing, and struggles for national liberation or deep social reform.
Question 44
Identify the Postcolonial critics who used the ideas of Lacan, Foucault and Derrida while critiquing 'Euro-centrism'?
A. Homi Bhabha
B. Gayatri Chakravarty Spivak
C. Abdul JanMohamed
D. Edward Said
E. Aimé Césaire
Choose the correct answer from the options given below;
The core of academic Postcolonial Theory heavily utilizes French Post-Structuralism (Foucault's power/discourse, Derrida's deconstruction, Lacan's psychoanalysis):
- Homi Bhabha (A) uses Lacan to explain the psychology of colonial mimicry and hybridity.
- Gayatri Spivak (B) explicitly uses Derrida (deconstruction) and Foucault (power/knowledge) to analyze the Subaltern.
- Abdul JanMohamed (C) uses structuralist binary opposition analysis (Manichean aesthetics) to critique colonial literature.
- Edward Said (D) fundamentally relies on Foucault's theory of discourse to establish his concept of Orientalism.
Why E is wrong: Aimé Césaire was an early pioneer of the Négritude movement (writing Discourse on Colonialism in the 1950s), which pre-dates the heavy academic use of French post-structuralism by the 1980s theorists.
Question 45
Brij V. Lal's Rama's Banishment deals with the history of Fiji over a time period of:
Brij V. Lal is the preeminent historian of the Indo-Fijian diaspora. However, there is a slight error in the question phrasing common to NET exams.
The book Rama's Banishment: A Centenary Tribute to the Fiji Indians 1879-1979 was edited by Vijay Mishra (with contributions by Lal). As the subtitle indicates ("A Centenary Tribute"), the book specifically covers a period of 100 years. (Some keys mark 150 to account for later modern coups up to 2000, but the core text is a centenary tribute).
Question 46
Match List I with List II
| List I (Author) | List II (Work) |
|---|---|
| A. Perumal Murugan | I. The Adivasi Will Not Dance |
| B. Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar | II. The Weave of My Life |
| C. Baby Kamble | III. One Part Woman |
| D. Urmila Pawar | IV. The Prisons We Broke |
Choose the correct answer from the options below:
Matching contemporary Indian and foundational Dalit literature authors to their works:
A. Perumal Murugan — (III) One Part Woman. A controversial and highly acclaimed Tamil novel about social stigma surrounding childlessness.
B. Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar — (I) The Adivasi Will Not Dance. A powerful collection of short stories focusing on the Santhal community in Jharkhand.
C. Baby Kamble — (IV) The Prisons We Broke. A landmark autobiographical account of a Dalit woman's life in Maharashtra.
D. Urmila Pawar — (II) The Weave of My Life. A defining Dalit feminist memoir.
Question 47
Dev Virahsawmy's Toufann is an adaptation of Shakespeare's play...
Toufann is a Mauritian Creole play by Dev Virahsawmy, and it is a direct, postcolonial adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Tempest.
The title "Toufann" literally translates to storm or tempest in several South Asian languages. Like Aimé Césaire's A Tempest, Virahsawmy's work reframes the magical island story to explore themes of colonial power, slavery, language, and the struggle for political freedom in the Indian Ocean.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Vachana Movement?
It was a 12th-century social reform movement in Karnataka, India. Led by figures like Basavanna, the movement used simple Kannada poetry (vachanas) to reject the rigid Sanskrit-based caste system, gender inequality, and Vedic rituals, advocating instead for a direct, personal devotion to Shiva.
Why is Meenakshi Mukherjee's "The Twice Born Fiction" important?
Published in 1971, it is considered one of the pioneering works of Indian literary criticism. It critically analyzed the "Indo-Anglian" novel, exploring the cultural hybridity and the complex, often ambivalent relationship between Indian experiences and the English language.
How do postcolonial critics use French Post-Structuralism?
Critics like Edward Said and Gayatri Spivak borrowed heavily from French theorists. Said used Foucault's theory that "power creates knowledge" to explain how the West invented "The Orient." Spivak used Derrida's Deconstruction to show how Western history silences or "erases" the voice of the marginalized "Subaltern."
What is the significance of Dalit Literature like "The Prisons We Broke"?
Autobiographies by Dalit women, such as Baby Kamble's The Prisons We Broke and Urmila Pawar's The Weave of My Life, are foundational texts because they break the silence surrounding double oppression: they expose both the brutal violence of the caste system and the deep patriarchy within their own communities.
