The Novel Comes to India


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

The Novel Comes to India

THE NOVEL COMES TO INDIA: Stories in prose were not new to India. Banabhatt's Kadambari, written in Sanskrit in 7th century and Vishnu Sharma's Panchatantra written in 3rd century are some examples of stories. There was also a long tradition of prose tales of adventure and heroism in Persian and Urdu, known as dastan.

The modern novel form developed in India in the 19th century, as Indians became familiar with the Western novel. The development of the vernacular literature and a reading public helped in this process. Some of the earliest Indian novels were written in Bengali and Marathi.The earliest novel in Marathi was Baba Padmanji's Yamuna Paryatan (1857) followed by Lakshman Moreshwar Halbe's Muktamala (1861). This was not a realistic novel; it presented an imaginary romance narrative with a moral purpose.

 

Writing for a Cause: The leading novelists of the 19th century wrote for a cause. Colonial rulers regarded the contemporary culture of India as inferior. Indian novelists wrote to develop a modern literature of the country that could produce a sense of national belonging and cultural equality with their colonial masters.

 

Translation of Novels: Translation into different regional language helped to spread the popularity of the novel and raised the growth of the novel in new areas.

 

The Novel in South India: During the period of colonial rule, the novels began appearing in South Indian languages. Some early English novelists tried to translate the novels into Indian languages. e.g. O Chandu Menon, translated an English novel called Henrietta Temple written by Benjamin Disraeli into Malayalam.Later he wrote the novel, Indulekha, which was published in 1889. It was the first modern novel in Malayalam. Kandukuri Viresalingam, began translating Oliver Goldsmith's Vicar of Wake field into Telugu. But he changed this plan and wrote an original Telugu novel called, Rajasekhara Caritamu in 1878.

 

 
 


Students / Parents Reviews [10]