READING INDIAN FICTION IN ENGLISH
Unit-I: E. M. Forster, Aspects of the Novel Deb Dulal Halder Nalini Prabhakar
Unit-II: Bankim Chandra Chatterji, Ananda math Deb Dulal Halder P. K. Satapathy
Unit-III: Chaman Nahal, Azadi Akansha Goswami Dr. Neeta Gupta
SYLLUBUS UNIT-1,2,3 ONLY
NOW NOTES OF UNIT-1
EDIT BY RAJ KUMAR
ASPECTS OF THE NOVEL E. M. FORSTER
INTRODUCTION
E. M. Forster’s influential work Aspects of the Novel, published in 1927, is an early but significant attempt to analyse the genre of the novel. It is a canonical text for understanding the methodology of reading a novel critically. In this unit, an attempt has been made to familiarise you with the genre of the novel and its various aspects. Forster provides insightful interjections to reading a novel as he does not merely deal with the historical development of reading the novel but focuses on the general pattern of reading a novel critically and comprehensively. In the authorial note he writes, “since the novel itself is often colloquial it may possibly withhold some of the secrets from the graver and grander streams of criticism, and may reveal them to backwaters and shallows” (p.21). It would be best to read Aspects of the Novel in the original before moving forward with this self-instructional material. Aspects of The Novel was originally Clark Lecture series delivered by E. M. Forster at Trinity College, Cambridge University. Therefore, the work is very lucid and conversational in tone and tenor and can easily be understood. E. M. Forster is regarded as one of the finest twentieth-century critics. His essays, reviews, articles and poems are collected in two volumes titled Abniger Harvest and Two Cheers for Democracy, where many of his ideas and critical tenets about fiction, art, and literature can be found. He is also a celebrated novelist whose novels are popular even now and read across the world. Forster argues in his works that the novel lacks the rigid structures that characterise poetry, drama, and other literary forms. It would be accurate to say that the novel in terms of writing is the most free-form of the literary genres. Novels are unique in that the author has more leeway and opportunity to express himself through his characters. The novelist can paint a picture of his or her protagonist's outer self by depicting them in a way that addresses their personal and lives. Additionally, the novelist can conduct in-depth mental explorations of himself. The novelist also has access to a wide range of writing methods, from which s/he can select and even mix and match to produce a finished product that can be enjoyed for its own sake. In a similar vein, s/he explores a wide variety of topics, which allows him or her to accurately portray the period while providing background details about the culture and customs of the period in an unobtrusive manner. Significant Works by E. M. Forster Novels • Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905) • The Longest Journey (1907) • A Room with A View (1908); Howards End (1910) 3. THE AUTHOR AND HIS WORKS • A Passage to India (1924) • Maurice (written 1913-1914, published posthumously in 1971) • Arctic Summer (1980), (posthumous, unfinished) Plays and Pageants • Abinger Harvest (1934) • England's Pleasant Land (1940) Literary criticism • Aspects of the Novel (1927) • The Feminine Note in Literature (posthumous, 2001) Biography • Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson (1934) • Marianne Thornton, A Domestic Biography (1956) Travel writing • Alexandria: A History and Guide (1922) • Pharos and Pharillon (A Novelist's Sketchbook of Alexandria Through the Ages) (1923) • The Hill of Devi (1953)
ASPECTS OF THE NOVEL: SUMMARY
Introductory E. M. Forster’s Aspects of the Novel is one of the earliest efforts in studying the genre of the novel. This book is a published version of a series of Clark lectures (1927) delivered by Forster at Trinity College of Cambridge University in England. A novel, Forster opined, can be delightful and provide aesthetic pleasure to the readers when combined with good content and style. To enumerate this, Forster uses examples from many classic English novels. In the Introductory of Aspects of the Novel, Forster defines novel as ‘a fiction in prose of a certain extent’. Right at the start, Forster expresses certain reservations regarding the mandated scope of the Clark lecture series, which is, ‘on some period or periods of English literature not earlier than Chaucer’. This he laments limits the scope of discussion on the novel, as the fiction in other languages, Russian and French in particular, cannot be made a part of the discussion. He writes that English poetry is ‘triumphant’ in both quality and quantity but the same cannot be said of its fiction. In a rather candid assessment he writes, “No English novelist is as great as Tolstoy- that is to say, has given so complete a picture of man’s life, both on its domestic and heroic side. No English novelist has explored man’s soul as deeply as Dostoyevsky. And no novelist anywhere has analysed the modern consciousness as successfully as Marcel Proust” (p.26). A critic, he cautions, must have a wide outlook and “provincialism in a critic is a serious fault” (p.26). Since the lectures fall in the domain of literary criticism, he shifts his focus to the then prevalent scholarly method of classifying novels by chronology or by subject matter. This according to him is a useless exercise because the critic here is “moving round books instead of through them” (p.30). The only way to critically engage with books is by reading them and discovering what they contain. Finally, Forster turns his attention to the word ‘Aspects’ in the title. The word has been chosen primarily because it is ‘vague and unscientific’, and allows the reader/critic a lot of freedom and flexibility to analyse and understand the novel in different ways.
