Dr. Ram Ratan Bhatnagar (1914-1992) was a

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

scholar, professor in the Hindi Department at the

University of Sagar Dr. Hari Singh Gour University (DHGV), formerly University of Saugar and more popularly known as Sagar University or University of Saugar, is a central university in the city of Sagar, the state of Madhya Pradesh or (MP), India. It is one of ...

, writer and critic of

Hindi literature Hindi literature () includes literature in the various Central Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Hindi, some of which have different writing systems. Earliest forms of Hindi literature are attested in poetry of Apabhraṃśa such as Awad ...

and poetry.

Early days

Bhatnagar was born on 14 January 1914 in the city of Rampur,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. After his initial education at Rampur he proceeded to

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

to study English literature where he came in close contact of poet ‘

Nirala Nirala, real name Syed Muzaffar Husain Zaidi () (8 August 1937 – 9 December 1990) was a Pakistani comedian and film actor. He only appeared in Urdu films made in Pakistan. His first film was ''Aur bhi gham hain'' (1960). His last film wa ...

’ and was influenced by his writings.

Education

Later he moved to the

University of Allahabad The University of Allahabad is a Central university (India), Central University located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 23 September 1887 by an act of Parliament and is recognised as an Institute of National Importance (INI). ...

for studies and research in Hindi literature where he came in contact with eminent poets and writers like

Sumitranandan Pant Sumitranandan Pant (20 May 1900 – 28 December 1977) was an Indian poet. He was one of the most celebrated 20th century poets of the Hindi language and was known for romanticism in his poems which were inspired by nature, people and beauty wi ...

Mahadevi Varma Mahadevi Varma (26 March 1907 – 11 September 1987) was an Indian Hindi-language poet, essayist, short story writer, and an eminent personality of Hindi literature. She is considered one of the four major pillars of the '' Chhayawadi'' era in ...

and Ram Kumar Verma. In 1951 he moved to the University of Sagar where Acharya Nand Dulare Bajpai was the head of the Hindi Department. After further studies, he became a Master of Philosophy (English) at the

University of Lucknow University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is one of the oldest public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. LU's main campus is located at Badshah Bagh, University Road area of the city with a second ...

(1937), Master of Philosophy (HindI) at the University of Allahabad (1939) and Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Allahabad (1948) where his main focus of research was the rise and growth of Hindi journalism. He was awarded Doctor of literature at the University of Sagar in 1972.Area of work
Bhatnagar wrote books on

literary criticism A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature's ...

and

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

s on current topics. After joining the Hindi Department of the University of Saugor as Assistant Professor in 1951 he taught there until 1976 when he retired as a Professor. He died on 13 April 1992. Bhatnagar established himself as independent and enlightened critic of Hindi literature. His critique on the works of the eminent writers of his time is reflected in his published works. Little is known about his capabilities as a poet because many of his works are not yet published, however his ability is reflected in the collections of poems that have been published.

Published works

Essays and criticism

# Nibandh Prabodh (1939–1946 – five editions) # Sur Sahitya ki Bhumika (co-author – Vachispati Tripathi (1941, 1945, 1964) # Premchand (1944, 1948) # Tulasi Das (1944, 1946) # Prabandh Purnima (1946) # Kabir : Ek Adhyayan (1946, 1950) # Tulasi Sahitya ki Bhumika (1946, 1958) # Kavi Prasad (1946, 1948, 1953) # Sur Das (1946, 1948, 1950) # Vidyapati: Ek Adhyayan (1947, 1950) # Nand Das : Ek Adhyayan (1947, 1949) # Bihari: Ek Adhyayan (1947, 1950) # Bhartendu: Ek Adhyayan (1947, 1950) # Kavi Nirala: Ek Adhyayan (1947, 1950) # Chayavad (1947, 1950) # Keshava Das : Ek Adhyayan (1947, 1950) # Hindi Sahitya : Ek Adhyayan (1948) # Malik Muhamad Jayasi (1948, 1950) # Kamayani (1948) # Rahasyavad (1948, 1951) # Hindi kavita (1948) # Hindi Gadhya (1948) # Hindi Bhakti Kavya (1948) # Sahitya Samiksha (1948) # Hindi Sahitya : Ek Adhyayan (1948, 1950) # Hindi Sagar (1948) # Rise and Growth of Hindi Journalism (1948) # Sarojani Naidu-The poet of the Nation (1948) # Tagore The Poet (1948) # Premchand (1948) # Maithali Sharan Gupt (1948, 1951) # Mahadevi Verma (1950) # Prabandh Parichay (1950) # Naye Nibandh (1950) # Sahitya Nibandh (1950) # Hindi Sahitya Ka Sankshipt Parichay (1950) # Apathit Gadhya (1950) # Kabir Sahitya Ki Bhumika (1950) # Prasad Ki Vichardhara (1950) # Hindi Kavya Parampara (1950) # Prasad Ka Katha Sahitya (1950) # Hindi-Bharati (two volumes) (1951) # Hindi Ke chah Upanyas (1951) # Sumitranandan Pant (1951) # Prasad Ke Natak (1951) # Hindi Kavita Ki Prasthabhumi (1951) # Kalakar Premchand (1951) # Prabandh Pradip (1951) # Hindi Kavi Parampara (1952) # Nirala (1952) # Prachin Hindi Kavya (1952) # Sur Samiksha (1952) # Prabandh Prabhakar (1953) # Prasad Ka Jivan aur Sahitya (1953) # Adhyayan aur Aalochan (1957) # Prasad Sahitya aur SamIksha (1958) # Jainendra Sahitya aur Samiksha (1958) # Hindi Sahitya ka Sankshipt Itihas (1962, 1964) # Mulya aur Mulyankan (1962) # Madhyayugin Vaisnav Sanskrati aur Tulasidas (1962) # Samayik Jeevan aur Sahitya (1963) # Madhyamik Nibandh (1964) # Nirala aur Navjagaran (1965) # Hindi Sahity ki Ruprekha (1970) # Surdas :Nav Mulyankan (1970) # Nav Nibandh (1970) # Hindi Kavita ‘Sinhavalokan’ (1971) # Tulasi : Navmulyankan (1971) # Nirala Navmulyankan (1973) # Sahity aur Sarjana (1988) # Upnyasakar Jainendra

Novels

# Ambapali (1939, 1945, 1951) # Aakash ki Katha (1942) # Jay Vasudev (1959)

Poetry

# Tandav (1942) # Nirala (1962) # Prakash Jahan Bhi Hai (1982) # Tulasidas (1983) # Venugeet (1984) # Geeton ke Amaltas (1985) # Jagaran (1991)

Sankalan

# Aadhunik Kahaniyan (1957, 1959) # Ruparang (1958) # Gadyayan (1962) # Saptarang (1968) # Uttra (1968) # Kalantar (1970) # Saat Ekanki (1970) # Sanchayan (1970) # Nav Jatak (1970) # Nibandh Nilay (1975) # Rupayan (1975) # Parampara (1977) # Nikash (1980) # Antarang (1980) # Samvet

Other

#Lakadi par Polish (co-writer - Gorakh Prasad) (1940)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatnagar, Ram Ratan 1914 births 1992 deaths People from Rampur district Hindi-language writers