Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 227-240).

The topic of this thesis is the analysis of the work of the acclaimed Hindi writer, essayist and translator Nirmal Varma (1929-2005), especially his relationship towards Czechoslovakia, where he lived from the end of the 1950's until 1968. The work will be based to a great extent on primary literary and archival sources. Special emphasis will be laid on literary works situated in the then Czechoslovakia, as well as on texts which have been influenced by his Czechoslovak experience. Apart from the analysis of Varma's writings, the thesis will also concentrate on his translations of Czech authors into Hindi. In his later literary and essayist works Varma looked at the relationship of India and Europe as two distinctive cultural entities. The work will seek to introduce Varma's view of Europe and his stay in Czechoslovakia in a broader cultural and historical context.