Sambodhi 1974 Vol 03

Author(s): Dalsukh Malvania, H C Bhayani
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 19

DHANAPALA AND SOME ASPECTS OF MODERN FICTIONAL TECHNIQUE*
N M, Kansara
1. CRITICAL BACKGROUND :
As with the European Romances written in Middle Ages, so in Sanskrit, the Romances like Bana's Kadambars and Dhanapala's Tilaka. madjari are, in general, works of fiction in which the imagination is unrestricted In form they were long, resembling works of poetry in rhymed or alliterative prose occasionally interpersed with a verse or two. They concentrate on story rather than on character, and the story concerns unrcal people engaged in strange, ofteu supernatural, adventures. Their wide appeal is as a hterature of escape The remarks of Mr. W. P. Ker though meant for the medieval European authors of twelfth century Romances, strangely apply to Sanskrit Prose-romances variety of incident, remoteness of scene, and all the incredible things in the world, had been at the disposal of medieval authors. Mere furniture counts for a good deal in the best ro.nances, and they are full of descriptions of richca and splendours lo such passages of ornamental description the name of strange people and of foreign kings have the same kind of value &a the names of precious stones, and sometimes they are introduced on their account, Sometime this fashion of rich description and alluston bas been overdone, There may be discovered in some writers u preference for classic subjecta in their ornamental digressions, or for the graceful forms of allegory One function of romance is to make an immedlate literary profit out of all accessible books of learning. It was a quick-witted age and knew how to turn quotations and allusions Much of its art is bestowed to making pedantry look attractive.
II DESCRIPTION, SCENE AND RETROSPECT
When a povelist balts his moving world and tells us what he secs, says Phyllis Bentley,8 we term that type of narrative as description'; when he moves it slowly and tells us single specific .actions we have learned to term that type of narrative a 'scene', when he rolls bis fictitious world rapidly by the integrated campaign, the come total of a character, & summarised account of his gradual conversion to a new course of life, It can be called 'retrospect' or 'summary'.
The description, the scene and the summary have quite distinct uses, distinct parts to play in fiction. The scene gives the reader feeling of Sambodhi 3.1