This is amazing. Did you know about this Indo-French Connection?
Did you know India and French have a literary connection?
Lets Explore!
Many Indian origin writers have written in French and many french writers have written about India. And we being we, the World of Indian Reads, wanted to celebrate this beautiful connection. What better day than today! It’s the International Francophone Day.
20th March, observed as the International Francophone Day, is an opportunity for the French-speaking territories of the world to come together and celebrate their common language. It is also an opportunity to promote French at the cultural and linguistic level all over the world. To celebrate this incredible day, in no particular order, we have put together a list of francophone writers who write on diverse themes and a few who have written on India, as well.
Manohar Rai Sardesai: Sardesai is a Konkani and French writer and poet from Goa. One of his books, La première pluie, is a beautiful story about a married couple trying to work things out. He takes up topics like equality, respect and new beginnings in this short story.
Ananda Devi: Devi was born in Mauritius and has an Andhra Pradesh and Creole background. She is a writer and poet. Many researchers refer to her works, the most famous among them being L sari vert.
These authors are an absolute must-read for someone who wants to start reading francophone literature. Now let us get to two very interesting books written in French by francophone writers on India.
Po
udre de kumkum by Larry Tremblay: This is a short mémoire in which Tremblay, a Canadian French writer, talks about his experiences as a tourist in India.
La nuit bengali by Mircea Eliade: A Romanian, Eliade took up endeavors like writing and teaching. Full of stereotypes associated with India, his book is nonetheless very interesting and fun to read about.
Here’s hoping you check out some or all of these authors and their works and that you actually end up reading and enjoying them.
