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CHAPTER ONE
The Milieu
F orPunjabiliteraturetheninetiesofthelastcenturysignified
a turning point. This was a time of change, of fresh
aspirationsandcommencements.Underjinfluenceswhichhad
silently been at work, the hold of tradition was loosened and
thefreedom oUhespiritextended.Therewasanunprecedented
upsurge of the creative consciousness. New modes of
expression were established. New themes became current.
With these arose a whole structure of fresh vocabulary and
metaphor, tone and style. Historically, a phase was reached
which set off the old from the new. It was un.mistakably the
beginning of the modem period.
The manwhograspedthefull implicationsoftheprevailing
urges and impulses and brought about this transformation in
Punjabi letters was Bhai Vir Singh. In the sensitive soul was
shaped a subtle andvital response to the stirrings of the time.
This he verbaLized with the full powers of his Intellectual and
intuitive genius. From his pen issued in a mighty flow novels,
poetry, drama" epic, exegesis, biography, juv1enile literature,
tract and periodical essay. Some of these forms were new to
Punjabi and were introduced by him for the first time. Apart
from its spiritual and social conscience, which initself is of no
small consequence, this kind of writing completely changed
the content and style of Punjabi literature. With it began a
new chapter in its history.
In a very real sense, modem Punjal:>i literature is of Bhai
Vir Singh's making. Literary historians today 1trace to him the
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