1. How does Forster define the novel? 2. What is Forster’s assessment of the English novel? 3. What according to Forster is a serious fault in a critic? 4. What is Forster’s reason for using the word ‘Aspects’ in the title?
The seven aspects of the novel Forster in the next seven chapters focuses on the seven aspects of the novel: the story, character, plot, fantasy, prophecy, patterns and rhythms. These are dealt with in short in the following paragraphs. • The Story: Forster states that at its core, a novel tells a story by sequencing events in a way that keeps the reader curious as to , “What happens next?” In other words, the story is central to the novel. A good tale, however, must also be instructive or entertaining. He uses the example of One Thousand and One Nights to illustrate this point. The narrator in the story Scheherazade is trying to save her life from her tyrannical husband by telling stories. She survives not because of her wonderful stories, but because she kept the king, her husband in a state of suspense as to ‘what would happen next’ (p.41). Each morning when she saw the sun rising, she would abruptly stop in the middle of a sentence and left him wanting to know the rest of the story. All readers are basically like Scheherazade’s husband when it comes to reading stories. • People/Characters: In the chapter “People,” he uses Charles Dickens's works to illustrate the distinction between “flat” and “round” characters. Characters who are “flat” have only one or two distinguishing traits. In 17th century such characters were called ‘humours’, and also referred to as ‘types’ and ‘caricatures. ‘Flat’ characters, Forster writes, can be summed up in a single line and are easily recognizable. The novelist finds them convenient and useful “since they never need re-introducing, never run away have not to be watched for development, and provide their own atmosphere – little luminous discs of a pre-arranged size, pushed hither and thither like counters across the void or between the stars; most satisfactory” (p.74). “Round” characters on the other hand have many facets. However, a story cannot exist without either. Forster claims that nearly every one of Dickens' characters is flat, “whom we recognize the moment they re-enter, and yet achieves effects that are not mechanical and a vision of humanity that is not shallow” (p.76). However, Jane Austen's stories centre on round characters. There is no problem picturing these characters living out their lives by the time she wraps up her novels, even though she typically does so before they have had a chance. Forster argues that fictional characters must resemble real people to be believable. They may seem more natural to the reader than the people they know. To do this, a writer must expose the inner workings of the protagonist's mind. Forster notes that while mundane tasks like sleeping and eating are under-represented in fiction, the theme of love is often over emphasised. • Plot: According to Forster, a story is a recounting of events, while a plot is a recounting of events with an emphasis on cause and effect. Intelligent readers, who can keep track of details and follow multiple strands of reasoning, are a must for plots. Because of this, the author can build suspense by leaving key details vague until later in the story. A plot must strike a balance between the events and the characters. If the characters do not exert their personalities on the story, they will be swept away by Fate. For More Information – Difference Between Story and Plot The Russian formalists distinguish between “a plot is an artful disposition of incidents” and “a story is a raw material which is artfully disposed to make it a plot,” respectively. The story (Fabula) is the poet's or writer's raw material—the actual events that inspired the work—while the plot (Sjuzet) is the creative ordering of those events into a narrative structure that best serves the story. • Fantasy and Prophecy: To achieve a magical effect, Forster says, authors often employ fantasy elements; however, not all fantastical works involve magic. It is also possible to discover it in the extraordinary nature of commonplace objects and people. Additionally, he touches on parody and adaptation, which allow multiple authors' interpretations of the same story. Forster claims that the characters in Prophecy are more than just characters because they embody the book's universal themes and the author's voice from long ago. To illustrate this point, he cites Dostoyevsky, in whose works the characters always stand for something larger than themselves. The meanings of prophecy are less precise but more universally applicable than the meanings of symbolism. • Patterns and Rhythm: The pattern resembles the outline of a book. The shape can be a circle (where a character ends up back where they started) or an hourglass (where one character's rise and another's fall in the social status meet). Thanks to the pattern, the book can be understood in its entirety. However, Forster cautions that the pattern must develop naturally. The narrative's authenticity and depth suffer when the story's characters are compelled to follow a formula. The story's rhythm is represented by a motif that recurs with slight modifications.
