Decoding Anands humanism

One could hardly locate a more tiresome or cliched critical label within the scope of English Writing in India than Mulk Raj Anand's humanism. In keeping with each critic's compulsions Anand's commitment is either extolled (by Marxist' and liberal' alike) or debunked.' Not surprisingly, given the sociological innocence of current critical orientations, the concept itself has rarely been placed under critical scrutiny. Yet, as with so many other concepts similarly taken for granted, when it is, what emerges is hardly boring, or for that matter, benign.