P. P. Raveendran’s article “Nationalism, Colonialism and Indian English Literature” attempts to study how a nation is constructed by the writer through their works. The essayist describes nationalism as an ‘awakening of a nation to self-consciousness’. It differs from the colonial forms of domination and he states that English literature appeared as a subject in the curriculum of the colonies before it was institutionalized in its home country. The emergence of Indian English Literature was an Indian response to both nationalism and national movement. Some writers used English for writing because of the universal acceptance of this language; so that their works would reach more hands. Others wanted to prove their proficiency in English through their works. They indirectly state that they can stand before everyone even though once they are considered uncivilized.

P. P. Raveendran talks about the evolution of Indian English Literature by tracing its history. The first book written by an Indian in English was “Travels of Dean Mahomet”, a travel narrative by Sake Dean Mahomet published in English in 1793. He tries to compare the writings of early Indian writers with modern writings. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay wrote “Rajmohan’s Wife” and published it within the year 1864. It is the primary Indian novel written in English. Rajaram, an Indian philosopher, and writer authored “Kanthapura” and “The Serpent and The Rope”, which are Indian in terms of their storytelling qualities. Kisari Mohan Ganguli translated “The Mahabharata” into English. Rabindranath Tagore wrote in Bengali and English and translated his own works into English. He gives the examples and writing styles of some of the Indian English writers like R.K. Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao, Kiran Desai, V.S. Naipaul, etc. He also compares Sarojini Naidu’s poem with Kamala Das’s poem and says that Naidu’s is highly ‘orientalized’.