Goa has a population of around 1.4 million and an area of 3,700 sq. kilometres (1,430 sq. miles). For a small region, it has a significant amount of publication activity, possibly in part because its people write in a number of languages—perhaps as many as 13—and also because of the large expatriate and diaspora population of Goans settled across the globe.
Among its most noted writers are Laxmanrao Sardessai (1904–1986) and R. V. Pandit (1917–1990), both of whom wrote poetry and prose in Marathi, Konkani, and Portuguese; Shenoi Goembab (1877–1946), whose Konkani writing helped to establish Konkani as a modern literary language; Ravindra Kelekar (1925–2010), who wrote some of the twentieth century's foremost Konkani literature; and Pundalik Naik (born 1952), whose 1977 novel Acchev was the first Konkani novel to be translated into English.
Goa was the first place in Asia to have a printing press, which was brought by the Jesuits in 1556.[1] Nearly all of Goan literature before that time is known to have been destroyed by the Portuguese during the imposition of Inquisition. Goa's Portuguese colonial rulers can hardly be credited with meticulous record-keeping of Goan literature. Thus, Goa has had a long love affair with the written and printed word, although growth has been slow, and punctuated by problems like linguistic breaks and censorship.
In 1886, Tipografia Rangel, one of the pioneers in widescale publishing was founded.[2] Prior to this the only existing presses were those of the government and individual family presses existing to print the political newspapers. Tipografia Rangel was among the leaders in providing print media and promoting literature to a larger section of society in Goa.[3]
Peter Nazareth points out that Goans have written in thirteen languages, of which the chief are Konkani, Marathi, English and Portuguese. Nazareth describes Goans as 'cultural brokers':
Goans mediate between cultures, Goans live between different cultures, Goans are travellers from one part of the world to another. This, in my opinion, happened when East and West met in Goans under pressure with the Portuguese conquest. Since that time, our usefulness to the world, wherever we are, is that we can understand different cultures and help people from different cultures understand one another. The disadvantage is that if we don't work on it, we may end up not knowing who we are.
Literary writing in Goa began to take shape under Portuguese rule and influence, associated with Portugal's mid-nineteenth-century Regeneration, which saw the reintroduction of the press to Goa, along with expanded Portuguese education. A spate of Portuguese-language publications, 'such as A Biblioteca de Goa (1839), O Enciclopédico (1841–1842), O Compilador (1843–1847), O Gabinete Literário das Fontainhas (1846–1848), A revista Ilustrativa (1857–1866) and O Arquivo Portugués Oriental (1857–1866)', along with Júlio Gonçalves'sIlustraçao Goana (1864–1866), while often short-lived, provided new fora not only for the circulation of European literature (whether originally in Portuguese or in translation), but provided growing opportunities for Goans to publish literary and scholarly writing.[4]
The first novel published by a Goan was Os Brahamanes (The Brahmans) by Francisco Luis Gomes, published in 1866.[5]
Later in the nineteenth century, vernacular writing began to emerge in strength, for example in Konkani, the widely spoken local vernacular. The Goan writer Shenoi Goembab (1877–1946) was foundational to developing modern Konkani literature.[6] An official language of the region since 1987,[7] Konkani is now studied in schools. Konkani literature emerged alongside the rapid growth of Marathi literature, in which the Goan R. V. Pandit was a notable exponent. S. M. Tadkodkar, who was conferred PhD degree by Goa University for his exhaustive research work on Anant Kaakaba Priolkar, contends that while the Kannadd language of Karnataka province was dominating the Goan culture, Marathi language and culture was embraced by Goans. Now, Marathi has embraced the Goans and would not leave them, willingly. Maximum literature is published in Marathi. There are 8 Marathi dailies published from Goa. Prominent among them are Dianik Gomantak, Tarun Bharat, Lokamat, Navaprabha, Pudhari, Goadoot. The Marathi daily Lokmat has the highest circulation (50000+) among all dailies.
