Languages and Literature of Goa

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Languages and Literature of Goa

Goa Literature

  • Goa’s literature is as charming as the land itself.
  • Goa is a very small state of India, previously ruled by the Portuguese.
  • This colony had the distinction of being the first place in Asia, to be installed with a printing press in the year 1550.
  • The Portuguese invaders believed very much in meticulous record- keeping.
  • After being ruled for more than two centuries, the cultures, traditions, languages have been all mixed together forming an amalgamation of the Goan society.
  • Goa although, had its own problems like language barriers & censorship.
  • The people had ultimately no choice, but to adapt to writing in languages that had their origins in Europe.
  • Since a long time Goans are known to have written in 13 languages, but English was predominant, while Portuguese, Marathi & Konkani were also used widely.
  • Presently Goans speak and read in different languages but the most influential of them as stated is English, while Konkani is vastly spoken, it is the Official language of the state.
  • Marathi also, is widely accepted and a followed language of Goa.
  • Some scholars of Goan literature have come to the conclusion that Goan writing in English dates back to the early nineteenth century.
  • At that time, lots of migrations had been occurring for enhanced employment opportunities in the so called British colonies.
  • It is also evident that contributions from all over India as well European literature have been made in Portuguese writings & literature in the past so many years by people of Goa.

The language

  • The Goa, Daman and Diu Official Language Act, 1987 makes Konkani in the Devanagari script the sole official language of Goa, but provides that Marathi may also be used “for all or any of the official purposes”.
  • The Government also has a policy of replying in Marathi to correspondence received in Marathi. Sanskrit was used as the official in Goa and throughout Konkan for many centuries while Konkani evolved much later.
  • Until recently, it was believed that there was hardly any evidence of Konkani literature before the arrival of the Christian missionaries. This issue has since been disputed.
  • Thomas Stephens an Englishman and one of the early missionary Jesuit scholars is credited with writing the first book in Konkani. His magnum opus being the “Krista Purana ” or “The story of Christ”, written in the style of Hindu Folklore. He consequently also produced his other classic “Doutrina Cristao”, a compendium of Christian doctrines in Konkani.
  • The late Pissurlencar and others, believe that the Konkani works he had discovered at Braga, were translations from Marathi for the use of the Christian missionaries only.
  • The missionaries studied both Marathi and Konkani texts and therefore did not probably need the Konkani translations of the same books.
  • Hence his and some other’s conclusion was that they were meant for the use of the common people who could not read them in the original.
  • There is also evidence that the clergy promoted Portuguese, made a strong attempt in the seventeenth century to destroy konkani as they thought that it would help convert more to Christianity.
  • In spite of all this until 1961 only 5% spoke Portuguese, mostly in administration and in the commercial sector. It was only after liberation and statehood did the dream of Konkani as the state language saw realization.

Goan writers

Silviano C. Barbosa (English)

  • Principal forms prose fiction
  • Their Canadian/Goan romance novel The Sixth Night takes you from a typically legendary life in Portuguese Goa in the 1950s all the way to Toronto, Canada

Antonio (J. Anthony) Gomes (English)

  • Principal forms -prose fiction and poetry
  • New York-based writer of poetry: Visions from Grymes Hill and a much acclaimed novel, The Sting of Peppercorns, published by Goa 1556, Mirrored Reflection (a collection of poems) published by Goa 1556 & Fundacao Oriente, 2013.

Carmo D’Souza (English)

  • Principal forms -prose fiction
  • Author of Angela’s Goan Identity, Portugal In Search of Identity and other books. In a recent lecture, D’Souza himself traced the indigenous imagery, and the impact of Portuguese on Goan writing.

Jessica Faleiro (1976-English)

  • Principal forms -fiction, poetry, essays
  • An Adult Third Culture Kid of Goan origin, noted for her novel ‘Afterlife: Ghost stories from Goa.’ She has also published non-fiction, short stories and poetry in print and online with Asia Literary Review, Forbes, Mascara Literary Review, Joao Roque Literary Review, IndiaCurrents, Kitaab, Muse India and Indian Quarterly, among others

Other Writers

Writer Years Language Principle Form
Maria Elsa da Rocha 1924-2007 Portuguese short stories, poetry
Alberto de Meneses Rodrigues 1904-1971 Portuguese prose fiction
Augusto do Rosário Rodrigues 1910-1999 Portuguese short stories. poetry
Abhay Sardesai poetry, translation
Manohar Sardesai Portuguese poetry

 

2ND INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM – GOA: LITERATURES, LANGUAGES AND CULTURES

  • The 2nd International Symposium “Goa: Literatures, Languages and Cultures” was organised from January 16 to January 18, 2017 by CLP-Camões and Alliance Française de Panjim.
  • The Symposium was organised in conjunction with the 6th Meeting of the Thematic Project “Pensando Goa” (Thinking Goa) to be held in the state where several of its members were present.
  • The goal of the symposium was to provide new opportunities for discussion and research based on Goa by researchers from India and abroad.
  • It targeted an interested public of academicians, teachers and researchers in the areas of Goan literature, comparative literature and culture.
  • A wide variety of themes were explored during the symposium including the Literatures of Goa, Teaching Languages and Literature in Goa, Literary translations in Goa, Cultural Press Literature and Goan Society along with Cultural and artistic expressions in Goa.
  • The oral presentations were in English, Portuguese and French.
  • However, to facilitate communication among the participants, the written papers and the powerpoint presentations were expected to be in English.
  • Charlyne Weiss, Director of AF Panjim, presented on the influence of French Romanticism on Goan Literature.
  • This was illustrated using the novel Les Brahmanes by Fransisco Luis Gomes and by the epistolary exchanges between Fransisco Luis Gomes and Lamartine.
  • Irene Silveira from the University of Goa presented on the topic Creating a French space in Post-Portuguese Goa.
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