Realism In English Novel

We in India, on a greater extent are obliged to the European and English novel because as an art form, it has been imported from the West to India. In other words, it is a gift of Western literature. But with the passage of time the Indian English novel has become thoroughly Indian in terms of the themes, techniques plus in the human values. In this regard, Meenakshi Mukherjee observes that: The novel in India can be seen as the product of configurations in philosophical, aesthetic, economic and political forces in the larger life of the country. Despite obvious, regional variations, a basic pattern seems to emerge from shared factors like the Puranic heritage, hierarchical social structure, colonial education, disjunction of agrarian life

However, such classification has its own restrictions as placing an individual writer in a specific period creates several tribulations. Besides an individual writer practices several literary modes and values of demonstration at the time of writing. Hence, the entire body of Indian novel in English may be divided into three broad groups:

1) The traditional novel of social realism previous to Independence.

2) The modern novel of experimentation after Independence.

3) A new contemporary novel since 1981.

The writers in India concentrated on the national awakening and the society in a realistic manner. Bengal seems to be the source of the Indian English novel for the well-known pioneers of the 19th century were posh Bengali writers, for instance, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Romesh Chandra Dutt, Toru Dutt, and Rabindranath Tagore, who dealt with the social evils within their reach. These writers were not merely the imitators of the Western tradition but they had direct participation in values and experiences which are valid in the Indian skeleton. The pioneer novelists were trying to pour a new sense of social ethics showing the age-old social values. They were social reformers and with them, the novel became an exercise in social realism. Sunanda

However, their world was dissimilar from the socio-ethical world of the British novelists. The early novelists in India copied the Western novel in respect of plot-construction, characterization and narrative technique. Despite this the Indian English novel has definitely taken many steps ahead after the 1st World War. The First World War motivated the nationalist spirit amongst the Indian people and further the freedom movement piloted by Gandhiji became an all India experience. Indian English novel was affected by socio-political whirlpools during the nineteen thirties onwards. The writers such as Mulk Raj Anand, R.K. Narayan and Raja Rao tried to explore the contemporary Indian society from their specific views without deforming the reality. They were reformists and preachers, yet, the aim of propaganda remained with them. Mulk Raj Anand, R. K. Narayan and Raja Rao flourished on the literary scene in the year 1930. It was the real beginning of Indian English Novel. According to