Revisiting Tradition and Modernity: Intersections in Contemporary Indian Literature

Abstract

Contemporary Indian literature reflects a dynamic negotiation between the country’s rich cultural traditions and the pressures of modernity brought about by globalization, technological advancement, urbanization, and changing social structures. Writers today explore the tensions and harmonies between myth and realism, caste and cosmopolitan identity, patriarchy and gender emancipation, and rural rootedness versus urban aspirations. This paper analyses the intersection of tradition and modernity in post-independence Indian fiction, poetry, and drama through textual, thematic, and sociological lenses. Using case illustrations from works by Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Amitav Ghosh, Jhumpa Lahiri, and others, alongside survey-based data obtained from literature scholars and urban readers, the study identifies how contemporary Indian authors continually reconstruct cultural identity by fusing folklore, myth, and history with modern voices, forms, and concerns. The findings reveal that these intersections serve not merely as aesthetic strategies but as ideological tools to interrogate marginality, identity, migration, gender politics, and postcolonial nationhood. The conclusion suggests that contemporary Indian literature acts as a fertile frontier where the past and present coalesce to articulate a unique literary modernity rooted in tradition.