Coherence of Form and Content
Maya Pandit-Narkar
THE STORY OF BEING USELESS + THREE CONTEXTS OF A WRITER by Avadhoot Dongare. Translated from the original Marathi by Nadeem Khan Ratna Translation Series, Ratna Books, 2019, 224 pp., 399.00
October 2020, volume 44, No 10

The story of being useless + three contexts of a writer is a translation of two Marathi novellas by a young writer, Avadhoot Dongare.

Nadeem Khan who has translated these two novellas into English needs to be congratulated on his choice of the texts as they introduce the readers of English translations of regional language texts to the recent innovative developments in Marathi literature.

The two novellas are significant literary expressions in Marathi as they afford us minute glimpses into the complex questions of artistic creativity and engagement. They open up a complex world of creative imagination seeking an expression without losing the edge of the rebellious engagement with the established linear and sure-footed conventions of organizing narratives. These novellas represent a significant departure from the established tradition of Marathi novel in terms of both the form and content.   They explore the very process of writing, and raise questions about what gives the writing a formal and semantic coherence.

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