HSC English 4.1 History of Novel

 4.1 History of Novel

A complete guide to the history of the novel: its origin, world’s first novel, rise in Europe, and key features — perfect for HSC English students.

The author of -

Communication Skills in English For Engineers and Technologists

Have you ever wondered how the novel became the most dominant literary genre in the world? In this blog, we will explore the history and development of the novel — from the world’s first fiction to the modern European format taught in Class 12 English.

18th Century English Literature

•   The periodical Essay.
•  Novel ( Caught the spirit of 18th century)

The 18^th century was the Age of

• ·        Intellectual
• ·        Sentimental
• ·        Realistic Plane
• ·        Instruct readers (To help readers to live more purposeful & virtuous life)

NOVEL

Since Origin

• ·        Gaining Popularity
• ·        Growing Gradually

Today

• most dominant
• literary genre

Meaning of Novel/What is Novel?

A Novel - a relatively long narrative (fiction) - describes intimate human experiences, a prose form.

Derivation of Novel

The word 'Novel'  - derived from the Italian word 'Novella -  means 'New'

Some more points to know about the novel -

1. An embellished story,  with more details of time, place, nature, people and their minds, their gestures and activities.
2. Creates the picture of the society of that time.
3. Easier to understand than drama & poetry.
4. Novel as a literary Genre has a history of about 2000 years.

Greek Romances (Early Novel)

Among the early precursors of novel, a collection of tales known as Greek Romances (2nd to 6th Century) tops the list.

Based on the ideal love & marvellous Adventures↓

→ imaginative and delightful stories (affected creative writing for the next 1000 years.)

Earlier thread of genre can be found in

• Virgil's Ecologues
• Malory's Morte De Arthur
• Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

World First Novel 'Tale of Genji' written by Murasaki Shikibu's in 1010

European First Novel 'Don Quixote', written by Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes in 1605 & 1615

Also, the 18th Century Newspaper and Magazine Attracted large number of middle-class readers. 

These readers had little interest in

• Romances 
• Tradegies

These readers appreciated the Upper Class readers. Thus, a need for a new type of literature arose to express new ideas of the 18th Century.

Characteristics/Foreground of the new type of literature includes:-

• Spirit of realism
• Denial of Romantic features like enthusiasm, passion & imagination

In England (After 1740) Novel originated as a literary form

The rise of the middle class took place due to

• Increase in Trade
• Increase in commerce
• Industrial Revolution
• People occupy an elite status

What was depicted/shown in the  novel

• The realistic picture of everyday life
• Problems of the common People

So, it appealed newly educated class and was regarded as a respected reading material.

Novel designed for the middle class / lower class

• Voice their aspirations 
• To meet their longings

At this time, Drama & Poetry were fading away because the novel was a mixture/combination of drama & poetry, and moreover, some new extra features were added to it.

Novel encompasses the

• social, political & cultural happening
• scientific progress

Major Novelists of the 18th Century

1. The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan(1678)
2. Oroonoko by Aphra Behn (1688)
3. Robinson Crusoe & Mall Flanders by Daniel Defoe
4. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
5. Pamela/ virtue Rewarded & Clarissa by Samuel Richardson
6. Henry Fielding, Lawrence Sterne & Tobias Smollett

Stalwart Novelists

• Charles Dickens 
• Walter Scott 
• Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Horace Walpole, 
• Thomas Hardy, 
• Wilkie Collins 
• H.G Wells.

The features of the novel-

1. Modem Topics
2. Innovative Style and Technique
3. Widened the angle of view, such as political and social, psychological and modern issues 

Major Novelist of the 20th Century.

• E.M Forster
• James Joyce
• Joseph Conrad
• Henry James
• George Orwell
• Graham Greene
• D.H Lawrence
• William Golding
• Anthony Burgess

Immigrant Authors

• Salman Rushdie (India)
• V.S Naipaul (Trinidad)
• Kazuo Ishigura (Japan), etc

Contribution of Women Novelists

1. Evelina by Frances Burney
2. Gothic Novels by Ann Radcliffe
3. Frankenstein (novel on Science) by Mary Shelly
4. Jane Austin
5. The Wuthering Heights & Jane Eyre by the Brontë sisters Emily & Charlotte
6. Psychological Novels by Mary Ann Evans, alias George Eliot
7. Stream of consciousness technique by Virginia Woolf
8. Hercule Poirot & Miss Marple (Crime-based Novels/ Detectives) by Agatha Christie
9. some others (Harper Lee, Margaret Atwood, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker)

Indian Scenario

The first Indian English novel was Rajmohan's Wife by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. (It was also serialised in 'The Indian Field')

Novels written by Indian writers were based on

• Nationalist virtues (due to the freedom struggle)
• Social issues

Major Trio Novelists were

• Mulkraj Anand
• R.K Narayan
• Raja Rao

The Indian Novelist who changed the course of the Indian English Novel

• Anita Desai
• Nayantara Sahgal
• Arun Joshi
• Manohar Malgaonkar

Indian Novelists who created movies/ ameliorated on Indian novels by adding extra features

• Amitav Ghosh
• Vikram Seth
• Upamanyu Chatterjee

Dazzling performance by the Indian Novelist includes

• Salman Rushdie
• Arvind Adiga
• Arundhati Roy
• Kiran Desai
• Kiran Nagarkar

The tradition of Indian English Novel has undergone avital change since its birth and has a very bright future

Derivation of Novella
NOVELLA

The word 'Novella' is derived from the Italian Word 'Novelle'

WHAT IS NOVELLA?

