UGC NET Gujarati key terms

A narrative verse form in medieval Gujarati literature, typically recounting mythological or devotional stories in performance style. Poets like Premanand composed long akhyans blending narration, dialogue, and moral reflection for rural audiences.

Seventeenth-century Gujarati poet famed for akhyans such as Nalakhyan and Sudamacharitra. His colloquial diction, humour, and vivid characterization made him central to the Bhakti-era narrative tradition taught in the UGC-NET syllabus.

A medieval Gujarati dance-drama genre based on Krishna legends, combining verse, music, and circular dance. Ras compositions by poets such as Narsinh Mehta are treated as early foundations of Gujarati literary performance.

Fifteenth-century Vaishnava saint-poet of Junagadh, celebrated for bhajans and padas on Krishna. Known as the first major Gujarati poet, his works include Vaishnav Jan To, later associated with Gandhi.

The medieval era of Gujarati literature dominated by devotional poetry addressed to Krishna, Rama, and Shiva. Scholars divide it into saguna and nirguna streams, and it includes saint-poets like Narsinh Mehta, Mirabai, and Premanand.

Devotional poetry addressing a formless, attribute-less divine, often associated with sant traditions and poets like Kabir. In Gujarati, nirguna compositions emphasize inner devotion, social critique, and rejection of ritual hierarchy.

A devotional lyric sung in congregational worship, usually simple in metre and refrain. Gujarati bhajans by Narsinh Mehta and later poets are studied for their oral transmission and musical structure.

Nineteenth-century Gujarati poet known for his love lyrics, devotional songs, and the Rasikvallabh collection. His erudite Braj-influenced diction and musical verse mark a bridge between medieval and modern Gujarati poetry.

Author of the four-volume novel Saraswatichandra, a landmark of Gujarati prose. The work blends social reform, nationalism, and philosophical reflection, and is central to the UGC-NET study of the novel form.

Govardhanram Tripathi's four-part novel depicting the moral and spiritual journey of its hero. It is considered the first major Gujarati novel and a foundational text for questions on the development of Gujarati fiction.

The extended prose narrative form that emerged in Gujarati in the late nineteenth century under Western and reformist influence. Exam questions trace its evolution from social reform novels to modernist and post-independence experimentation.

A brief prose narrative with concentrated action and character, developed in Gujarati in the early twentieth century. Writers such as Jhaverchand Meghani and Pannalal Patel shaped its realistic and regionalist directions.

Twentieth-century Gujarati writer, folklorist, and freedom fighter known as Rashtriya Shayar. He collected folk songs and tales in works like Saurashtra ni Rasdhar and wrote patriotic and regionalist prose.

Traditional oral literature including folk songs, tales, riddles, and proverbs transmitted across generations. Gujarati literary study emphasizes Meghani's collections and the influence of oral forms on written poetry and fiction.

Modernist Gujarati poet, playwright, and critic who won the Jnanpith Award for Nishith. His work engages with myth, social change, and experimental form, and he is a frequent subject of exam questions.

India's highest literary honour, awarded annually for outstanding contribution to literature in a scheduled language. Gujarati recipients include Umashankar Joshi and Pannalal Patel, making it an exam-relevant fact.

Gujarati novelist and short-story writer known for rural narratives such as Manvini Bhavai, which won the Jnanpith Award. His work depicts north Gujarat village life, famine, and human endurance with realism.

Poetry from the late nineteenth century onward, moving from reformist and nationalist verse to experimental modernism. Movements such as reetmaan and later free verse reshaped metre, imagery, and subjectivity in Gujarati literature.

A mid-twentieth-century Gujarati poetry movement characterized by ornate, romantic, and often escapist verse. Critics contrast it with progressive and modernist trends, making it a standard topic in literary history questions.

A lyric form of Persian-Arabic origin with couplets sharing a rhyme and refrain, the final couplet often containing the poet's name. Gujarati ghazal writers adapted the form while retaining its thematic focus on love and loss.

