Vishnuprasad Ranchhodlal Trivedi (4 July 1899 – 10 November 1991) was a Gujarati literary critic from India.

Early life

Trivedi was born in Umreth, Bombay Presidency on July 4, 1899. After his education at institutions including

Borsad Borsad is a town and a municipality in Anand district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is located around 17 km from Anand. It is surrounded by the fertile Charotar region which largely produces tobacco, bananas, cotton, barley and o ...

, Thasra,

Kapadvanj Kapadvanj (Karpat – Vanjiyam or "The Land of Textile") is a town as well as one of the Taluka of the Kheda district in the Gujarat, India. It is located on bank of river Mohar. It is 65 km away from Ahmedabad and 93 km away from Vado ...

and

Nadiad Nadiad is a city in the state of Gujarat, India and the administrative centre of the Kheda district. It is known for the Santram Mandir, the Mai Mandir,

, he matriculated in 1916 from the Government High School of Nadiad and was admitted to Gujarat College,

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

. At Gujarat College, he studied under

Anandshankar Dhruv Anandshankar Bapubhai Dhruv (25 February 1869 – 7 April 1942) was a Gujarati scholar, writer, educationist and editor from Bombay Presidency, British India. His name is revered as "Acharya" (a learned person) in Gujarat, and hence generally ...

. He completed his Bachelor of Arts in 1920, with

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and other English subjects. He completed his Master of Arts in 1923 focusing on Sanskrit and Gujarati subjects. In 1921, he joined the MTB Arts College in

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

. South Gujarat University awarded him Doctorate in Literature in 1971.

Works

Trivedi was inspired by western literature and critics such as

Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...

and

Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold (academic), Tom Arnold, literary professor, and Willi ...

and Gujarati writers including Govardhanram Tripathi and Anandshankar Dhruv. He used to write under his pen-name Prerit. Linguistics, poetics and philosophy were his prime interests. He published his first critical article on '' Saraswatichandra'', a novel by Govardhanram, in 1924. ''Vivechana'', his first collection of criticism, was published in 1939, followed by ''1939 na Gujarati Vangmayni Sameeksha'' (1939), ''Parishilan'' (1949), ''Akhegita'' (1957), ''Upayan'' (1961), ''Sahitya Sansparsha'' (1979) and ''Drumaparna'' (1982). He lectured on Govardhanram Tripathi at

Gujarat University The Gujarat University is a public state university located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The university is an affiliating university at the under-graduate level and a teaching university at the post graduate level. It is accredited A+ by NAAC ...

in 1960 which are collected as '' Govardhanram: Chintak ne Sarjak'' (1962), in which he discussed and evaluated the style of Govardhanram Tripathi and his view about the philosophy of life in the context of his works ''Sarasvatichandra'' and ''Snehamudra''. ''Drumaparna'' (1982) and ''Aascharyavat'' (1987) are collections of his essays. His ''Arvachin Chintanatmak Gadya'' (''Modern Reflective Prose'') is a collection of five lectures delivered by him at the Bombay University, in the Thakkar Vassonji Madhavji Lecture Series, in 1946. The volume contains a discussion of the romantic tendencies in modem Gujarati literature. These lectures assess the essentials of reflective thought in Gujarati prose written during the years 1844 and 1905 A.D. In these lectures, he has summarized and discussed the thoughts of all the major Gujarati thinkers from Durgaram Mehta to

Award

He received

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

in 1962 for his work ''Upayana'' (1961) and Narmad Suvarna Chandrak in 1945 for his work ''Parishilan'' (1949). He also received

Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, also known as the Ranjitram Gold Medal, was founded by Gujarat Sahitya Sabha and is considered the highest literary award in Gujarati literature. The award is named after renowned Gujarati writer Ranjitram Mehta. It is a ...

in 1944 and

Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar The Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar ( Gujarati: સાહિત્ય ગૌરવ પુરસ્કાર), also known as Sahitya Gaurav Award, is a literary honour in Gujarat, India. The award is conferred by Gujarat Sahitya Akademi and the Government ...

in 1983. In 1974,

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of the Indian government. Its off ...

awarded him a

fellowship A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trivedi, Vishnuprasad 1899 births 1991 deaths Gujarati-language writers Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Gujarati Indian literary critics People from Anand district Gujarat University alumni Recipients of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak Presidents of the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad