Literature – GK Questions

Munshi Premchand was born Dhanpat Rai Srivastava. He began writing under the pen name 'Nawab Rai' but later changed it to Premchand.

Samuel Clemens adopted the pen name Mark Twain, a riverboat term meaning 'two fathoms deep' (safe water), before publishing his early stories.

Mary Ann Evans used the male pen name George Eliot to ensure her works would be taken seriously in the Victorian era, as female authors were often stereotyped as writing only romances.

Bengali novelist Ashapoorna Devi won the Jnanpith Award in 1976 for her novel 'Pratham Pratisruti' (The First Promise).

7. Sankara Kurup won the first Jnanpith Award in 1965 for his Malayalam poetry collection 'Odakkuzhal' (The Flute).

Arundhati Roy won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel 'The God of Small Things'. (Note: V.S. Naipaul won it earlier in 1971, but he was a British citizen of Indian descent; Roy was the first Indian citizen).

Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf, famous for 'The Wonderful Adventures of Nils', was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1909.

Edgar Allan Poe's character C. Auguste Dupin, introduced in 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' (1841), is considered the first fictional detective.

Ivan Turgenev published 'Fathers and Sons' in 1862. The character Bazarov is a famous literary representation of the nihilist movement in 19th-century Russia.

Goethe worked on 'Faust' for over 60 years. Part One was published in 1808, and Part Two was completed shortly before his death in 1832.

Molière (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) is considered one of the greatest writers in the French language and world literature, famous for his satirical comedies.

John Bunyan, an English writer and Puritan preacher, began writing 'The Pilgrim's Progress' during his 12-year imprisonment for unlicensed preaching.

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote 'The Canterbury Tales' in Middle English in the late 14th century. It was crucial in legitimizing the literary use of Middle English.

Sophocles wrote 'Oedipus Rex' around 429 BCE. It is the second of his three Theban plays and is considered a masterpiece of ancient Greek tragedy.

Virgil composed the Aeneid between 29 and 19 BCE. It is considered Rome's national epic and has heavily influenced Western literature.

Homer, the legendary ancient Greek poet, is considered the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, which are foundational works of Western literature.

Phanishwar Nath 'Renu' wrote 'Maila Anchal' (The Soiled Border) in 1954. It vividly depicts rural life in Bihar and established the 'Aanchalik' genre in Hindi literature.

Harivansh Rai Bachchan published 'Madhushala' in 1935. It is a metaphorical poem comparing life to a tavern, using wine and the tavern as central motifs.

Jaishankar Prasad, a prominent figure of the Chhayavad movement in Hindi literature, wrote the epic poem 'Kamayani' in 1936.

Mahasweta Devi wrote 'Hajar Churashir Maa' (Mother of 1084) in Bengali, not Hindi. She won the Jnanpith Award in 1996 for her overall contribution to Bengali literature.