1. In what sense are all readers like Scheherazade’s husband? 2. Explain ‘Flat’ and ‘Round’ characters. 3. How is a plot different from the story?
ASPECTS OF THE NOVEL: A CRITICAL APPRECIATION
According to Forster, “the basis of a novel is a story, and a story is a “narrative of events arranged in time-sequence” (p.42). The events should be presented to make sense of the novel's plot. The story's ability to pique the reader's interest and leave them wondering what happens next is crucial to keeping them engaged. For the novel to make sense and be logical, the author must incorporate both the temporal and value-based aspects of life. While reading the story silently is fine, Forster claims that it will be more enjoyable when reading aloud. Novels, unlike most prose, have a unique appeal to the ear and have much in common with the art of story-telling, which is why they are best experienced when read aloud. Character writes Forster, is “that simple and fundamental aspect of the novel”. Forster titles this section “People” and makes the following declaration at the outset: Not “what happened next,” but “to whom did it happen?” (p.54) is the pertinent question here. Given that “the novelist will be appealing to our intelligence and imagination, not merely to our curiosity” (p.54), Forster emphasises the importance of value in the novel. Through the characters, an author establishes his or her voice and values, however subtly. Forster provides a compelling defence of his decision to use “people” rather than “character” when referring to the protagonists and antagonists of the stories. A novelist’s skill can be displayed in several ways; one is through the author's ability to highlight values; another is through the originality of the author's characterisations. In addition, the author and the character develop a special bond through the process of the latter's thoughtful analysis. Novelists, like artists, reconstruct reality through their imaginations, but unlike artists, they artificially combine fact and fiction to give their characters life Forster argues that the following five human activities are necessary to understand a novelist's characterisation of humans. Birth, eating, sleeping, loving, and dying are the main facts of human life – “birth, food, sleep, love, and death”, as he puts it. Fiction writers have a propensity to make their characters go through experiences that are not typical of real life. The fact that they share names begs how real-world events and actions can be reflected in fiction. This issue is handled expertly by Forster, who draws attention to the disjuncture between the natural world and the novel's canvas. Love and other emotions, not birth, death, eating, or sleeping, should be emphasised in fictional works. Most people can feel more deeply for the characters in a book than they can in real life. A novelist, however, as the creator of these characters, has full authority over how they act and interact in the novel. As a result, coming up with new characters is a difficult task. If the author has too much freedom, the characters may seem unrealistic. But they will cease to be alive if he puts too many restrictions on them. To escape this problem, the novelist needs to employ two technical devices—the use of multiple characters and the deft manipulation of the viewpoint in question. Forster classifies his protagonists as either “flat” or “round.” According to Forster, “flat characters.” include stereotypical figures, comic relief, and caricatures. Round characters are complex or multi-dimensional, grow and change outward and inwardly as the story progresses. It should come as no surprise that the protagonists of Forster's novels are multifaceted, given the symbolic nature of his writing. The narrator's involvement in the story influences the novelist's point of view. The narrator may act as a dispassionate observer, immerse himself in the character's minds, or switch back and forth between the two. At the same time, Forster argues that “the whole intricate question of method resolves itself not into formulae but into the power of the writer to bounce the reader into accepting what he says…” (p.82). Forster cites Dickens' Bleak House to illustrate this point of view: “Look how Dickens bounces us in Bleak House. Chapter I of Bleak House is omniscient. Dickens takes us into the Court of Chancy and rapidly explains all the