Chapter 8 Novels, Society And History Long Questions And Answers
Question 1. Explain the contribution of Premchand in Hindi novels.
Answer:
- Munshi Premchand was one of the greatest literary figures of modern Hindi and Urdu literature.
- He began writing in Urdu and then shifted to Hindi.
- His novels lifted the Hindi novels from the realm of fantasy.
- Premchand wrote on the realistic issues of the day, i.e., communalism, corruption, zamindari, poverty colonialism, etc.
- He wrote in the traditional art of Kissa Goi.
Question 2. Describe the development of the novel written for the young.
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Answer:
- Novels written for the young idealized a new type of man: someone who was powerful, assertive, independent, and daring.
- Most of these novels were full of adventure set in places remote from Europe.
- The colonizers appear heroic and honorable confronting ‘native’ people and strange surroundings, adapting to native life as well as changing it, colonizing territories and then developing nations there.
- Books like R.L. Stevenson’s Treasure Island (1883) or Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book (1894) became great hits.
- G.A. Henry’s historical adventure novels for boys were also widely popular during the height of the British empire.
- They aroused the excitement and adventure of conquering strange lands. They were set in Mexico, Alexandria, Siberia, and many other countries.
- They were always about young boys who witnessed grand historical events, got involved in some military action, and showed what they called ‘English’ courage.
- Love stories written for adolescent girls also first became popular in this period, especially in the US, notably Ramona (1854) by Helen Hunt Jackson and a series entitled What Katy Did (1872) by Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, who wrote under the pen-name Susan Coolidge.
Question 3. How was the Industrial Revolution reflected in the novels?
Answer:
- When the Industrial Revolution began, factories came up, and business profits increased but workers faced problems.
- Cities expanded in an unregulated way and were filled with overworked and unpaid workers.
- Deeply critical of these developments, novelists such as Charles Dickens wrote about the terrible effects of industrialization on people’s lives and characters.
- His novel ‘Hard Times’ depicts a fictitious industrial town as grim full of machinery, smoking chimneys, and rivers polluted.
- Dickens criticized not just the greed for profit but also the ideas that reduced human beings into simple instruments of production.
- Dickens ‘Oliver Twist’ is the tale of a poor orphan who lives in a world of petty criminals and beggars. Oliver was finally adopted by a wealthy man and lived happily ever after.
- Emili Zola’s ‘Germinal’ was written on the left of a young miner but it ends in desire. It didn’t have happened like the ‘Oliver Twist’ of Dickens.
Question 4. Write the names of two famous Indian novelists of the 19th century and also throw light on their works.
Answer:
Indo-European contact proved to be beneficial in many ways. The greatest (CBSE 2009) achievement of this contact is ‘novel’. The emergence of novels in Indian literature was in the latter half of the 19th century. The two famous novelists of the 19th century and their works are as follows:
- Bankimchandra Chatterji: Bankimchandra Chatterji was the first important Bengali novelist of that period. His novels are mostly historical.
- ‘Anandmath’ is the best known among them, especially for its powerful national songs like Vandemataram’. ‘Anandamath’ was written in 1882.
- Premchand: Premchand was a novelist and a short story writer. He carved a distinct place for India in world fiction.
- He made the Indian peasant ‘hero’ of his novels. He was well conversant with the miseries of the people. He could not see the critical condition of the novels Rangbhoomi’ and ‘Godan’ which are his immortal works.
- His short stories numbering about three hundred contain classic pieces, such as ‘Kafan;, Poos Ki Raat’. ‘Sawa Ser Gehun’, ‘Shatranj Ke Khilari’, etc.
Question 5. “Print did not only stimulate the publications of conflicting opinions among different communities but also connected them in the 19th century in India.” Support the statement with examples.
Answer:
In the 19th century, there were intense debates around religious issues. Different groups had different opinions about changes taking place in colonial society.
Some criticized existing practices and championed the cause of reforms, while others opposed reforms vehemently. Print not only spread new ideas, but along with newspapers, it shaped the nature of debate.
This was a time of controversies between social and religious reformers and Hindu Orthodoxy over matters like widow immolation (Sati), monotheism, Brahmanical priesthood, and idolatry.
The ideas were printed every day in the spoken language of ordinary people. Ram Mohan Roy published Sambad Kaumudi in 1821 and the Hindu Orthodoxy commissioned the Samachar Chandrika to oppose his opinions.
From 1822, two Persian newspapers were published Jam-i-Jahannuma and Novels, Society and History 169 Shamsul Akhbar. In the same year, a Gujarati newspaper, the Bombay Samachar, was published.
