Introduction

Prof. Milind Malshe (born 14 July, 1951) has pursued two parallel careers. One, as an academician in the areas of Language Studies, Literary Studies & Aesthetics – where, as a faculty member in the Department of Humanities & Social Sciences at IIT Bombay, he explored many interdisciplinary areas in his pedagogy, in his publications & in his role as a doctoral supervisor. The other, as a scholarly Hindustani Classical Music Vocalist – where, he has collected a large repertoire of compositions in the Jaipur khayal gayaki and has been performing as well as teaching these to a large number of students.

This blog gives a glimpse into Prof. Malshe’s contribution to both these fields.

Literature

Prof. Milind Malshe comes from a strong literary background. He was exposed to Marathi literature from his childhood. His father Prof S. G. Malshe was a renowned scholar of Marathi literature. Prof. Milind Malshe did his B.A from the Elphinstone College, Bombay (now Mumbai), with English & British History. His M.A was in English literature & Aesthetics from Bombay University. He is mainly known as a teacher & critic of literature in English & Marathi. He has guided Ph. D theses on English & American literature, and also on Indian writers in English. He has translated a key paper on Dalit (दलित) literature in Marathi into English, which has appeared in the anthology – “The Poisoned Bread”. A few of his creative pieces have appeared in the journal, “The Brown Critique”. He has singly & collaboratively published papers on literature, literary genres and literary Stylistics. 

This section will provide a glimpse into his contributions to the field of Literature & literary studies.

Language

Prof. Milind Malshe had an opportunity to learn modern Linguistics & Phonetics at CIEFL (now EFL University) Hyderabad. His father, the Late Prof. S. G. Malshe, who was a renowned scholar of Marathi Language & Literature, encouraged him to study modern developments in Linguistics. In 1979, Milind Malshe completed his M. Litt thesis on ” The verb ‘have’ ” in English & its equivalents in Marathi” from CIEFL, under the supervision of Prof. M. V. Nadkarni. Since then, he has continued to publish in Marathi on language related issues, culminating in his book आधुनिक भाषाविज्ञान : सिद्धांत आणि उपयोजन (6th ed. 2019, लोकवाङ्मय गृह, मुंबई). He has singly & collaboratively published translations of the writings of modern linguists like Saussure, Jakobson, Hymes, Chomsky & others. A compilation of these translations is ready for publication (forthcoming from लोकवाङ्मय गृह, मुंबई). 

This section will provide a glimpse into his contributions to the fields of Language & Translation Studies.

Music

Prof. Malshe started learning Music in 1966. His parents & later his wife Charuta, strongly supported him in his pursuit of music. Milind Malshe completed his Diploma in Hindustani Vocal Classical Music from Bombay University. After that he continued to publish in Marathi & English on issues in Musical Aesthetics, musicology & history of music. He developed a course in Music Appreciation which was a popular elective course at IIT, Bombay. He has given Khayal performances & also delivered series of Lecture Demonstrations on different aspects of music & the performing arts. His lectures on Research Methodology for Performing Arts, at Pune University, were published in a book form in Marathi प्रयोगाकलांसाठी संशोधनपद्धती (multiple editions since 2011, लोकवाङ्मय गृह, मुंबई).

This section will provide a glimpse into his contributions to the field of Music Studies & also some of his major performances.

Aesthetics

Prof. Milind Malshe was a student of Prof. R. B. Patankar & Prof. M. P. Rege when he studied Aesthetics as a subsidiary course at M.A. When his father, the Late Prof. S. G. Malshe translated the Wellek & Warren classic – “Theory of Literature” into Marathi as Sahitya Siddhant (साहित्य सिद्धांत), Milind Malshe was groomed in this process. He completed his Ph. D thesis in the area of Aesthetics & Genre Studies. After that he continued to publish in Marathi & English on issues in Aesthetics & Literary Studies, culminating in his English book, “Aesthetics of Literary Classification”  (2003, Popular Prakashan, Mumbai). He has singly & collaboratively published translations of the writings of Barthes, Foucault & other theorists. He developed courses in Aesthetics at the Undergraduate & Postgraduate levels in IIT, Bombay. He has also delivered series of Lectures on Comparative Aesthetics at NID, Ahmedabad, M. S. University, Baroda, Universities of Mumbai & Pune.

This section will provide a glimpse into his contributions to the field of Aesthetics.