K. S. Bhat, Soma, and a Transnational Literature of Unbelief

Abstract

The final chapter provides an account of Soma (1931–4), the only little magazine from the period seemingly dedicated to the production and dissemination of a transnational literature of unbelief. The editor, K. S. Bhat, had links to the Rationalist Press Association as well as to progressive literary groups in London and India and these connections are manifest in the magazine’s hybridized literary style. This chapter explores some of Soma’s sources and influences from Indian literature and folklore, to Soviet realisms, and Anglophone modernisms. As Johannes Quack suggests in relation to his own work, the point of this approach is not to impose European values on Indian cultures, but to show how new formations of unbelief emerge at the point where different traditions intersect. In Soma, these formations often overlap with those seen in the British Rationalist context; the magazine gives priority to human values and flourishing over and above religious sensitivities and sanctions. But the magazine’s close affiliation with Eastern European and Indian sources and groups also produces new and distinctive formations. This chapter focuses on the parables and fables contributed by Bhat himself as exemplary of the magazine’s unique voice and contribution. Soma is a fitting place to end this book because, in both its conception and realization, the magazine extends the reach and the remit of what has thus far been considered under the heading of a literature of unbelief.