people there. In Chapter 2, he is partially omniscient. We still use his eyes, but for some unexplained reason, they grew weak: he can explain Sir Leicester Dedlock to us, part of Lady Dedlock but not all, and nothing of Mr Tulkinghorn. In Chapter 3, he is even more reprehensible: he goes straight across into the dramatic method. He inhabits a young lady. . . . Logically, Bleak House is all to pieces, but Dickens bounces us so that we do not mind the shifting of the viewpoint” (p.82). Dickens is widely regarded as one of the finest novelists to write in the English language due in no small part to his mastery of this technique, which he calls “the shifting of the viewpoint”. After discussing character development, Forster shifts gears to discuss the novel's plot. Before anything else, he disentangles the story from the plot. He insists that the plot, rather than the story, is the most critical aspect of the novel. He writes that the story is “a narrative of events arranged in their time sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality” (p.87). In “The King Died, and then the Queen Died,” both the king and queen meet an untimely end. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief; is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it” (p.87). Whereas the story is all about ‘And then- and then’ and satisfies a reader’s curiosity, the plot demands intelligence and also memory. Since the author cares about the aesthetic satisfaction of the reader, the plot should be well-organized and leave no loose ends. As a means of assisting the novelist in reaching his destination, he provides explicit directions: “The plot-maker expects us to remember; we expect him to leave no loose ends. Every action or word in the plot ought to count; it ought to be economical and spare; even when complicated, it should be organic and free from dead matter. It may be difficult or easy, and it may and should contain mysteries, but it ought not to mislead. And over it, as it unfolds, will hover the memory of the reader (that dull glow of the mind of which intelligence is the bright advancing edge) and will constantly rearrange and reconsider, seeing new clues, new chains of cause and effect, and the absolute sense (if the plot has been a fine one) will not be of clues or chains, but something aesthetically compact….” (p.88). Drama relies on action to convey its story. However, the reader of a novel needs to be able to think critically to appreciate the story because the means of expression and exposition are different. Insight into the mystery, which plays a vital role in the plot, is beyond the capabilities of casual readers. Two additional themes that Forster identifies in the novel are fantasy and prophecy. Consider the novel's characters and plot; his description can bring them to life and reveal the truth at its core. Fiction writers can take inspiration from anything, whether real life or folklore. The “Fantasy” genre is known for its frequent use of mythological deities, forgetfulness, puns, and coincidental turns of phrase. According to Forster, there are hints of oneness in the mythology of prophecy, which combines elements of physical reality with those of the universal. Reader’s 'humility' and humour suppression are necessary for the novel's prophetic aspect to be fully appreciated. If his prophet lacks humility, the reader will not hear his message. Readers must suppress their sense of humour to thoroughly engage with the prophet's message. E.M. Forster claims that “Pattern” and “Rhythm” define the novel's aesthetic quality. The arc of the story is essential to a narrative and influences the pattern. A novel's overall cohesion is an example of a pattern; rhythm, on the other hand, is more subtle and challenging to identify. Forster classifies rhythms as “easy” or “difficult.” One way for a novelist to establish rhythm is through recurring phrases or images with minor alterations. The result is akin to an echo or a memory due to repetition. Like a musical symphony, the work's existence grows as its various parts come together in perfect harmony. E. M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel is conversational in tone, which makes reading it so exciting. This book is a must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in English literature because it covers nearly everything a student or scholar of the field should know
