Fiction and Indian Novel
BANKIM: THE ORIGINARY* FIGURE OF INDIAN NOVEL IN ENGLISH
Y.V.R. Prasanna Kumar
Research Scholar (M.Phil.), (Part-time), Department of English, S.V. University, Tirupathi. A. P.INDIA 517502 INTRODUCTION
A great deal of Indian writing in English is in the form of novel. In the course of an eventful history, Indian novel in English demonstrated the capacity and resilience for innovations and attained the status of Universal Form. The post-independence India has witnessed a Sea change of Indian fiction in English. The form of Indian novel in English has become more open, more playful, and more concerned. All the credit aptly goes to the gifted, stupendous, and extraordinary creative genius, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. He, indeed, took all the pains to make novel a genre in Indian writing in English. He began to write Rajmohan's Wife,' the first Indian Novel in English, in the year 1864. It was his initial and tentative attempt as literary genre to fiction based on a Victorian narrative model.
'Rajmohan's Wife' depicts the story of the trails and tribulation of Matangini, the beautiful and selfless wife of a cruel and wicked Rajmohan, who is suspect of her character and does not hesitate even to inflict physical torture on her. It is typically representative of Bankim's genius as an artist and thinker, and foreshadows his qualities of skilful narration, masterly character portrayal, delightful humour and a vein of social criticism.
1. SCHEME TECHNIQUE 'Rajmohan's Wife' established Bankim's place as the father of the Indian novel in English. As the first attempt made by an Indian writer to produce novel in English, it certainly deserves encomiums. What impresses most is its realism. There are of elements of mystery and suspense, nefarious plots and nocturnal adventures, midnight dacoits, secret meetings, surprise discoveries, blackmail and kidnapping. These features are set against the dramatic background of thunders, rains, storms, lightning and rivers
Y.V.R. Prasanna Kumar
Research Scholar (M.Phil.), (Part-time), Department of English, S.V. University, Tirupathi. A. P.INDIA 517502 INTRODUCTION
A great deal of Indian writing in English is in the form of novel. In the course of an eventful history, Indian novel in English demonstrated the capacity and resilience for innovations and attained the status of Universal Form. The post-independence India has witnessed a Sea change of Indian fiction in English. The form of Indian novel in English has become more open, more playful, and more concerned. All the credit aptly goes to the gifted, stupendous, and extraordinary creative genius, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. He, indeed, took all the pains to make novel a genre in Indian writing in English. He began to write Rajmohan's Wife,' the first Indian Novel in English, in the year 1864. It was his initial and tentative attempt as literary genre to fiction based on a Victorian narrative model.
'Rajmohan's Wife' depicts the story of the trails and tribulation of Matangini, the beautiful and selfless wife of a cruel and wicked Rajmohan, who is suspect of her character and does not hesitate even to inflict physical torture on her. It is typically representative of Bankim's genius as an artist and thinker, and foreshadows his qualities of skilful narration, masterly character portrayal, delightful humour and a vein of social criticism.
1. SCHEME TECHNIQUE 'Rajmohan's Wife' established Bankim's place as the father of the Indian novel in English. As the first attempt made by an Indian writer to produce novel in English, it certainly deserves encomiums. What impresses most is its realism. There are of elements of mystery and suspense, nefarious plots and nocturnal adventures, midnight dacoits, secret meetings, surprise discoveries, blackmail and kidnapping. These features are set against the dramatic background of thunders, rains, storms, lightning and rivers
Bibliography: 1. Bose S.K. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Rebirth of Spirit, Publications division, New Delhi, 1974, pp.1-6 2. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Rajmohan 's Wife, Meenakshi Mukerjee, Afterword, Ravi dayal Publisher, New Delhi, 1996, P.137 3. Bagchi, Jasodhara, Positivism and Nationalism, Womanhood and Crisis in Nationalist Fiction: Narrative Forms and Transformation. Maratha Sudhakar and Meenakshi Mukerjee (Eds) Delhi, Chanakya publications, 1986, P. 63 4. K.S. Rammurti, Rise of Indian Novel In English, Sterling Publications private limited, 1987, P 47 5. Razada, Harish. The beginnings: Indo-Anglian Fiction before 1980 and Indo-Anglian fiction in the era of National Awakening and Uprising (1900-1918), The Lotus and the Rose, Indian Fiction in English(1850-1947), Aligargh, Faculty of Arts, 1978, pp. 1-70 6. The Indian Narrative Tradition and Bankim Chandra 's RajMohan 's Wife, Journal of Literary Studies, Vol.4, No.1, p.59. 7. (http://www.umbc8.umbc.edu) 8. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14 Th. Edition 9. (Sri Chinmoy, Mother India 's Light house, Part 1, New York, 15-11-2003)