What was once dismissed as 'the lingo of lesser breeds,' has over the years yielded Commonwealth literature of compelling power and artistry. The essays in this volume evaluate the various constituents of this literature, notably Indian, African, Australian, West Indian and Canadian, and posit how these constituents have come to acquire the 'right of vision,' and register 'the appreciation of difference' with one another.
In equal measure, this study examines the responses made by the major Commonwealth writers to the challenge of projecting their multi-lingual and multi-cultural experiences through the medium of English, and the extent to which their works have succeeded in evoking the indigenous flavour of their lives and lands in concert with their own idiom, rhythm, and symbols. In commonwealth writing, then, William Cowper's rose is, as it were, crossed with his lily to produce Toru Dutt's lotus, 'the queenliest flower that blows.' The Ibo Achebe has given the lie to claims of the white man's civilizing mission and Patrick White, influenced by the homespun vision of M.K. Gandhi, has written novels of suffering and spiritual fibre.
While the essays unreservedly give credit where it is due, they are candidly critical of what their author calls the inflated reputations of V.S Naipaul and Nirad Chaudhari and the spurious reputations of Salman Rushdie and Vikram Seth.