In the late nineteenth century, extensive contacts with and migration to British-ruled India also encouraged English-language Goan writing, with early exponents including Joseph Furtado. Edward D'Lima, who has done his PhD on the Goan writer Armando Menezes, argues that Goan writing in English goes back to the late nineteenth century, when Goans were migrating out of this Portuguese-controlled colony in favour of jobs in the growing English-speaking British-ruled colonial world. English is probably the most influential literary language in Goa: 'a surge of creativity has erupted in Goan literature in English since 2000 in fiction and nonfiction, drama and poetry'.[8]
Goan writers
Besides English, Konkani and Marathi, Goans, particularly those of the past generation, have contributed significantly to writings in Portuguese.
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.
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.
Author of Goan Christian Marathi Vilapika During The 17th Century (2010); Professor and Head, Department of Postgraduate Instruction and Research in Marathi, Goa University.
Goa State Central Library, which is run by the Government of Goa, is the oldest library in South Asia. It has been one of the largest depositories of printed volumes pertaining to Goan languages and literature since the seventeenth century.
Goa Arts and Literary Festival
Goa Arts and Literary Festival (GALF) is a non- profit festival organised by volunteers. The first edition of GALF was held in 2010. The three-day fest had debates, lectures and discussions on art, music, photography, drawing a large audience from across the world at the International Centre of Goa, Dona Paula.[12]
Bibliography
COSTA, Aleixo Manuel da. Dicionário de literatura goesa. Instituto Cultural de Macau, Fundação Oriente, 3 v., 1997.
DEVI, Vimala, & SEABRA, Manuel de. A literatura indo-portuguesa. Junta de Investigações do Ultramar, 2 v., 1971.
NAZARETH, Peter (ed.). "Goan Literature: A Modern Reader", Journal of South Asian Literature Winter-Spring 1983.
Sources
↑ A.K. Priolkar, The Printing Press in India: Its Beginnings and Early Development being a quatercentenary commemoration study of the advent of printing in India in 1556, (Bombay: Marathi Samshodhana Mandala, 1958).
↑ Paul Melo e Castro. Lengthening Shadows. 2 vols. Saligão, India: Goa, 1556, 2016. I pp. 9–10 (quoting p. 9).
↑ Ben Antao, 'Goan Literature in English', Muse India, 64 (November–December 2015), "Welcome to Muse India". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015..
↑ Kiran Budkuley, 'Modern Konkani Classics', Muse India, 64 (November–December 2015), "Welcome to Muse India". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2015..
↑ Goanet Reader: Puzzle wrapped in an enigma, understanding Konkani in Goa, .
↑ Ben Antao, 'Goan Literature in English', Muse India, 64 (November–December 2015), "Welcome to Muse India". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015..
Konkani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Konkani people, primarily in the Konkan region, along the western coast of India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages mentioned in the Indian Constitution, and the official language of the Indian state of Goa. It is also spoken in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat as well as Damaon, Diu & Silvassa.
Goans is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, who form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Indo-Portuguese, Austro-Asiatic ethnic and/or linguistic ancestries. They speak different dialects of the Konkani language, collectively known as Goan Konkani. "Goanese", although sometimes used, is an incorrect term for Goans.
Anant Kakba Priolkar was an Indian polemicist, author and political activist. Born in 1895, he started writing while he was in school and his writing stopped only with his death. He was also elected as the President of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held in 1951 at Karwar. His book The Goa Inquisition remains his bestselling work. He also considered Konkani as a dialect of Marathi language. He died in Maharashtra in 1973.
Thomas Stephens was an English Jesuit priest, missionary, writer, and linguist of Marathi and Konkani in Portuguese India. Educated at Oxford, he was one of the earliest Western Christian missionaries to early modern India. He, along with Roberto de Nobili, helped in converting the top class of Indian society by adopting local practices and writing books in local languages, to appeal to the local people. He is famous for having written the Krista Purana.
Waman Raghunath Shennoi Varde Valaulikar, popularly known as Shenoi Goembab, was a Goan writer and activist of the Konkani language.
Ravindra Kelekar was a noted Indian author who wrote primarily in the Konkani language, though he also wrote in Marathi and Hindi. A Gandhian activist, freedom fighter and a pioneer in the modern Konkani movement, he was a well known Konkani scholar, linguist, and creative thinker. Kelekar was a participant in the Indian freedom movement, Goa's liberation movement, and later the campaign against the merger of the newly formed Goa with Maharashtra. He played a key role in the founding of the Konkani Bhasha Mandal, which lead the literary campaign for the recognition of Konkani as a full-fledged language, and its reinstatement as the state language of Goa. He authored nearly 100 books in the Konkani language, including Amchi Bhas Konkaneech, Shalent Konkani Kityak, Bahu-bhashik Bharatant Bhashenche Samajshastra and Himalayant, and also edited Jaag magazine for more than two decades.
