Gopinath Mohanty

Gopinath Mohanty
Gopinath Mohanty at Home in Bhubaneswar in 80s
Born	(1914-04-20)20 April 1914 Nagabali,Cuttack
Died	20 August 1991(1991-08-20)(aged 77) San Jose, California
Nationality	Indian
Education	M.A.
Alma mater	Ravenshaw College Patna University
Occupation(s)	Administrator; UGC distinguished visiting professor,Utkal University
Awards	Jnanpith Award Padma Bhushan

Gopinath Mohanty(1914–1991), winner of theJnanpithaward, and the first winner of the NationalSahitya Akademi Awardin 1955 – for his novel,Amrutara Santana– was a prolificOdiawriter of the mid-twentieth century. Satya Prakash Mohanty, professor of English,Cornell Universitysays: "In my opinion, Gopinath Mohanty is the most important Indian novelist in the second half of the twentieth century."

Gopinath Mohanty with wife Adaramani in 1960s

Career

Mohanty joined the Odisha Administrative Service in 1938 and retired in 1969. He was invited by ProfessorPrabhat Nalini Das,then head of the English department atUtkal UniversityasUniversity Grants Commission,UGC Distinguished Visiting Professor and writer-in-residence for two years at the English department,Utkal University,in the late 1970s.

In 1986, he joinedSan Jose State Universityin the United States as an adjunct professor of Social Sciences. He died at San Jose, California on 20 August 1991.

Novels

Gopinath's first novel,Mana Gahirara Chasa,was published in 1940, which was followed byDadi Budha(1944),Paraja(1945) andAmrutara Santana(1947). His literary output was prolific. He wrote twenty-four novels, ten collections of short stories, three plays, two biographies, two volumes of critical essays, and five books on the languages of theKandha,GadabaandSaoratribes of Odisha. He translated Tolstoy'sWar and Peace(Yuddh O Shanti), in three volumes, 1985–86), and Rabindranath Tagore'sJogajog,(1965), into Odia.

Dadi Budha (The Ancestor)(1944) is his first novel on the tribal community and it offers a realistic portrait of life and tradition of the tribal people of the mountainous region surrounded by thick forest. It is a seminal novel in Tribal Literature and corresponds to Chinua Achebe's classic tale of Colonial invasion of tribal cultureThings fall Apartand foregrounds almost the same theme – the impact of modernity and disintegration of tribal society.

Paraja(1945) is a moving narrative based on the life of a tribal community. It is the tale of one's attachment to land, the soil of one's ancestors.Sitakant Mahapatradescribes the novel as "the story of shattered dreams".The novel also implicitly portrays the impact of colonial rule on Odia tribals.

Amrutara Santana (1949), the first novel to receive the CentralSahitya Akademi Award(1955), is centered round the life of theKandhas,another tribe in the southern parts of Odisha.

Short stories

In the post-Independence era Odia fiction assumed a new direction. The trend which Fakir Mohan Senapati had started developed after the 1950s. Gopinath Mohanty,Surendra MohantyandManoj Dasare considered the three literary jewels of this period. They were pioneers of a new trend, namely, that of developing or projecting the "individual as protagonist" in Odia fiction. Another of Gopinath's stories, 'Pimpudi' has had great influence. It is the story of a forest officer checking rice smuggling to Madras.

English translations

Five of Gopinath's novels, along with a number of short stories, have been translated into English. It is extremely difficult to render in English the nuances of Gopinath Mohanty's language. However, translators have attempted to convey the richness and complexity of the original texts to readers unfamiliar with Odia.

