In a November 2018 piece for New Statesman, writer Eleanor Margolis wondered whether she would read Roald Dahl’s fiction to her children. Dahl, considered one of the most influential children’s fiction writers of the 20th century, had made antisemitic remarks and was seen to have justified the Holocaust. Despite her aversion to the fallen hero, Margolis concludes that she would still read Dahl to her children, but would hope they discover the dark side of his public utterances.
What if it isn’t only hateful utterances, but allegations of child sexual abuse against a towering literary figure who passed away 22 years ago? How do we see the literary legacy of someone who is long dead but now disgraced with an accusation? This question crept into Indian literary scene this month, particularly in the Hindi world of letters. Gungun Thanvi, a 35-year-old doctoral student at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, alleged in a social media post that Nagarjun, one of 20th century’s most important poets and writers in Hindi, had sexually abused her at her home when she was seven. Given Nagarjun died in 1998 at the age of 87, the alleged abuse took place when he was around 81.
