Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t31: R K Narayan
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t31
- Language
- English
R K Narayan
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Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami (October 10, 1906 - May 13, 2001), was an Indian writer in English, one of India’s three greatest figures of literature in English. He was born in Madras (present-day Chennai).
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Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami obtained the Bachelor of Arts degree of University of Mysore in 1930. He worked as a teacher and correspondent after graduation. He became a professional writer in 1935 when his first full-length novel *Swami and Friends* was published. In 1961, his full-length novel *The Guide* (1958) won him the Sahitya Akademi Award. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 1964. In 1980, he was given the Benson Medal and became a member of Royal Society of Literature in the UK. He became an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1982, and a member of the Rajya Sabha of the Indian Parliament in 1989. In 2000, he was given the second highest civilian award Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India.
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R K Narayan
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From the middle of 1930s to late 1990s, he created 14 full-length novels and a large number of short stories. His works include the memoir ‘*My Days: A Memoir*’ (1974), the travel notes ‘*My Dateless Diary*’ (1960) and the essay ‘*A Story-tellers’ world*’ (1989), and so on.
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In 1981, Huang Baosheng with the Institute of Foreign Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences first introduced R. K. Narayanaswami and translated his short story collection ‘*A Horse and Two Goats*’ (1970) that were published on ‘*World Literature*’ (Edition 4, 1981). The short stories of R. K. Narayanaswami published by ‘*Chinese Translators Journal*’ include - ‘*The Blind Dog*’ (1942), ‘*The Martyr’s Corner*’ (1967), ‘*An Astrologer’s Day*’ (1942) and ‘*Like*
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‘The Guide’, Chinese edition
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*the Sun*’ (1967) that were included respectively in ‘*Selected Indian Short Stories*’ (1983), ‘*Collection of Indian Short Stories*’ (1989), ‘*The World Classic Short-Short Stories*’ (2003) and ‘*After-class Reading*’ (2003). His full-length novels - *The Guide* and *The Vendor of Sweets* (1967) were translated and published by Shanghai Translation Publishing House and Taiwan
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[Figure: ‘A Horse and Two Goats’, Chinese edition]
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Xinyu Publishing House, respectively in 1993 and 1999. His two essays - *The Crowd* (1989) and *Noise* (1989) were translated and published in 2005 and were included in *Do Women Love Vain Men? Never!-66 Humorous Essays of Foreign Masters* (2005). The *Encyclopedia of China · Foreign Literature* volume included an entry on R. K. Narayanaswami in 1982.
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(*Wang Jing*)