KUTTIKRISHNA MARAR

KUTTIKRISHNA MARAR

Kuttikrishna Marar

Kuttikrishna Marar (14 June 1900 – 6 April 1973) was a  renowned Malayalam Literary critic and essayist ,born in Pattambi,Kerala  . Perhaps he was an odd personality who showed courage to question anything that he felt wrong in the field of literary criticism. He never hesitated to show his antipathy to adoration and imitation in the literature. His work on Bharathaparyadanam - A critical study of the Mahabharata is one that won him many honours. It is also a part of the ICSE syllabus with exams being based on it. He passed the Sahityashiromani exam from the Samskrita College in Pattambi. He started his career as Sahithyacharya at the Kerala Kalamandalam. For 15 years he was with Mahakavi Vallathol Narayana Menon and published many of his writings. From 1938 to 1961 he was the proofreader of the Malayalam daily newspaper,Mathrubhoomi. In 1967, he received 'Sahithya Ratnam' award from Pattambi Sree Neelakanda Sanskrit College and 'Sahithya nipunan' award from Thrippunithura Sanskrit college. He received the M.P Paul Award and the Kendra Sahitya Academy Award in 1966.

His work Malayaala Saili is still one of the most authentic treatises on proper Malayalam usage. Bharata Paryatanam (Travel through Bharata), another important work of Marar is critical exposition of the characters and main events in the epic  Mahabharata. Bharatha Paryatanam shows his immense knowledge of the epic, Mahabharatha. Bharatha Paryatanam, Sahithyasallapam, Danthagopuram, Kaivilakku (collections of literary criticism) are his important works on literary criticism. In addition to the above, there are more than 19 collections essays on literary criticism.Another important work of Marar is "Kala Jeevitham Thanne" (Art is Life itself), which won him Kerala Sahithya Academy Award, Kendra Sahithya Academy Award and M.P. Paul Prize.He died on April 6, 1973.

Marar erupted like a volcano against those who argued that imagery embellishment and social commitment are the dharma of literature. The first category had their roots in tradition; the second variety belonged to the neo- socialist thinkers. He vociferated against both these. Most of all he tore into pieces the scholars who were mislead by Dhwany Theory in its degenerated  form and the external beauty of ornaments. He argued that poetry was different and he established his views through Malayala Shaili, Vrithashilpam, Sahithyavidya, and such works of his. Marar fixed a new dimension and modality to Malayalam. The contemporary Malayalam critics have the smack of the inter-disciplinary style, the advent of which was launched by A. Balakrishna Pillai. It is the precipitate of contemporary advancement of knowledge, Sociology, Psychology,  Philosophy, Anthropology, Linguistics, History, Ecology and such, which have shaped modern society- all these and much more and Malayalam criticism now remains a plus point embracing everything.of live- literature and made the Malayalis familiar with modern Malayalam prose. The next are Joseph Mundassery and Kutty Krishna Marar who were the greatest figures in Malayalam literarycriticism. In Mundassery’s “Kaavyapeedika”, he co-ordinated western and eastern literature comparing Bharatha, Anandavardhana, and Abhinavagupta with Aristotle, Coleridge,and I. A. Richards.penetrative observation and a rich style, could not understand the moderns. But he rendered criticism in Malayalam a strong base. He gave maturity to in criticism in Malayalam. A. Balakrishna Pillai s advent was the next. He proved that the soul of criticism in Malayalam was different from P.K’s. He wanted that the creative writers of Kerala be emancipated from rusty traditions of the old nodes. He started a newspaper called ‘Kesari’ and established a club with the

The criticism in Malayalam is indeed based on the western principles. Till that time, the treasury of Malayalam literary criticism was the fundamental theories of the Aestheticians of the east.

         Prof. John Kurakar