English Literature for Lycée: R.K. Narayan, The Painter of Signs
Œuvre au programme de lecture de l'épreuve orale d'anglais, langue de complément LV1, en série littéraire, pour l'examen du baccalauréat général, sessions 2005 et 2006
"An educated young man, who prides himself on his logic, falls in love with a militant family planner."
"his work has sometimes been criticised for being excessively simplistic and for sometimes being cliched."
Wikipedia
"there is no trace of intellectuality" [in his fiction].
Defamiliarization:
"The novel is set in India and portrayed the story of an Indian boy falling in love with a girl named Daisy. What is apparent to most Indians with regards to the connotation of the word daisy may not be apparent to a non-Indian reader. For the Indians, it is a word that alludes to a girl who is outside of the Hindu system, alien and unassimilated to typical Indian culture."
Selected online resources
The Painter of Signs (A brief review), R.K.Narayan ( A profile), Malgudi (the fictional town where most of his works are set
Introduction to The Painter of Signs.(themes: East meets West, Caste, Birth control, Children, Feminism)...
R.K. Narayan Biographical information.
Literary Essay:
A walk down the banks of Sarayu
"A salute to the doyen of indian literature, R.K. Narayan."
Research Essay Tradition vs. Modernity
"Daisy is the symbol of modernity as she does her best to fight against traditional ways of life..."
The Great Narayan, an essay at the New York Review of Books.
Graham Greene and R.K. Narayan A short paragraph about the friendship between the two writers.