Folkways in Literature: An Aesthetic Imperative

Navakanta Barua believes that folk-reality is an infinitely self-sustaining area. It is this belief that informs Folkways in Literature: An Aesthetic Imperative. As a poet he had initiated that exploration of folkways which helped evolve the idiom of modern Assamese poetry. His novels and analytical writings reveal a profound sense of history and tradition, a thoroughgoing modern sensibility and a comprehensive range of concerns. Born in 1926, Prof. Barua has studied at the Visvabharati and the Aligarh Muslim Universities. He has visited Yugoslavia, Poland, Italy, USSR and Greece under cultural exchange programmes. A member of the General Council of the Akademi in the fifties for consecutive terms, Prof-Barua has received the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Padmabhushan. He is now engaged in the translation of western classics.