Detective novel, Regional novel, Social novel, Bildungsroman novel, Novel, B.A English Literature [2nd Year, 3rd Semester], Background to English Literature-III

 University of Madras

Syllabus with effect from 2020-2021

B.A English Literature

[2^nd Year, 3^rd Semester]

Background to English Literature-III

UNIT 1.4 : NOVEL

Detective, Regional, Social, Bildungsroman

DETECTIVE NOVEL:

The Detective novel is one in which the story and plot are woven around an initial crime or murder the secret of which is solved by an investigator or detective. He does it by logical assembling and evidence as known as clues.

The commission and detection of crime with the motives, actions, arraignment, judgement, and punishment of a criminal is one of the great paradigms of narrative in detective fiction. The investigator functions as the protagonist and studies such as Julian Symon’s Bloody Murder (1972) have dealt elaborately on the nineteenth and early to mid-20th century development of fictional detection.

William Godwin’s Caleb Wiliams (1894),Eugéne Vidocq’s Mémoires, Charles Dickens’ Bleak House(1853), Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone (1868)and The Woman in White(1859), Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment(1866) have been precursors of detective fiction.

It is agreed that detective fiction came of age in the creation of Sherlock Holmes’ A Study in Scarlet (1887). However, it was with the writings of Dashiell Hammett, James M.Cain, Raymond Chandler that detective fiction began to emerge as a genre in the nineteenth century. Detective fiction has become one of the significant forms of prose in the U.K. and the U.S ever since 1945.

Among the modern authors who deserve mention are Linda Barnes, Lawrence Block, Lilian Jackson Braun, Robert Campbell, Patricia Cornwall, John Dunning, James Ellroy. Manuel Väzquez Montalbán in Spain, Maria-Antonia Oliver in Denmark, Peter Hөeg in South Africa, James McClure in Australia, Umberto Eco and Leonardo Sciascia in Italy.

The Major themes of the Detective novels are:

·        The plot will always begin with a murder or a mysterious case.

·        The case will be superior and unfamiliar to the police.

·     So that, they seek the knowledge of detectives to solve the mystery behind the case.

·  The detective will be curious and different from the rest of the characters portrayed in the novel.

·        The wrongly accused suspect at whom circumstantial evidence points.

·        The villain will be the mysterious element of the novel.

·        The startling and unexpected denouement.

 

It was Edgar Allen Poe who launched this literary form with his story “The Murder in the Rue Morgue” in 1841. In the later 19th century, in England, Wilkie Collins preferred the art of the Detective novel with the publication of his “Moonstone” the first full-length detective novel in English. The first full-length detective novel in America was Anna Katherine Green’s “The Leavenworth Case” published in 1878.

In 1887 Sherlock Holmes series by Conan Doyle began to appear and continued up to 1927. His creation of Sherlock Holmes was, however, is the greatest achievement.

The exploits of this sharp sleuth and his companion in adventure and chronicler, Dr. Watson, soon catapulted Doyle to international status. A prolific writer, he has written 4 novels and 56 short stories. Sherlock Holmes series ruled detective novels from all over the world. And which is still cherished by the readers, movie lovers. Many authors adapted the Sherlock Holmes series and created some different versions taken this as a root base.

REGIONAL NOVEL:

The origin of the regional novel can be traced in the writing of the Irish and Scottish writers in the nineteenth century.

The regional novel deals with the life of people of some specific region outside a metropolitan city, depicting the customs, tradition, dialect, and natural scenery of the area. Plots and characters are all based in a specific location or setting.

Sometimes, it may focus a clash between two different ideologies, cultures, and beliefs. The regional novel does not merely describe the landscape, and manners of people but it also highlights some social and economic issues of the period. Some novelists created their own fictional world in order to express their views or set their novels in a small town and city.

The regional novel sometimes gives the reader information about the culture and historical importance of the place. The earliest example of the regional novel is Maria Edgeworth’s novel “Castle Rackrent”.

