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CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Etheses - A Saurashtra University Library Service Saurashtra University Re – Accredited Grade ‘B’ by NAAC (CGPA 2.93) Chauhan, Pramodsingh R., 2010, Pre-Independence English and Hindi Novel: A Comparative Study, thesis PhD, Saurashtra University http://etheses.saurashtrauniversity.edu/id/eprint/129 Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Saurashtra University Theses Service http://etheses.saurashtrauniversity.edu [email protected] © The Author PRE-INDEPENDENCE ENGLISH AND HINDI NOVEL: A COMPARATIVE STUDY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED BY PRAMOD SINGH CHAUHAN TO SAURASHTRA UNIVERSITY, RAJKOT FOR THE AWARD OF THE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH SUPERVISED BY: AVADHESH KUMAR SINGH CONVENOR, ACADEMC INITIATIVES, KNOWLEDGE CONSORTIUM OF GUJARAT, EDUCATION DEPARTMENT GOVERNMENT OF GUJARAT GANDHINAGAR Registration Number: 2818 2010 1 STATEMENT UNDER UNI. O.Ph.D.7 I hereby declare that the work embodied in my thesis entitled as The Pre- Independence English and Hindi Novel: A Comparative Study, prepared for Ph.D. degree has not been submitted for any other degree of this University on any occasion. To the best of my knowledge, no work has been reported on the above subject. The work presented in this thesis is original and whenever references have been made to the work of others, they have been clearly indicated as such and the source of the information is included in the bibliography. SUPERVISED BY: AVADHESH KUMAR SINGH, CONVENER, ACADEMC INITIATIVES, KNOWLEDGE CONSORTIUM OF GUJARAT, EDUCATION DEPARTMENT GOVERNMENT OF GUJARAT GANDHINAGAR SUBMITTED BY: PRAMOD SINGH CHAUHAN Registration Number: 2818 2010 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A profound sense of gratitude binds me to my mentor and guide, esteemed Avadhesh Kumar Singh, Convener, Academic Initiatives, Knowledge Consortium of Gujarat, Education Department, Government of Gujarat, Gandhinagar. Prof. Singh has been my inspiration for more than a decade, motivating me in innumerable ways. No word of thanks can sum up the gratitude that I owe to Prof. Kamal Mehta, Head, Department of English and CLS, Saurashtra University, Rajkot, my teacher and a wonderful human being who has helped and guided me through academic research. The way ‘Mehta Sir’ goes out of his way to stand up for causes that are just, is a happy aberration in this materialistic world. I can barely express my gratefulness to Dr. Jaydeepsinh Dodiya, Dr. Sanjay Mukherjee and Dr. Ravesinh Zala of the Department of English and CLS, Saurashtra University, Rajkot, for extending their kind co-operation in times of need. I am highly obliged to Shri Y.V. Rathod, Principal, Shri R.R. Lalan College, Bhuj, and the faculties and colleagues of the college for helping me in more ways than one whenever I needed their assistance. I extend my sincerest gratitude to Prof. Mahavirsingh Chauhan, former Pro Vice Chancellor, North Gujarat University, Patan, Prof. Sridhar Rajeswaran, Prof. and Head, KSKV Kachachh University, Bhuj, Dr Bhupalsingh Rathore, former Principal, Shri V.M. Mehta College of Arts and Commerce, Jamnagar and Dr. Balaji Ranganathan, Reader, Dept. of English, 3 Kachachh University, Bhuj, for helping me obtain the source and reference texts and inspiring me in my endeavour. I am highly indebted to Madam Kiran Singh for motivating me through out my dissertation, especially when confounded with the hardships faced in such academic tasks. I am grateful to the staff of The National Library, Kolkata, Asiatic Society, Kolkota, Nagari Pracharini Sabha, Varanasi, SAP library, Department of English and CLS, Saurashtra University, Rajkot, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, Clacutta University library, Kolkata, Gujarat Vidhyapeeth library, Ahmedabad and R.R. Lalan College library, Bhuj, for all the important texts and reference works without which the study would have been impossible. My father Shri R.B.S. Chauhan and my mother Mrs. Savitirdevi Chauhan, not just blessed and motivated me to complete this dissertation but also contributed with linguistic and literary suggestions. My wife Asha and my daughter Anjali were kind enough in understanding my responsibilities and making sacrifices in every possible manner in seeing me through my dissertation all these years. I thank all those whose names may have escaped mention here but have in one way or the other contributed to my work. Pramodsingh Chauhan 4 CONTENTS Certificate Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 1-21 2. Hindi Novel Before Premchand 22-61 3. Hindi Novel in the Age of Premchand 62-131 4. Post – Premchand Hindi Novel 132-149 5. Indian English Novel – The Beginning 150-259 6. The Triumvirate and