Several poems, known popularly as Paixao de Cristo in Portuguese, and as Christi Vilapika in Marathi, were written in Goa during the 17th century in the Marathi language using the Latin script, based on the sublime pathos of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Some of these poems were well-known to scholars like A.K. Priolkar and V.B. Prabhudessai, who called for critical study of them. Critical texts of three of these have recently been published in the book Goan Christian Marathi Vilapika during the 17th Century by Dr. S. M. Tadkodkar, currently Head of the Department of Marathi at the Goa University.
The art of printing first entered India through Goa. In a letter to St. Ignatius of Loyola, written on April 30, 1556, Father Gasper Caleza speaks of a ship carrying a printing press setting sail for Abyssinia from Portugal, with the purpose of helping missionary work in Abyssinia. Circumstances prevented this printing press from leaving India, and consequently, printing was initiated in the country.
Konkani in the Roman script, commonly known as Roman Konkani or Romi Konknni refers to the writing of the Konkani language in the Roman script. While Konkani is written in five different scripts altogether, Roman Konkani is widely used. Roman Konkani is known to be the oldest preserved and protected literary tradition beginning from the 16th century AD.
The Konkani language agitations were a series of protests in India, concerning the uncertain future of the Konkani language. They were held by Goans in the former territory of Goa, Damaon & Diu; then under the administration of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP). The protests involved citizen journalism, student activism & political demonstrations. The civil unrest ceased when premier official status for Konkani in the Devnagari script was granted. Marathi was declared an associate official language of Goa.
Étienne de la Croix SJ, was a French Jesuit, missionary to India and author of a life of St Peter in Marathi: Discurso sobre a vida do Apostolo Sam Pedro em que se refuta os principaes erros do gentilismo.
Damodar Mauzo is an Indian short story writer, novelist, critic, and screenwriter in Konkani. He was awarded the 57th Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary honour, in 2022, Sahitya Akademi Award in 1983 for his novel Karmelin and the Vimala V. Pai Vishwa Konkani Sahitya Puraskar award for his novel Tsunami Simon in 2011. His collection of short stories Teresa's Man and Other Stories from Goa was nominated for the Frank O'Connor International award in 2015. He has served as a member of the executive board, general council, as well as the finance committee of the Sahitya Akademi.
Madhavi Sardesai was an Indian academic and the editor of the Konkani literary journal "Jaag". She was also a scholar, publisher and writer who worked mainly in the Konkani language in Goa. She headed the Goa University's Konkani Department. She died on 22 December 2014 after a battle with cancer.
Sudesh Lotlikar is an Indian Marathi and Konkani poet, producer and director of documentary films.
Konkani literature is literature in the Konkani language, mostly produced in three scripts: Roman, Devanagari and Kannada. Konkani literature is eligible for the Sahitya Akademi Award.
Goa is India's smallest state on the west coast, and its writers have written in many diverse languages. Poetry is a small and scattered field in the region, and this page makes an attempt to acknowledge those who have contributed to the field. It includes those listed below who have contributed to poetry in and from Goa, as well as those writing poetry in Goa. Poetry related to Goa is known to have been written in Konkani, in Portuguese, English and Marathi, apart from other regional, national and international languages to a lesser extent.
Alexandre Moniz Barbosa is an Indian journalist and writer, and winner of the 2013 biennial Goan Short Story competition.
The Portuguese controlled Goa until 1961, when India took over. Only a very small fraction of Goans speak Portuguese nowadays. Although an essential religious language, there were 1,500 students learning Portuguese in Goa in 2015; totaling a number of 10,000 – 12,000 Portuguese speakers in the state.
The Goa Arts and Literature Festival (GALF) is an annual literary festival which takes place in the Indian coastal state of Goa, each December. It was founded in 2010.
World Konkani Day has been celebrated on 1 August every year since 2015. It is in remembrance of Konkani activist, Shenoi Goembab On this day, Konkani language writers are honored.
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