Surrealism In Arun Kolatkar’s Poetry

Abstract

Arun Kolatkar (1932–2004) was a renowned Indian poet known for his distinctive voice and contributions to both Marathi and English poetry. Born in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, Kolatkar navigated between his cultural roots and the rapidly changing urban landscapes of India, producing work that bridges the traditional and the modern, the sacred and the profane. His poetry is characterized by sharp observation, minimalistic language, and a surrealist sensibility, capturing the paradoxes inherent in Indian life. Kolatkar’s most celebrated collection, Jejuri (1976), which won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, explores the pilgrimage town of Jejuri through vivid, fragmented imagery that is both reverent and irreverent. In Jejuri, Kolatkar employs surrealistic techniques such as absurd juxtapositions, playful tone, and unexpected shifts between the real and the imaginary, presenting the mundane alongside the mystical. Through scenes of crumbling temples, indifferent gods, and stray animals, he questions the constructs of faith and divinity, revealing the arbitrary nature of the sacred. This surreal quality emerges in his irreverent treatment of gods and rituals, inviting readers to question accepted norms and consider alternate perspectives on spirituality. Kolatkar’s later work, including Kala Ghoda Poems, shifts from the rural to the urban, capturing the vibrancy and decay of Mumbai while continuing his exploration of identity and cultural dislocation. His work’s surrealist elements allow him to blur boundaries between reality and fantasy, providing a critical lens through which to view human experience. Kolatkar’s poetry, marked by humor, irony, and a deep understanding of cultural complexities, continues to resonate, offering an incisive commentary on modernity, tradition, and belief. His work stands as a testament to the power of surrealism in addressing the layered and often contradictory nature of contemporary life.
This research article has taken lines of poems of Kolatkar to show the manifestation of surrealism in his poetry.