their Impact on the 260-342 Pre-independence Indian English Novel 7. Conclusion 342-351 Selected Bibliography 352-359 5 CHAPTER – I INTRODUCTION India is a rich treasure of narrative literature that can be traced to The Rigveda in Sanskrit. The Yama-Yamini dialogue and Pururva-Urvashi dialogue among others serve as its evidence. The Ramayana and The Mahabharata are extensive forms of narrative literature. The depiction of gallantry as a part of Indian culture has for centuries inspired and influenced the literature and the authors. The development of an appropriate relationship between man and society manifested the creation of several didactic tales such as Brahatkathas, Kathasaritsagar, Hitopadesh and Panchtantra among others. With the rise of Buddha’s philosophical doctrine and Jain philosophical doctrine was created the Jatakkathas and Jain ballads. The Indian fictional literature particularly novels in Indian languages could have definitely not remained uninfluenced by this rich narrative tradition. Besides Sanskrit literature, the influence of the legends of gallantry such as Chand Bardai’s Pruthviraj Raso (twelveth cenury a.d.), Narapati Nalha’s Bisaldev Raso (eleventh century a.d.), Sarangdhar’s Hammir Raso (fourteenth century a.d.) and Aahla-Udal among others too cannot be overlooked. The Sufi works like Jayasi’s Padmavat (1540) are the exquisite mingling of fiction and history also cannot be oversighted. Though the narrative tradition exists in a verse form, they have served as the source of origin for the novel. It should not be forgotten that it was the need of the age to have these literary forms in verse. 6 Had Chandvardai or Jayasi been alive today they would have preferred the prose form to verse in depicting the account of the lives of their heroes and heroines. The Sufi-poetry and the contemporary novel have many things in common. The attraction of the opposite sex in their youth, the mutual desire of their union and the obstacles of religion and society among others are the common characteristics in both these literatures. Regarding the proximity of the narrative tradition and the novels, when compared from the point of view of character development of the hero and the heroine and ignoring the form legislation, the Hindi novel is closer to the Indian narrative tradition in Sanskrit Apabhrabhansa, Pali and lokbhasa’s than the English novel of the West that came to India with the advent of the British. Throwing light on the scenario prior to the advent of the novel, Premchand remarks: Before the advent of the novel, there were narratives in the form of kissa and kahani dealing predominantly with the themes of love and separation. The lover used to become a victim of the amorous glance of his beloved. The beloved would then tell the story of his suffering to her friends. Mr. Lover would sigh and beat his head and brow. Then the message was passed to the family members, friends and relatives and they used to gather to counsel him. The physicians would treat him but the one suffering from the sickness of love would remain uncured by any medicine or counseling. However, after suffering the pangs of separation for months and years, both of them would meet through some coincidence. Usually, there used to be strange magical manipulating detective scenes that would arouse curiosity in the readers. In this tradition Tilism Hoshruba in Urdu was written in twentyseven volumes and Bostane Khayal in seven volumes. By this time there, there was nothing like novel in Hindi. A few translations were certainly there but there was no novel. (Avadhesh Kumar Singh Discourse 78) The colonial encounter with the British saw the transplantation of the novel in India, the cradle of narrative tradition. Apart from being a literary 7 phenomenon, the rise of the novel in India was a social phenomenon too. The years between 1818 and 1850 witnessed the emergence of prose as well as the appearance of the journals and periodicals in most of the Indian languages. This was also the period which saw the dawn of the age of reason, of rationalistic reaction against the established order, the age of great reforms, liberation and individualism. Change in the economic order, the facilities of press, newspapers, education and the rise of a new professional class among others led to the rise of the new middle class that felt the need of new literary form to express its new multidimensional issues. That form was novel. The earlier literary forms such as poetry, drama and narratives among others were traditionally bound to poetic form, and consequently were not suitable to depict the contemporary multi-dimensional life. They did not provide scope for the publication of personal experiences. The combined form of timeliness and literature in a broad sense was for the first time observed in this form.