Developments up to the mid-20th century Mysore literature in Kannada

statue of noted kannada writer d. v. gundappa @ bugle rock garden, bangalore

in 1881, british handed administrative powers wodeyar family. 1947, when kingdom acceded union of india, incumbent maharaja assisted diwan (prime minister), administrative chief of mysore. these times of positive social , economic change, independence movement , modern nationalism, of influenced literature.

kannada literature saw blossoming of navodaya (lit. new beginning ) style of writings in genres such lyrical poems, drama, novels , short stories, strong influence of english literature. b. m. srikantaiah s english geetagalu ( english songs , 1921) path-breaker in genre of modern lyrical poetry. earliest stalwarts in field of modern historical drama , comedy t. p. kailasam , a.n. swami venkatadri iyer (also called samsa ). kailasam sought critique social developments producing plays questioned utility of modern education system in tollu gatti (1918, hollow , solid ) , dowry system in tali kattoke cooline ( wages tying mangalsutra ). samsa s ideal king, narasaraja wodeyar, protagonist of play vigada vikramarya ( wicked vikramarya , 1925).

initial development in genre of historical novels, in form of translations , original works, sought re-kindle nationalistic feelings of kannadigas. venkatachar (anandamatha) , galaganath among first write such novels. galaganath s madhava karuna vilasa (1923) described founding of vijayanagara empire, while kannadigara karmakatha ( kannadigas fateful tale ) described empire s decline. in 1917, alur venkata rao wrote famous karnataka ghata vaibhava, summary of earlier works fleet, rice, bhandarkar , robert sewell, appealing kannadigas remember glorious past, ancient traditions , culture, great rulers, saints , poets. other well-known works kerur vasudevachar s yadu maharaja describing rise of wodeyar dynasty, , vasudevaiah s arya kirti (1896). tradition of novels started gulvadi venkata rao (1899) reached maturity in 1915 m.s. puttanna s madidunno maharaya ( sir, sow, reap ), historical novel written in flowing prose , theme set in times of maharaja krishnaraja iii. puttanna goes credit writing earliest modern biography, kunigal ramashastriya charitre ( story of kunigal ramashastri ). genre of short story made initial beginnings panje mangesh rao, m.n. kamath , kerur vasudevachar, masti venkatesh iyengar stole limelight , set trend others follow in kelavu sanne kathegalu ( few short stories , 1920) , sanna kathegalu ( short stories , 1924).

the efforts of these pioneers become forerunner golden age in decades follow. long list of noted poets , writers followed: d. r. bendre (gari, wing , 1932) , govinda pai (gilivindu, parrots , 1930), perhaps acclaimed writers of lyrical poems synthesised work of english romantics native traditions; k. shivaram karanth, noted novelist , author of chomana dudi ( choma s toil , 1933); kuvempu, 1 of kannada s doyen poets showed brilliance in using blank verse in masterpiece epic , magnum opus, sri ramayana darshanam (1949); v. k. gokak, writer of drama, criticism, songs , epic (bharata sindhu rashmi, 1940); d. v. gundappa, philosopher-writer whom ascribed writings in every genre, though notable work mankuthimmana kagga ( dull thimma s rigmarole , 1943), closely compares wisdom poems of late medieval poet sarvajna.