A Study In Pragmatics In The Novels Of Khushwant Singh

Abstract

Indian writing in English has stamped its greatness by mixing up tradition, customs culture and modernity in the production of art. It has a history of one hundred and fifty years. It is known as Indian Writing in English. It is a part of commonwealth literature as India was a former colony of British Empire. Indian English writer thinks and feels as an Indian and expresses his/her ideology using western medium (English) in the form of literature. Indian English literature is a body of literature in which Indian experiences and ideologies are reflected. The writers of the free nations started to write on the new theory that is termed as post colonialism. The emergence of post colonialism has given a new scope to the approach to study literature, which does not mark an end, which other-isms contain, but rather it is the beginning of the comprehension of the postcolonial period. Indian English is the product of Indian geography. It contains the grammar and speech habits in different linguistic areas, but now is recognized for its significance. Indian English fiction from 1950 onwards was influenced by the wave of post-colonial period which brought radical changes in the Indian English fiction. Post-colonial was a continuation of modernism, a revolt against authority and significance. India is a multilingual and multicultural country. Many Indian writers have made attempts to depict India and its culture through Indian Writings in English. The author er has taken a consistent and detailed approach to examine the pragmatic aspects dealing with the five novels of Khushwant Singh by applying the principles of pragmatics. Sociolinguistics is the study of language in relation to its society; the selected novels are examined and interpreted against the backdrop of the Indian socio-cultural context existing at the time when these novels were being written.