Indian and Western Novels: A Comparative History
Early Indian and Western Literary Works
Early Examples:
- Banabhatta – Kadambari (Sanskrit)
- Panchatantra (Sanskrit)
- Dastan – Tales of adventure in Urdu and Persian
Early Marathi Novels:
- Baba Padmanji – Yamuna Paryatan (Marathi; about widows)
- Lakshman Moreshwar Halbe – Muktamala (imaginary romance)
Early Malayalam Novels:
- Chandu Menon – Subjudge from Malabar; tried to translate Henrietta Temple by Benjamin Disraeli into Malayalam; wrote Indulekha in Malayalam (first modern novel in Malayalam)
Early Telugu Novels:
- Kandukuri Viresalingam – Tried to translate Vicar of Wakefield into Telugu; wrote Rajasekhara Caritamu
Early Hindi Novels:
- Bharatendu Harishchandra – Pioneer of modern Hindi literature; encouraged members to translate.
- Srinivas Das of Delhi – Wrote the first proper novel, Pariksha Guru (1882), which warned men against bad company.
- Devaki Nandan Khatri – Wrote Chandrakanta (romance and fantasy), which helped popularize Hindi and the Nagari script.
- Premchand – Achieved excellence in Hindi and Urdu. His work Sewasadan lifted the Indian novel from the realm of fantasy, showing serious reflections on social issues. It dealt with the poor conditions of women, child marriage, and dowry. He showed how Indians wanted to govern themselves.
Bengali Novels: Two Main Types
- Novels based on past events, characters, and love stories based on history.
- Novels about the inner world of domestic life in contemporary settings, dealing with social problems and relationships between men and women.
The merchant elite promoted Kabirlarai (poetry contests), musical soirees, and dance performances.
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay hosted a Jatra in his courtyard and read out Durgeshnandini (his first novel). The meyeli (women’s language) was replaced by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s prose, which became Sanskritized.
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay became the most popular novelist in Bengal because of his storytelling.
Key Figures and Works in Western Literature
Henry Fielding (18th century) – Founder of a new province of writing, he made his own laws, allowing flexibility.
Walter Scott – Known for his popular Scottish ballads, he wrote novels on wars between Scottish clans.
18th- and 19th-Century Novelists:
- Samuel Richardson – Pamela
- Henry Fielding – Tom Jones (1749), 6 volumes at 3 shillings each, more than a laborer’s weekly wage.
- Charles Dickens –
- 1836: Pickwick Papers, serialized in a magazine.
- 1854: Hard Times, featuring Coketown, where workers were referred to as “hands,” highlighting the terrible conditions of urban life under industrial capitalism.
- 1838: Oliver Twist.
- Emile Zola – Germinal (1885), about a young miner in France, depicting the harsh, grim conditions of his life. The story ends on a note of despair after a strike fails.
- Thomas Hardy – Mayor of Casterbridge; focused on rural communities in England where farmers bought machines and hired laborers to produce for the market, fencing off land.
- Jane Austen – Pride and Prejudice; portrayed women looking for advantageous marriages.
- Charlotte Brontë – Jane Eyre; featured an independent and assertive female protagonist who protested against the hypocrisy of elders.
- R.L. Stevenson – Treasure Island
- Rudyard Kipling – Jungle Book
- G.A. Henty – Wrote novels for boys, emphasizing the excitement and adventure of conquering strange lands, often featuring young boys witnessing military action.
- Helen Hunt Jackson – Ramona
- Sarah Chauncey Woolsey – What Katy Did (pen name: Susan Coolidge)
- Daniel Defoe – Robinson Crusoe; adventure of a slave trader.
- Joseph Conrad – His novels showed the darker side of colonialism.
Early Indian and Western Literary Works
Early Examples:
- Banabhatta – Kadambari (Sanskrit)
- Panchatantra (Sanskrit)
- Dastan – Tales of adventure in Urdu and Persian
Early Marathi Novels:
- Baba Padmanji – Yamuna Paryatan (Marathi; about widows)
- Lakshman Moreshwar Halbe – Muktamala (imaginary romance)
Early Hindi Novels:
- Bharatendu Harishchandra – Pioneer of modern Hindi literature.