Prof Bill Ashcroft, the renowned Australian critic, founding theorist of post-colonial studies and co-author of The Empire Writes Back, believes Nobel Laureate Sir VS Naipaul doesn’t understand India. Girish Karnad had questioned the lifetime achievement award conferred on Naipaul, citing his anti-Muslim remarks, at the recently concluded Mumbai Lit Fest. Though not endorsing Karnad’s views, Bill Ashcroft, who was in the city to participate in the international conference being held at the University of Hyderabad to mark Australian author Patrick White’s centenary, spoke at length on Naipaul, Indian literature and his home country’s latest emphasis on Hindi in a free-wheeling chat with City Express. Excerpts from the interview
On Sir Vidia
VS Naipaul has written a lot of things (laughs) and he is actually a Trinidadian. The problem with him is that he does not feel at home anywhere in the world! He personally is a man who has no time for anything much. He does not like the Caribbean. He does not like anything but his beloved England. Interestingly, that’s the problem post-colonial studies have to overcome. Writers in the formerly colonised places-- the Caribbean Islands and India -- have taken the English language and used it to communicate a different reality. Naipaul is a major writer. No doubt. Let us not quibble about that. But he has a lot of gaps in his understanding of cultural realities. I think he never really understood India. I think it’s up to Indian writers to communicate that and a wonderful way to do that is to use English in writing.
On aboriginal and Dalit literature
This is a very controversial topic because comparisons have been made and my opinion is yet to be formed. I do not think it is wise to suggest Dalit literature is akin to aboriginal literature. Indigenous literatures are those which occur in certain colonies. Indigenous literature in India is much wider than Dalit literature. So, the simple connection between the two -- they do share the issue of finding a voice with which to communicate their cultural reality -- doesn’t make them same. In the case of aboriginal writers, they speak and write in English, get a global audience and are well-known. I do not think there are any major Dalit writers in India who write in English. It would be interesting if Dalit writers write in English and communicate with the world.
On racial attacks against Indians down under
I think Indians being attacked in Australia is a misunderstanding. A lot of investigation went into this and Indians are not being singled out for attacks. It is just that students and those travelling back from work were attacked. Studies suggest that attacks on Indians are, if anything, similar to the assaults on any other groups of students. So, the reason this became an issue was that one of the sensationalist newspapers in Australia thought these were racial attacks. As a matter of fact, people in Australia are very fond of Indians and we have a long connection through colonial history and sport. The particular problem was blown out of proportion. The idea that people were attacking Indians in particular is wrong. I think Indians need to be reassured about that. It was a very unfortunate thing that India-Australia relations are affected
On Australian PM’s advice for students to learn Hindi
Well, children would be taught many languages in the coming years but hopefully one at a time! (laughs). I think, that will be interesting because if you want to teach Indian languages - Hindi is one choice. These will definitely be on school curriculum in the next few years. That will be an interesting period. One day, we will be able to communicate Australian realities to Indians in Hindi!
On corruption in India
I leave it to Indian writers to expose it. But I do think it’s upsetting and unfortunate that India gets medical aid (from abroad) which goes straight into the treasury and does not get used for health or medicine. The problem begins with government. Government has to set standards for clarity. Apart from that, it’s upto Indians to decide. Australia, on the other hand, sits on a great wealth of minerals. It became the food basket of Europe. I think, the reasons for recent economic success, Australia did not go on with the GFC- a regulatory structure in place for its banks and the economy. Australia is a resource rich country with a systematically organised regulatory system in place, a relatively classless society and a great climate. (laughs)
Australia still bowing to her majesty?
This is a very very controversial issue. Let me put it this way- when the constitutional convention came up, several Australians wanted a Republic-- but we were essentially tricked by the then Prime Minister who said you got to have a particular model for Republic and people voted against a Republic as they voted against the idea that the Parliament would appoint a President which is exactly what happens now- the Parliament appoints the Governor. Now, 80% of Australians want a Republic but it can happen only when the Queen dies! But that is the ambivalence (you know, separated but with an attaction) people of Australia share with Britain. And all post-colonial countries have such a relationship with their imperial centre. Like India, we like to beat England in cricket and everything else. The Republic will come. We might be cheated again by politicians but atleast we do not have “God Save the Queen” as our National Anthem which we had in 1950s (laughs).
On post-colonial Indian literature
That is a very big topic. India is central to post-colonial studies. India has a very long history of literature and history of literature in English. There is a rich tradition of writing in English in India. India is also a centre of arguments about translation. A lot of people feel that vernacular literatures are being ignored and so that is one of the most recent issues that has come up in India. India is very central because its writings since 1980s have come to be extremely popular and powerful around the world. Indian literature demonstrates a very powerful aspect of post-colonial writings i.e, people taking the language of the coloniser and using the same to represent themselves to the world and that’s what India does very very efficiently. Indian writers have been able to represent Indian reality to the world and that is a significant demonstration of the importance of literature itself because it enables readers to gain empathy and an understanding at an emotional level of realities in Indian life. India is a diasporic literature. Writers such as Rushdie and Ghosh have been very very important in helping the world understand India.