Examples for Regional Novels:

Maria Edgeworth’s novel, “Castle Rackrent” can be deemed as the first fully developed regional novel in English. She has skillfully painted the life of Irish people and their manners through her novels. Maria Edgeworth’s novel “Castle Rackrent” influenced Sir Walter Scott to great extent. The novel was published in 1800.

Maria Edgeworth’s novel “Castle Rackrent” depicts the Irish life of the country-side and its dialect. The narrator of the novel is Thady Quirk. Maria Edgeworth's novel 'Castle Rackrent" is also a fully developed historical novel in English.

Sir Walter Scott’s famous regional novel “Waverley” appeared in 1814. Sir Walter Scott has explored the regions of romance and reality in this novel. The novel depicts the life of the 18th century Highlands and Highlanders of Scotland. The “Waverley” is a pen-picture of the life of common people and manners of the period.

The novel “Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life” of George Eliot describes social and political upheavals of the period. It was published in 1871. The novel is set in English Midlands and it comments on the life of peasants, small landowners and clergy of Warwickshire.

Thomas Hardy’s novel “Far from the Madding Crowd” appeared in 1874 and it is set in Dorsetshire. Thomas Hardy has dexterously painted the life of the rural rustics with both dull and bright colours. Thomas Hardy has borrowed this title: “Far from the Madding Crowd” from Thomas Gray’s famous poem “The Elegy Written in a Country Church-yard”. The major characters of the novel are Bathsheba Everdene and Gabriel Oak.

Thomas Hardy’s contribution to the English novel is really noteworthy. He has artistically given a pen-picture of the life of people. In Thomas Hardy’s regional novels, the readers have been acquainted with the surroundings of Wessex, its woods, it barrows and heaths, byres and barns which cast their spell on the readers. 

SOCIAL NOVEL:

      The social novel, is also known as the social problem (or social protest) novel, the sociological novel and is a work of fiction, which dramatizes a prevailing social problem through the effect they have on the novel’s characters. Topics covered can be as diverse as gender, race, or class prejudice although the narrative can also address poverty, conditions in factories or mines, violence against women, rising criminality and epidemics caused by poor sanitation or overcrowding in urban areas.

Other terms used to define this genre are thesis novel, propaganda novel, industrial novel, working-class novel and problem novel. A more recent development in this genre is the young adult problem novel. The inner life of the characters find the place in such novels, greater importance is given to their conflicts and collisions with classes and believes. The essence of a social novel is the conflict between the individual and the society that surrounds him based on different concepts of values.

     The origins of the social novel in Britain can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution (1733-1913). Early examples can be found in 18th century England, as well as throughout Europe and the United States. Henry Fielding’s Amelia (1751) and William Godwin’s ‘Things as The Are or The Adventures of Caleb Williams’ (1794) are thought precursors of the genre. During the social and political upheavals following the Reform Act of 1833 in England social novels began, such as Charles Dickens’ novels highlighting poverty and unhealthy living conditions. Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables (1862) was a significant protest novel. Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) dealt with anti-slavery and The Grapes of Wrath is probably the best known social protest novel.

Charles Dickens is considered to be the 'father' of the English social novel. Dickens used his novels to examine the lives of the working class and to expose their struggles in Victorian England. These novels would sometimes depict characters overcoming the difficult circumstances they were born and raised in as a result of them being working class and poor. The novels also, however, sometimes showed how people could very easily remain trapped in such abysmal circumstances. Through his novels, Dickens encouraged readers to consider what the working class in Victorian England was going through and the injustices in society related to this.

        Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist (1837) is an example of a social novel that explores social determinism. The protagonist, Oliver Twist, is a young, poor orphan in Victorian England who initially lives in a workhouse, where he must work to earn his keep.

Two Groups of Social Novel:

Social novels can be divided into two groups.

• The novel of Manners.
•  The novel of Civilization.