1. Briefly summarize all the major points made in the critical appreciation.
THE NOVEL AS A REFLECTION OF SOCIETY
Literary narratives reflect the cultural norms and values of the society in which the narrative is contextualised. Just as a mirror reflects, it can be said that a novel also reflects the society it is representing. However, the comparison is problematic as often novels are also a critique of society and offer us a better version of the world than the one existing. Factual details are often the raw materials of fiction, but they are necessarily not what fiction is all about. From the earliest times, recording culture has been an endeavour of humankind, such as cave paintings. And when writing took form as a means of expression, creativity knew no bounds as poets, dramatists, and novelists flooded the literary world with abstract philosophical ideas, realistic depictions of the existing world, and utopian/imaginative representations of society as they should be. Socio-political, historical, and cultural concerns have always been the purview of literature. All writers — poets, dramatists, novelists, and essayists —reflect the values and mores of their time and place in their work in overt and recognisable ways. For example, when we look at the novel Anandamath by Bankim Chandra Chatterji, it not only tells us about the society of then Bengal when the Sanyasis rebelled to gain back freedom for their motherland but also shows how the inhuman governance had caused many hardships for ordinary people during the Bengal Famine of the 1770s. The society of the those times is reflected through the fictional narrative, though the events narrated in the novel are based on historical truths. Indeed, fiction is not history, but it is no less than history to understand the society and culture of that period. An author is a product of his or her age, and knowingly or unknowingly, s/he represents society. When E. M. Forster was writing, there was a debate about how far realism or fantasy could be taken to decode the seriousness of a novel. At the same time, Henry James in The Art of Fiction emphasises that detachment, objectivity, and seriousness should be taken as a criterion for judging the worth of a novel and that a novel should be akin to history in the sense that it should provide an illusion of portraying reality. If this is one of the views of looking at literature, then the other was that of looking at fantasy and imagination as the key to poetic creativity, where the poets/novelists/dramatists aspired to create a better world than the world in which they lived. P. B. Shelley, the famous Romantic poet, spoke about poets as “the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” So, if, on the one hand, people spoke in terms of realism as a mode of writing a novel; then, on the other, others thought that fantasy is equally justified in portraying the society as when one writes a literary text, one is not just copying the world as “it is” or “it was” but also trying to portray the world as “it should be.” It is, thus, evident that literature reflects the society that we live in, as the authors are products of this world. They necessarily portray or critique the reality they live in. Novels, as narratives, also do the same – whereas the realist writer tends to look at the uglier aspects of society and portray them with a commitment to purge the society of those undesirable elements, the fantastical writers try to take the readers to an imaginary world through their narratives to manifest to them a better world than the world they inhabit. This, both the bright and shadowy sides of reality, finds expression in literary narratives, making them social products where the culture of the time is primarily reflected. Literature is the collective and individual voices that shape societies. For the claims that literature accurately reflects and depicts communities, it must encompass a wide range of cultural practices, philosophical tenets, and personal qualities. Literature’s evocative vocabulary makes it possible to describe the customs of various human communities. Literature, as defined by its cultural connotations, provides information or context that is both fascinating and affluent. The reader can better comprehend and describe the feeling by referencing literary works and vocabulary from those works. Literature can, thus, serve as a portal to the past, transporting readers into the protagonist’s thoughts and feelings at a specific time, or can take the reader to a portal that one aspires to.
1. Literature reflects cultural norms and values. Elucidate. 2. How far is it justified to say that a novel reflects society? Write a critical note with reference to one novel that you have read in this course.
SUMMING UP
Reading a novel for aesthetic pleasure is different from reading a novel for academic purposes. As students of literature, we do not just read but also critically analyse literary texts . If we know the basic aspects of the novel, then we can in a structured, systematic manner progress with the task of interpretation and analysis orster’s lectures make literature students aware of the seven basic aspects we need to look into while reading a novel. The novels Anandamath and Azadi, are prescribed in this course and you need to read them from the perspective of E. M. Forster’s theoretical premises on the genre of the novel. It is not that Forster’s seven aspects of looking at the novel are the only ones; there are many other aspects to be considered while studying a novel; but for someone who is a beginner to literary studies, E. M. Forster’s Aspects of the Novel can be a good entry point to understand the genre of the novel critically. All references are from: Forster, E.M. Aspects of the Novel. London, Pelican,1984.
