Chapter : 5. Novels, Society & History
Novels in Bengal
(c) Novels in Bengal :
In the nineteenth century, the early Bengali novels lived in two worlds. Love stories based on historical or past events. Another group depicted domestic life in contemporary settings. The domestic novels portrayed the romantic relations between men and women, and social problems.
Novels changed the old public form of entertainment such as Kabirlarai (poetry contests), musical stories and dance performances to a private world of reading. Novels were read individually, they could also be read in select groups.
(i) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's first novel Durgeshandini (1865) stunned people to realise that the Bengali novel had achieved excellence so quickly. Besides the ingenious twists and turns of the plot and the suspense, the novel was also relished for its languages. Initially the Bengali novel used a colloquial style associated with urban life. It also used 'Meyeli', the language associated with women's speech. This style was quickly replaced by Bankim's prose which was Sankritised but also contained a more vernacular style.
(ii) By the twentieth century, the power of telling stories in simple language made Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay (1876-1938) the most popular novelist in Bengal and probably in the rest of India.
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