Nick

On January 3, our class went to the British Library to research in the archives. I viewed unbound manuscript material by Mulk Raj Anand consisting of multiple applications for grants from the Royal Literary Fund. The Royal Literary Fund was a benevolent fund that gave assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. The document consisted of many thin papers both handwritten and typed that supplement Anand’s application. As discussed in lecture, Anand was a peripheral member of the Bloomsbury group who advocated for human rights as well as challenged the implicit biases between the British and India. Anand’s motives align with the beliefs CLR James voices in his Letters from London in which he states, “When you move around this place and see the opportunities the people have…and then stop and think for a minute of the conditions in the West Indies, Trinidad and  poor Barbados, the wonder is not that  the creoles do so little but that they so well.”1  Here James voices how Europe’s public access of knowledge through museums gives them an advantage; Anand seeks to supplement this knowledge with a representation from India.

It was fascinating to see Anand’s motives behind his writing through his cover letter to the Royal Literary Fund in which he mentions his desires to connect European and Indian cultures. We have the luxury of recognizing how the funds supported Anand such that he could continue writing for his cause and experiment with modernist styles in his literature. Going through the archives and viewing primary documents such as these was an entirely new experience for me. As I read, I was overcome by a strange feeling as I was shocked to see how similar Anand’s application was to an application one might complete today. This not only helps to bring Anand to life, but also helps me realize how processes during this time were not that different to those of today. The similarities reinforce the idea that we can glean from the philosophies of Bloomsbury, many of which will still apply to many of the struggles we face as a society.