2002

2002 marks the first publication by Penguin Books India of this English translation of Devdas and the copyright year assigned to the translation. It is significant as the edition’s publication date, rather than as a date explicitly given for events in the novel or for any particular film adaptation.

Publication and Translation

The publication information identifies 2002 as the year Penguin Books India first published the translation. The copyright notice separately assigns the translation copyright to Penguin Books India in the same year, linking the date both to the edition’s release and to its translated text.

The Date in the Edition’s Context

The edition’s introductory discussion places Devdas within a continuing history of interpretation. It describes the story as adaptable across languages and media, and considers how film versions reshape its central relationships and tragic trajectory. That discussion gives the 2002 edition a context of renewed attention to the novel, but it does not establish 2002 as the release year of any film mentioned there.

Scope of the Date

The date refers specifically to the translation’s publication and copyright. The material also recounts earlier publication and adaptation history, including a film released in 1938, but presents those as distinct dates. Keeping these references separate makes 2002 a bibliographic marker for this translation, not a general date for the novel’s story or its adaptations.