The system of metre in Gujarati poetry, specifying syllable count, quantity, and rhyme patterns. Knowledge of chhand terminology is tested in questions on classical and medieval verse forms.

Poetic figures or ornaments of sound and sense, such as upama (simile) and rupak (metaphor). Gujarati poetics draws on Sanskrit alankarashastra, and exam questions often require identifying figures in given lines.

The aesthetic emotion evoked in a reader or audience, classified in Sanskrit poetics into nine principal rasas such as shringara and karuna. Gujarati criticism applies rasa theory to classical and devotional literature.

The theory that the highest poetic meaning is suggested rather than stated directly. Developed by Anandavardhana and Abhinavagupta, dhvani informs traditional Gujarati literary criticism and interpretation of suggestion.

Literary analysis and evaluation, ranging from traditional rasa-based commentary to modern critical schools. Gujarati critics such as Ramnarayan Pathak and Suresh Joshi shaped the discipline's development.

Systematic frameworks for interpreting literature, including formalism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, and postcolonialism. UGC-NET tests the ability to apply such theories to Gujarati texts and to identify key concepts.

A late twentieth-century cultural and literary condition marked by irony, pastiche, and scepticism toward grand narratives. In Gujarati, postmodern experimentation appears in the fiction and criticism of writers such as Suresh Joshi.

Nineteenth-century Gujarati poet and reformer, father of Nanalal, known for satirical and reformist verse such as Bapani Pinpar. He pioneered modern Gujarati poetry and prose under Western and Sanskrit influences.

Gujarati poet and playwright, son of Dalpatram, celebrated for lyrical, romantic verse and verse dramas. His ornate style and patriotic themes mark a distinctive phase of early twentieth-century Gujarati literature.

Gujarati novelist, playwright, and politician known for historical novels such as Patan ni Prabhuta and Gujarat no Nath. His works blend history, nationalism, and social vision, and appear frequently in exam syllabi.

A novel set in a past era, reconstructing events and social life around fictional or real characters. Gujarati historical fiction, notably by Munshi, is studied for its nationalist and cultural framing.

Literature produced after 1947, marked by modernist experimentation, existential themes, and new narrative techniques. Writers such as Suresh Joshi and Raghuveer Chaudhari define this period in standard literary histories.

Writing by and about oppressed caste communities, asserting identity, dignity, and protest. Gujarati Dalit literature emerged in the late twentieth century and is examined for its themes and its relation to movements elsewhere in India.

Literature by women addressing gendered experience, identity, and social constraints. Gujarati women writers from medieval saint-poets to contemporary novelists are studied through feminist critical frameworks.

Oral poetry of the Charan community, comprising heroic ballads, genealogies, and praise poetry. It preserves Rajput history and folk memory and is a key source for the study of medieval Gujarati oral tradition.

A Gujarati folk ballad form sung to a fixed melodic pattern, often narrating heroic or romantic tales. Dhal performances and texts are studied as part of oral narrative traditions in Gujarat.

A short rhymed couplet form used in Gujarati and neighbouring literatures for proverbial or reflective verse. Duhas appear in folk poetry and in the aphoristic works of saint-poets.

The development of Gujarati from Old Western Rajasthani or Gurjari Apabhramsha through medieval and modern stages. The earliest known Gujarati text is generally dated to the twelfth century, and the language's script is the Gujarati script derived from Devanagari.

An Indic script derived from Devanagari, used to write Gujarati. It lacks the horizontal headline of Devanagari and has distinct letterforms, a fact often tested in language and script questions.

The scientific study of language structure, sound, and meaning. UGC-NET Gujarati includes linguistics topics such as phonology, morphology, syntax, and dialect variation relevant to Gujarati.

A regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. Gujarati dialects include Kathiyawadi, Surti, and Charotari, and dialect study is part of the linguistics syllabus.