• It is a type of prose fiction that is shorter than a full-length novel and longer than a short story
• It is a well-structured yet short narrative
• Tone often is Satiric & realistic
• It focuses on one incident/issue with 1-2 main characters

Famous Novellas

• The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
• The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
• Billy Budd by Hermann Melville
• Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
• Seize The Day by Saul Bellow
• Pearl by John Steinbeck

Elements of Novellas/ Novel

1. Theme
2. Plot
3. Character
4. Setting
5. Conflict
6. Language/ Style

• Theme
• It is a central idea in the novel that can be expressed in a nutshell
• It is a philosophical statement or truth
• Plot
• It is a story or the course of events that make up the theme.
• It is created by the conflict, either internal or external
• The plot can be -
• Simple (One plot)
• Complex (Contains many subplots)
• Characters
• Every story contains characters in the form of people, birds, cartoons, robots, animals, etc
• There are mainly two types of characters
• Main character (Always described in every aspect by the writer)
• Minor characters (Not given much importance and details)
• Protagonist (Hero)
• Antagonist (Villain)
• Settings - The setting is the background in which the story takes place
• Several aspects of the settings
• アPlace 
• Period 
• Time 
• Climate 
• Weather 
• Lifestyle
• Plot & character are the two major elements that are affected by the settings
• Conflict
• The struggle between the opposing forces in the story is called conflict.
• Conflict in the story provides interest and curiosity about the plot
• Language/Style
• The techniques used by the author for the narration of the course/story of events is known as the style

Techniques such as

• extensive vocabulary & high phrases
• Laconic/ remain to the point
• Mix both

Types of Novel. (11 Types)

1. Realistic novel
2. picaresque novel
3. Historical novel
4. Epistolary novel
5. Gothic novel
6. Autobiographical novel
7. Allegorical novel
8. Utopian/ Dystopian novel
9. Psychological novel
10. Stream of consciousness novel
11. Bildungsroman novel

1) Realistic novel

• It gives the effect of realism
• Also called a novel of manners
• Characterised by its complex characters with mixed motives that are rooted in the social class
• The Character in this novel undergoes plausible and everyday experiences

2) Picaresque novel

• The word Picaresque originated/derived from the Spanish word 'picaro', which means a rogue(Villain)
• It narrates the adventures of the protagonist, who is an eccentric or a disreputable person, in an episodic form

3) Historical Novel

•    A Novel set in a period earlier than that of the writing

4) Epistolary novel

• Derivation: The word Epistolary derives from the Latin word epistola, which means a letter.
• In this novel, the writer presents the narrative through a series of correspondence, letters, or diary entries

5) Gothic novel - The novel that includes the following things is called as Gothic

• Terror 
• Mystery 
• Horror 
• Thriller 
• Supernatural elements
• Doom
• Death 
• Decay 
• Haunted building

6) Autobiographical

• The autobiographical novel is a novel based on the life of the author
• However, the author changes the places and names of characters or even make change or avoids certain details of his life
• It may or may not be in the first-person narration

7) Allegorical novel - An allegory is a story that bears more than one level of meaning

• The surface meaning of such a novel is different from its symbolic meaning. 
• The symbolic meaning of an allegory may be Political, Religious, Historical, or  Philosophical

8) Utopian/Dystopian

• Utopia is an imaginary community or society possessing the ideal qualities
• It is a common literary theme, especially in science fiction or speculative fiction

9) Psychological Novel

• A psychological novel is a work of fiction that treats the internal life of the protagonist or even the other characters

10) Stream of consciousness novel - It means the flow of thoughts

Stream of consciousness phrase was coined by William James, in his treatise' Principles of Psychology' (1890)

• Incidents in the plot are in the sequence of their occurrences
• The novelist narrates them as they enter the mind of the character.

11) Bildungsroman Novel

• Its a German word which means Growth
• The fictional biography or autobiography is concerned with the growth of the protagonist's mind, spirit and character from their childhood to adulthood

In the first half of 20th Century pulp magazines became popular. 

• Printed on cheap Pulp paper
• Building ground for detective Novel. 

Science fiction

First Novel on Science Frankenstein by Mary Shelly (1823)

Its a genre of speculative fiction with imaginative concepts

like

• Futuristic setting, 
• futuristic science & technology, 
• Time travel
• Space travel, 
• parallel universes and extraterrestrial life.

It often explores the potential consequences/ effects of scientific innovations.

Science Fiction flourished in the 2nd half of the 19th century 

Detective Fiction

Its a subgenre of crime & mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective-- he/she can be either professional or amateur, investigates a Crime, often a murder.

Thus, the novel continues to evolve with changing times while remaining a powerful mirror of society.

In conclusion, the novel evolved from early tales of romance to a powerful literary form that reflects social life, human psychology, and cultural changes. Its growth in England and Europe was fuelled by historical changes such as the rise of the middle class and the spread of print culture. Today, the novel remains one of the most influential genres in world literature.