In north India, the Ulemas were deeply worried about the collapse of Muslim dynasties, and the colonial rulers changing the Muslim Personal Law.
The Deoband Seminary, founded in 1867, published thousands of fatwas telling Muslim readers how to conduct themselves in their everyday life, and explaining the meanings of Islamic doctrines.
Among Hindus, print helped in the reading of religious texts. The first printed edition of Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas, a 16th-century text, came out from Calcutta in 1810.
From the 1880s the Nawal Kishore Press at Lucknow and Shri Venkateshwar Press of Bombay published numerous religious texts in vernaculars.
Not only they could be read easily by the faithful at any place and time, but they could also be read to a large audience of illiterate people.
Religious texts reached a very wide circle of people, encouraging discussions, debates, and controversies within and among different religions.
Question 6. “Stories in prose were not new to India but these were novels definitely new to India”. Explain it.
Answer:
Prose writing and India:
- Stories in prose were not new to India. Banabhatta’s Kadambari, written in Sanskrit in the seventh century, is an early example. The Panchatantra is another. There was also a long tradition of prose tales of adventure and rural life set by Prem Chand was further strengthened by Bengali writers. Notables among them are Bibhuti Bhushan Banerji (1894-1950), Tara Shankar Banerji (1898-1971), and Manik Banerji (1908-1956).
- Bibhuti Bhushan Banerji’s Pather Panchali (1929) has been filmed by Satyajit Ray and thus has become internationally famous.
- Tara Shankar’s Ganadevta and Manik’s Padmanadir Majhi have been translated into several languages.
- Other works of this period are:
- Maila Anchal by Phanishwarnath Renu (Hindi). (b) Praja by Gopinath Mohanti (Oriya).
- Chemeen by Takashi Shivshanka Pillai (Malayalam)
Question 7. Explain what is meant by the following types of novels:
- Epistolary novel
- Serialised novel
For each type, name one writer who wrote in that style.
Answer:
- Epistolary novel: An epistolary novel is written in the form of a series of letters. It is through these letters that the readers are told about the thoughts and conflicts of the characters.
- Samuel Richardson’s Pamela written in the 18th century is an example of an epistolary novel.
- Serialized novel: Serialised novels refer to those that are published in installments, usually in a journal or a magazine. Serialization allows the readers to enjoy the suspense involved in the stories.
Pickwick Papers, written by Charles Dickens was serialised in a magazine in 1836.
Question 8. Write about two important characteristics of the early Hindi novel.
Answer:
The two important characteristics of the early Hindi novel are fantasy and morality. Srinivas Das’s Pariksha-Guru emphasized the importance of values in the lives of young men. Devaki Nandan Khatri’s Chandrakanta is an interesting tale of romance that provides immense pleasure and entertainment to its readers. Chandrakanta is believed to have popularised the Hindi language to a large extent.
Question 9. How is a novel different from a manuscript
Answer:
A novel is an outcome of the print whereas a manuscript is a handwritten text.
Question 10. Explain any three features of the early Bengali novels that existed in two worlds.
Answer:
The early Bengali novels have the following features:
- A group of novels were located in the past, their characters, events, and stories were based on historical events.
- Another group of novels depicted the inner world of domestic life in contemporary settings. Domestic novels portrayed primarily the relationship between men and women.
Question 11. How did ideas about science, reason, and rationality find their way into popular literature in eighteenth-century Europe?
Answer:
In the 18th century the periodical press combined information about current affairs with entertainment. Newspapers and journals carried information about wars and trade as well as news of developments in other places.
Similarly, the ideas of philosophers now became accessible to common people. Ancient and medieval scientific texts were compiled and published, and maps and scientific diagrams were widely printed.
When scientists like Sir Isaac Newton began to publish their discoveries, they could influence a much wider circle of scientifically minded readers.
The writings of thinkers such as Thomas Paine, Voltaire, and Rousseau were also widely printed and read. Thus their ideas of science, reason, and rationality found their way into popular literature.
Question 12. How would you classify the readership of the Bengali novels?
Answer:
The readership of the Bengali novels could be divided into the following two groups:
- The first group consisted of the old merchant elite of Calcutta. These readers patronized public forms of entertainment, such as poetry, contests, musical events, and dance performances.
- The second group consisted of the new Bhadralok. This group of readers preferred the private world of reading novels.
Novels deal with the everyday life of common people, their anxieties, their fears, their struggles, their joys, and their pleasures. That is why they appeal to the common people.