The novel of Manners:

The novel of manners is concerned with social behavior and its correctness in a given society. The concept of behavior achieves some grant moral effect as we find in the novels of Jane Austen “Pride and Prejudice” and “Emma” are the best examples. The novelist is preoccupied with the niceties of social conduct and often, commerce by the employment of Irony and satire exposes undesirable passions like arrogance, hypocrisy, and snobbery. Henry James’ novel ‘The ambassador’ is a successful social novel of manners. It depicts with great humor and delicacy the reaction of different American types to a European environment. Evelyn Waugh’s “A handful of dust” is a social novel of manners that presents the vision of sin and guilt in the modern world. The social novel of manners has a satiric structure as we find in Jane Austen. Even modern novelists make use of the same formula. For instance, Philip Roth satirizes the self-protective attitude of the modern middle class in his novel ‘Goodbye Columbus’.

The novel of Civilization:

The social novel of Civilization takes a comprehensive view of the whole Civilization. The best examples are Charles Dickens’s “Little Dorrit” and Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” the novel Civilization aims at revealing the meanings, principles, and social styles that govern people’s lives. The action of individuals is examined in the light of the Civilization that surrounds them. In “Little Dorrit” Dickens explores the English society dominated by the corrupt business class. In the novel Civilization characters or viewed as part of the developing environment. The splendor or shame of their past is exploding. The significance of the character’s behavior becomes clear only in the background of the Civilization which he represents. In “War and Peace” Tolstoy presents the different stages in the development of each character. The novel Civilization, sometimes, depicts the different stages in the growth of the writer’s consciousness as in Marcel Proust’s ‘Remembrance of Things Past’. Sometimes it uses our family story as in Faulkner’s ‘Sartoris’ or Galsworthy’s ‘Forsyte Saga’.

Characteristics of the social novel are realism, social determinism, social criticism and a portrayal of social attitudes in the themes of wealth and class.

       

BILDUNGSROMAN- (FORMATION NOVEL):

    The Bildungsroman literary genre originated in Germany. The German word “bildung” means education” and the German word “roman” means “novel.” Thus, “Bildungsroman” translates to “a novel of education” or “a novel of formation.” This fictional autobiography concerned with the development of the protagonist’s mind, spirit, and characters from childhood to adulthood. This is a term more or less synonymous with Erziehungsroman which literally means an “upbringing” or “education” novel.  This describes the processes by which maturity is achieved through the various ups and downs of life.

The actual term “Bildungsroman” was first coined by philologist Karl Morgenstern during his lectures at the University of Dorpat in 1819. It grew in popularity in Britain after it was translated into English in 1824.

A Bildungsroman centers on the main character’s transformation to reach maturity. The Structure of the plot:

1. Loss: The protagonist experiences a profound emotional loss at the beginning of the story, typically during their childhood or adolescent formative years.

2. Journey: Inspired by their loss, the protagonist sets out on a journey, either physical or metaphorical, to find the answer to a big question and gain life experience that will help them better understand the world.

3. Conflict and personal growth: The protagonist’s path toward maturity is not an easy one. They make mistakes and are usually at odds with society. But as the story continues, the protagonist slowly accepts the ideals of society and society accepts them back.

4. Maturity: The protagonist demonstrates immense psychological growth, change, and maturity by the end of the novel. The story sometimes ends with them giving back and helping someone else on the path to maturity. 

The first bildungsroman tales cropped up in the 17th century in German literature and ended on a positive note. Later, in the 19th century, novels chased dreams of the hero’s youth which ended after several foolish mistakes and painful disappointments. But the protagonists ended up living useful lives. It wasn’t until the 20th century that the bildungsroman story ended less happily, such as in resignation or even death. Think of The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger or To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

Wieland’s Agathon (1765-6) is taken to be the earliest example. The most famous examples are: Goethe’s Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers (1774) and his Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1795-6) and became well known in Britain through Thomas Carlyle’s translation.

Novels in English that fall into this category are Daniel Defoe’s Moll Flanders (1722), Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones (1749), Jane Austen’s Emma (1816), Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre (1847), Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield (1849-50) and Great Expectations (1861), James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (1960).

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