Rangbhumi: The Arena of Life

In this novel of epic proportion set in pre-Independence India, Premchand treads the tricky ground of tensions between the rulers and the ruled. Capturing the travails and traumas of peasant society, Rangbhumi celebrates the unassailable spirit of the common man.

The original Hindi novel, published in 1925, was critically acclaimed for its strong characterization and relistic portrayal of the times. The novel revolves around the blind Surdas, who begs for a living, but is also the owner of a much-coveted piece of land. The land is used as a kind of commons by the fractious villagers of Pandepur-but is also actively sought by a local industrialist, Sevak, who wants to set up a cigarette factory. Thus Surdas's land becomes a symbolic stage on which are fought issues of different routes to development.

In an Introduction to the volume Alok Rai provides the context of the work and shows how Rangbhumi was a product of both personal and political difficulties. This volume will appeal to students and scholars of Indian writing in translation, comparative liteature, and translation studies, as also admirers of Munshi Premchand's works.

He (1880-1936) was a pioneering figure in modern Hindi literature. One of the initiators of realism in Indian fiction, he introduced the genre of short story in Hindi. His works highlight social issues, with caste hierarchies and the plight of women as recurring themes.
taught history and communication studies at the University of Windsor, Canada. He is the author of One Language, Two Scripts: The Hindi Movement in Nineteenth Century North India (OUP 1994) and the translator of Gaban: The Stolen Jewels (OUP 2002).