English Translations of Gopinath Novels

Title	English Title	Translator(s)	Publisher(s)	Publication Date
Danapani	The Survivor	Bikram K. Das	Macmillan India Limited	1985
Paraja	n/a	Bikram K. Das	Faber and Faber (UK) and Oxford University Press (India)	1987
Dadi Budha	The Ancestor	Aruṇa Kumāra Mahānti	Sahitya Akademi	1997
Laya Bilaya	High Tide, Ebb Tide	Bikram K. Das	Lark Books	1999
Amrutara Santana	The Dynasty of the Immortals	Bidhu Bhusan Das,Prabhat Nalini Das,andOopali Operajita	Sahitya Akademi	2016

Awards

Mohanty received the Visuva Milan citation in 1950. He won the first centralSahitya Akademi Awardin 1955 for his novel,Amrutara Santana..It was the first Sahitya Akademi Award ever given to a creative literary work in any language or any genre. The Jnanpith Award was conferred on him in 1973 for his epicMati Matala(The Fertile Soil).He was awarded the Soviet Land Nehru Award in 1970, for his Odia Translation of Gorky's work, a D.Litt. by Sambalpur University in 1976 and a distinguished visiting professorship for creative writing by the U.G.C. at the Department of English, Utkal University in 1976. In 1981, the government of India conferred thePadma Bhushanon him in recognition of his distinguished contribution to literature. He was an Emeritus Fellow of the Government of India for creative writing.

Bibliography

• Mohanty, Gopinath (1963).Ranadhandola; galpa sangraha(in Odia). Bikasa pratishthana.OCLC46465771.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1963).Tantrikara: upanyasa(in Odia). Bikasa Pratishthana.OCLC31273912.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1964).Matimatala(in Odia). Aloka Sahitya Pratishthana.OCLC19361991.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1965).Amrutara santana(in Odia). Jagannatha Ratha.OCLC19363005.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1967).Harijana(in Odia). Jagannatha ratha.OCLC30996252.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1967).Gupta Ganga(in Odia). Jagannath Ratha.OCLC30990581.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1968).Nam mane nahim(in Odia).OCLC30883679.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1971).Danapani(in Odia). Kataka shtudents shtora.OCLC46465738.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1971).Managahirara casha(in Odia). Shtudentas Shtora.OCLC18470514.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1971).Udanta khai(in Odia). Kataka shtudents shtora.OCLC46465824.
• Mohanty, Gopi Nath (1973).Kala-sakti(in Odia). Agraduta.OCLC19361604.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1979).Digadihudi: upanyasa(in Odia). Bidyapuri.OCLC8051826.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1979).Manara niam(in Odia). Mayura Pablikesansa.OCLC8669195.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1980).Analanala(in Odia). Odisa Lekhaka Samabaya Samiti.OCLC17879923.
• Mohanty, Gopinatha (1983).Paraja(in Odia). Bidyapuri.OCLC499123865.
• Mohanty, Gopinatha (1985).Laya bilaya(in Odia). Bidyapuri.OCLC499128654.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1985).Dhulimatira santha(in Odia). Bidyapuri.OCLC16804828.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1988).Bundae pani(in Odia). Bidyapuri.OCLC21598837.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1989).Sata pañca(in Odia). Odisa Buk Shtora.OCLC22006434.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1989).Kichi kahibaku chahem: upanyasa(in Odia). Phrendas Pablisarsa.OCLC22006052.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1991).Yuddha(in Odia). Phrendas Pablisarsa.OCLC28723943.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1991).Mahapurusha(in Odia). Phrendas Pablisarsa.OCLC27938222.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1992).Srotasvati: atmajibani(in Odia). Bidyapuri.OCLC30512277.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1992).Sarasayya(in Odia). Phrendas Pablisarsa.OCLC28293188.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1993).Tinikala(in Odia). Phrends Pablisarsa.OCLC30513367.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1993).Anama: upanyasa(in Odia). Phrends Pablisarsa.OCLC30512765.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (1995).Baghei(in Odia). Phrends Pablisarsa.OCLC33970292.
• Mohanty, Gopinath (2012).Dipam jyoti: pujya Gopabandhu Caudhurinka jibani(in Odia). Vidyapuri.ISBN978-81-7411-853-0.OCLC805702022.

See also

• List of Indian writers
• List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Odia
• Kanhu Charan Mohanty

Further reading

• George, K. M., ed. (1992).Modern Indian Literature, an Anthology: Surveys and poems.Vol. 1. Sahitya Akademi. p. 302.ISBN978-8-17201-324-0.