History on novel text book

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History of Novel (Std. 12th English)

Relation Between 18th Century & Novel

• The eighteenth century is known as the age of intellectual and sentimental spirit and realistic plane.[cite: 1]
• Novels tried to instruct the readers.[cite: 1]
• They aimed to make life purposeful and virtuous.[cite: 1]
• The novel became the most dominant literary genre and gained popularity with growth.[cite: 1]

What is a Novel?

• A novel is a relatively long narrative fiction which describes intimate human experiences normally in a prose form.[cite: 1]
• It is an extended work in prose either fictious or partly so, dealing with character, action, thought, etc., especially in the form of a story.[cite: 1]
• A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction typically written in prose and published as a book.[cite: 1]
• The word 'novel' is derived from the Italian word 'Novella' which means 'new'.[cite: 1]
• It describes human experiences and narrate a story embellishing it with more details of time, place, nature, people and their minds, their gesture and activities.[cite: 1]
• It creates a picture of the society of that time and makes life easier to understand than in drama and poetry.[cite: 1]

Elements of Novel

• Theme: The central idea in the novel, expressed in a nutshell (in short). It is a philosophical statement or truth portrayed through a narration of series of events and characters acting in the setting.[cite: 1]
• Plot: The story or course of events that make up the theme. It is created by conflict (either internal or external) and can be a simple or complex plot. It creates curiosity or interest in the reader.[cite: 1]
• Character: Related to the plot, events take place due to the characters' behavior. It depicts thumbnail to verbal sketches. There are major and minor types. The protagonist's every aspect is described, and they are in internal or external conflict (with an antagonist).[cite: 1]
• Setting: The background of the story. Aspects include place, period, time, climate, and lifestyle. Plots and characters are affected by the setting, creating a realistic atmosphere.[cite: 1]
• Conflict: The struggle between two forces. Types include man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. self, man vs. society, and man vs. fate. It provides interest and creates curiosity about the plot.[cite: 1]
• Language / Style: The language and techniques used by the author. It involves the use of extensive vocabulary, phrases, and linguistic devices to make narration effective, deciding texture and creating an impact on the reader.[cite: 1]

Types of Novel

• Realistic Novel: Gives the effect of realism with a description of complex characters and mixed motives in a social class. Known as the 'Novel of Manner', where characters interact and seem like real people with real issues.[cite: 1]
• Picaresque Novel: Derived from the Spanish word 'Picaro' (Rogue). It narrates the adventures of a protagonist who is an eccentric, disreputable, or dishonest person, told in an episodic form.[cite: 1]
• Historical Novel: Set in a period earlier than that of the writing. It depicts past culture, thoughts, achievements, and tradition, taking the reader into the past to familiarize them with that situation.[cite: 1]
• Epistolary Novel: Derived from the Latin word 'Epistola' (Letter). The narrative is presented through a series of correspondence or documents, with letters and diaries being popular forms.[cite: 1]
• Gothic Novel: Based on terror, mystery, horror, thriller, supernatural, doom, death, decay, or haunted buildings.[cite: 1]
• Autobiographical Novel: Based on the life of the author. Names, places, and certain details may be changed, and narration may or may not be in the first person.[cite: 1]
• Allegorical Novel: The story bears more than one meaning (surface and symbolic are different). Symbolic meaning may be political, religious, historical, or philosophical.[cite: 1]
• Utopian / Dystopian Novel: Utopia means an imaginary community or society possessing ideal qualities. It is a common theme in science fiction or speculative fiction.[cite: 1]
• Psychological Novel: Fiction that treats the internal as well as the external life of the protagonist or other characters.[cite: 1]
• Stream of Consciousness Novel: Phrase coined by William James in his treatise 'Principles of Psychology' (1890). Meaning 'flow of thoughts', incidents in the plot are narrated as they occur in the mind of the character.[cite: 1]
• Bildungsroman Novel: German word meaning 'growth'. Concerned with the protagonist's mind, spirit, and characters from their childhood to adulthood.[cite: 1]
• Science Fiction Novel: Deals with futuristic settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life. 'Frankenstein' by Mary Shelley (1823) is considered the first science fiction novel. It flourished in the second half of the 19th century.[cite: 1]
• Detective Fiction Novel: Subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction where a professional or amateur detective investigates a crime or murder case.[cite: 1]

Important Novels and Novelists

Novel	Year	Novelist	Remarks
Tale of Genji	1910	Murasaki Shikibu	World's first novel[cite: 1]
Don Quixote	1605/1615	Miguel de Cervantes	Spanish writer, published in two parts[cite: 1]
The Pilgrim's Progress	1678	John Bunyan	[cite: 1]
Oroonoku	1688	Aphra Behn	[cite: 1]
Robinson Crusoe, Moll Flanders		Daniel Defoe	[cite: 1]
Gulliver's Travels		Jonathan Swift	Famous satire[cite: 1]
Pamela, Or Virtue Rewarded; Clarissa	1740; 1748	Samuel Richardson	Epistolary novels[cite: 1]
Evelina	1778	Frances Burney	Novel of manners[cite: 1]
Frankenstein		Mary Shelley	Science fiction[cite: 1]
The Wuthering Heights	1847	Emily Bronte	[cite: 1]
Jane Eyre	1847	Charlotte Bronte	[cite: 1]
The Heart of Darkness	1899	Joseph Conrad	[cite: 1]
The Turn of the Screw	1898	Henry James	[cite: 1]
Billy Budd	1924	Hermann Melville	[cite: 1]
Death in Venice	1912	Thomas Mann	[cite: 1]
Seize The Day	1956	Saul Bellow	[cite: 1]
Pearl	1947	Steinbeck	[cite: 1]
Principles of Psychology	1890	William James	Treatise; pioneer of Stream of Consciousness technique[cite: 1]
Rajmohan's Wife	1864	Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya	First Indian novel[cite: 1]

Women Novelists in the Great Pageant

• Frances Burney[cite: 1]
• Jane Austen[cite: 1]
• George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)[cite: 1]
• Margaret Atwood[cite: 1]
• Ann Radcliffe (a pioneer of Gothic fiction)[cite: 1]
• Emily Bronte[cite: 1]
• Agatha Christie (Novels based on crime; names of detectives: Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple)[cite: 1]
• Toni Morrison[cite: 1]
• Mary Shelley[cite: 1]
• Charlotte Bronte[cite: 1]
• Harper Lee[cite: 1]
• Alice Walker[cite: 1]
• Virginia Woolf (novels reflecting psychological insight)[cite: 1]

English Novel Scenario in India

• First Indian Novel in English: Rajmohan's Wife by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.[cite: 1]
• Major Trio (Novels of Nationalistic Virtues & Social Issues): Mulkraj Anand, R.K. Narayan, and Raja Rao.[cite: 1]
• Novelists who changed the current: Anita Desai, Nayantara Sahgal, Arun Joshi, and Manohar Malgaonkar.[cite: 1]
• Novelists who ameliorated Indian Novel in English: Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth, and Upamanyu Chatterjee.[cite: 1]
• Dazzling performance in recent years: Salman Rushdie, Arvind Adiga, Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai, and Kiran Nagarkar.[cite: 1]

Growth of Pulp Fiction

• In the first half of the 20th century a cult of 'pulp magazines' became popular in which fantastic fiction for the general entertainment of the masses was printed on the cheap pulp paper.[cite: 1]
• The pulp fiction era provided a building ground for the detective novels and science fiction.[cite: 1]

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