Balachandra Rajan (24 March 1920 – 23 January 2009) was an Indian diplomat and a scholar of poetry and

poetics Poetics is the theory of structure, form, and discourse within literature, and, in particular, within poetry. History The term ''poetics'' derives from the Ancient Greek ποιητικός ''poietikos'' "pertaining to poetry"; also "creative" an ...

Life and career

Focusing particularly on the poetry of

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and polit ...

, Rajan was Professor Emeritus of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames Ri ...

and Rajan was Fellow of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

from 1944 to 1948, but left England to return to his native India, where he served in the Indian Foreign Service until 1961. During that period he served on the Indian Delegation to the United Nations, working extensively with

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

and

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid t ...

, and chairing an international anti-

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or deat ...

effort. He served as Chairman of the UNICEF Executive Board from 1955 to 1956. Leaving his diplomatic career to return to academe, Rajan taught at the University of Delhi before emigrating to Canada to take up a position at the University of Western Ontario. Rajan's scholarly work covered a wide range of

English poetry This article focuses on poetry from the United Kingdom written in the English language. The article does not cover poetry from other countries where the English language is spoken, including Republican Ireland after December 1922. The earliest ...

, but returned frequently to Milton and particularly to Milton's ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674 ...

''. His work cannot be easily assigned to any critical methodology; he was a scholar of poetics in many forms and from many approaches. His 1947 book ''Paradise Lost and the Seventeenth Century Reader'' is primarily a response to Milton's apparent interest in

Arianism Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by G ...

, considered a

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

, and argues for a distinction between private and public meaning in Milton's poetry. The book was influential for

William Empson Sir William Empson (27 September 1906 – 15 April 1984) was an English literary critic and poet, widely influential for his practice of closely reading literary works, a practice fundamental to New Criticism. His best-known work is his firs ...

, particularly Empson's critique of strictly theological readings of ''Paradise Lost'', ''Milton's God''. Later essays explore what Rajan calls "

generic Generic or generics may refer to: In business * Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark * Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...

multeity" in ''Paradise Lost''. In addition to his work on Milton, Rajan's later criticism addresses issues of

meaning Meaning most commonly refers to: * Meaning (linguistics), meaning which is communicated through the use of language * Meaning (philosophy), definition, elements, and types of meaning discussed in philosophy * Meaning (non-linguistic), a general te ...

intention Intentions are mental states in which the agent commits themselves to a course of action. Having the plan to visit the zoo tomorrow is an example of an intention. The action plan is the ''content'' of the intention while the commitment is the '' ...

, and context in a broad array of writers including Spenser,

Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish lite ...

, Marvell,

Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculosi ...

, and Macaulay. Rajan considered '

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

cannot report the event, it must be the event.' Rajan also wrote two novels. ''The Dark Dancer'' is a sobering study of the conflicts of the Partition; ''Too Long in the West'', on the other hand, is a more light-hearted satire (perhaps influenced by

Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resha ...

's ''Farewell, My Friend'') about a girl's return to her home village after an emancipating education in New York. Rajan's daughter is the scholar and literary theorist

Tilottama Rajan Tilottama Rajan (born 1951) is a Canadian scholar and Distinguished University Professor at the University of Western Ontario. She is Canada Research Chair and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Rajan is known for her research on Romantic li ...

, who also teaches at Western.

Critical Works

*''Paradise Lost and the Seventeenth Century Reader''. London: Chatto and Windus, 1947. Reprinted Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1967. *''W.B.Yeats: A Critical Introduction''. London: Hutchinson University Library, 1965. *''The Lofty Rhyme: A Study of Milton's Major Poetry''. London: Routledge, 1970. *''The Overwhelming Question: A Study of the Poetry of T.S. Eliot''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1976. *''The Form of the Unfinished: English Poetics from Spenser to Pound''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985. *''Under Western Eyes: India from Milton to Macaulay''. Durham: Duke University Press, 1999. *''Milton and the Climate of Reading: Essays''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006.

Fiction

*''The Dark Dancer''. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1958. *''Too Long in the West''. New York: Atheneum, 1962.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajan, Balachandra 1920 births 2009 deaths Indian literary critics Indian male novelists St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Academic staff of the University of Western Ontario 20th-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian male writers Indian officials of the United Nations Chairmen and Presidents of UNICEF Indian expatriates in the United Kingdom Indian expatriates in the United States Indian expatriates in Canada