Stephanian School of Literature refers to a body of fictional works written in English, mostly novels written by the alumni of St. Stephen's College,
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
.
It can be called as a subgenre of
Indian English literature
Indian English literature (IEL), also referred to as Indian Writing in English (IWE), is the body of work by writers in India who write in the English language but whose native or co-native language could be one of the numerous languages of India. ...
but the validity of it is heavily debated among various critics. Brinda Bose's "Of Voids and Speculums; Or Where Is the Woman in the Text" is an essay that forcefully denies the existence of such a school of writing.
Many other authors and scholars have discussed this in detail in various essays. Some authors defend the spirit of Stephania and state it does not matter whether or not there is such a school of literature, while others tend to celebrate the college.
Shashi Tharoor
Shashi Tharoor (; ; born 9 March 1956 in London, England ) is an Indian former international civil servant, diplomat, bureaucrat and politician, writer and public intellectual who has been serving as Member of Parliament for Thiruvananthapuram, ...
are some famous Indian English writers who belong to the Stephanian School of Literature.
In an interview Amitav Ghosh comments on this topic:Interview/Amitav Ghosh, ''Doon Online'' /ref>
The ethos of St. Stephen's were not at all artistic. Everyone had the IAS exams in their mind. But in a way many writers like Shashi Tharoor and Upamanyu Chatterjee came through that bureaucratic set-up. When I look back I find there is nothing really surprising about it. Because Stephen's had a lot of talented people who were also self-confident. Whenever there is some form of artistic outburst, there are links of this kind. Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel studied at San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid with poet Federico Garcia Lorca and surrealist painter
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...
. I think these connections do exist in the world of art and literature.
Literature from North East India
Literature from North East India ( as, উত্তৰ-পূৱ ভাৰতৰ সাহিত্য, mni, Awāng Nongpok Bhāratkī Loinasinlon) refers to literature in the languages of North East India and the body of work by English-langu ...