It was Gohain who for the first time brought the ideas and methods of Anglo-American New Criticism to the study of Assamese/Indian literature in Assamese. While studying in Cambridge, he had an eclectic radical ideology but later on, after his return to India, he became a Marxist. It was he who adapted the ideas of critics like György Lukács, Antonio Gramsci, and other critics into the nascent field of Assamese literary criticism. Some of his books in Assamese are Sahityar Satya, Sahitya Aru Chetana, Biswayatan, Asomiya Jatiya Jibanat Mahapurushiya Paramapara, Assam: A Burning Question and several other significant and widely read books. He has also written 4 volumes of memoirs which are also relevant for their incorporation of social and historical content. He is a contributor to journals such as Economic and Political Weekly, Frontier, and occasional publications of institutions like Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Centre for English and Foreign Languages, Shillong. He also is a columnist for various regional and national newspapers.
Other contributions
He is also a regular contributor to Economic and Political Weekly. His book 'Assam A Burning Question' is a compilation of several essays on the socio-political crisis confronting Assam in the context of Assam Movement written in the mid 1980s, and the period dominated by extremism. Recently, he played an important role in the mediation of peace talks between the Government of India and the Assamese insurgent group ULFA. He was the founder president of the Asomiya Sahitya Sanmilani.He is a recipient of Sahitya Aademy award for his book on Sankardev.
Selected published works
1.Tradition & Paradise lost: a heretical view 2.Assam, a burning question 3.On the present movement in Assam 4.Nature and art in Shakespeare: an essay on Hamlet 5. Sahityar Satya 6. Bastabar Swapna 7. Kal Bhramar 8. Kewal Manuhar Ase Gaan 9. Samaj Aru Samalochana 10. Sristi Aru Jukti 11. Sahitya Aru Chetana 12. Kirtan Puthir Roh Bisar 13. Tejar Aakhare Likha 14. Biswayatan 15. Kabitar Bichar Aru Natun Samalochana 16. Asamiya Jatiya Jibanat Mahaapurusiya Parampara 17. Upanyasar Adhunik Samalochana 18. Adristwa Aru Asam 19. Kalasrot Aru Kandari 20. Nature and Art In Shakespeare 21. The Magic Plant 22. Aspects of Early 19th Century Bengalee Culture
Gohain opposed the citizenship Act and equated the exclusion of Muslims from the CAA purview of the as a move similar to that of the pogrom against the Jews by Nazis in Germany during World War II. Gohain participated in an anti-CAA protest organised by the All Assam Journalists Union in front of Guwahati Press Club.
