Write in brief
1. Explain the following:
a) Social changes in Britain which led to an increase in women readers.
Answer: During the eighteenth century, the middle class became more prosperous. Women could get more spare time which they utilised to read and write novels. And novels began exploring world of women.
b) What actions of Robinson Crusoe make us see him as a typical colonizer?
Answer: Robinson Crusoe does treat black people as inferior creatures. He rescues them and then enslaves them. He does not ask the name of a slave but gives him a name 'Friday'. These actions reveal that Robinson Crusoe was a typical colonizer.
c) After 1740, the readership of novels began to include poorer people.
Answer: After 1740, the readership of novels began to include poorer people because of the introduction of circulating libraries in 1740. People could get easier access to books.
d) Novelists in colonial India wrote for a political cause.
Answer: Many novelists were not satisfied with the way the colonial rulers portrayed the history and present of India. They wanted to create their own portrayal of India. Some novelists also wanted to establish the superiority of Indian literature. That is why that novelists in colonial India wrote for a political cause.
2. Outline the changes in technology and society which led to an increase in readers of the novel in eighteenth-century Europe.
Answer: There were many changes in the print technology which made it possible to print large number of copies. Literacy level increased in Europe during this period. People had more spare time. Marketing strategies also helped in increasing the sale of novels. These changes led to an increase in readers of the novel in eighteenth century Europe.
3. Write short notes on:
a) The Oriya novel
Answer: In 1877-78, Ramashankar Ray, a dramatist, began serialising the first Oriya novel, Saudamani. Within thirty years Orissa produced a major novelist Fakir Mohon Senapati (1843-1918). The title of his novel is Chaa Mana Atha Guntha (1902). This novel deals with possession of land.
b) Jane Austen’s portrayal of women
Answer: Jane Austen wrote about the rural women of her time. In her novels, the rural women are always occupied with finding a suitable match for marriage, in the form of rich husbands.
c) The picture of the new middle class which the novel Pariksha-Guru portrays.
Answer: In this novel, the new middle class was facing the conflict of adapting a modern lifestyle along with maintaining the tradition. The world of colonial modernity seems to be both frightening and irresistible to the characters.
Discuss
1. Discuss some of the social changes in nineteenth-century Britain which Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens wrote about.
Answer: In the nineteenth century, while industrialization created new opportunities of growth and development, it also created new problems for the workers and the city life. Ordinary workers, always suffered in the race for profits. Many novelists created stories around the problems of ordinary people in the new cities. Charles Dickens and Emile Zola were the notable authors of this period.
2. Summarise the concern in both nineteenth-century Europe and India about women reading novels. What does this suggest about how women were viewed?
Answer: Women often had to live in the confines of homes. Women were not encouraged to read or write, especially in India. People were concerned that novel will take away the real surrounding into an imaginary world where anything is possible.
3. In what ways was the novel in colonial India useful for both the colonisers as well as the nationalists?
Answer: For the colonizers, novels provided a good source of information about Indian culture and society.For the nationalists, novels provided tools to spread the idea of nationalism.
4. Describe how the issue of caste was included in novels in India. By referring to any two novels, discuss the ways in which they tried to make readers think about existing social issues.
Answer: Saraswativijayam is a novel about the conflict between Nambuthiri and Nayars. Nayars were the tenants of Nambuthiri in Kerala. This novel is about a Nayar girl who refuses a foolish but rich Namboothiri and instead marries an educated Nayar. They finally migrate to Madras and the husband clears the Civil services examination. This novel shows the importance of education. The Bengali novel Titash Ekti Nadir Naam deals with the life of Mallas; a fisher community in Bengal.
5. Describe the ways in which the novel in India attempted to create a sense of pan-Indian belonging.
Answer: People from all section of society could read novels. This helped in creating a sense of collective identity on the basis of one’s language. Novels also helped people to understand about the culture of other parts of the country. Thus novels helped in creating a sense of pan-Indian belonging.
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