CHAPTER I

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF SOCIOLOGY OF LITERATURE

CHAPTER I

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF SOCIOLOGY OF LITERATURE

Generally l i terature is seen as a largely self-enclosed,

self-sustaining enterpr ise. So works of l i terature are approached in terms

of the i r own inner structure, imagery, metaphor, rhy thm, delineation of

characters, structure of plot and so on. In th is approach, the novels

expressing external society are quite often ignored. Basically a group of

the modern l i te rary c r i t i cs are absorbed only in the textual c r i t i c i sm, in

the discovery of intr insic qual i t ies of l i te ra ture . And they would be very

hosti le to a suggestion which says that thei r subject could be illuminated / throw

by some extr insic approach l ike sociology which wou ld / l i gh t on certain

l i te rary problems without which, there could not be a complete

understanding of l i te ra ture . Such a view wi l l be completely rejected by

the exponents of the f i r s t approach; to them the study of society imply

tota l ly di f ferent methods and orientat ions. And there can never be any

connection between the worlds of imagination and of science.

These objections are not always tenable because at the most basic

leve l , that of content, sociology and l i terature both share a s imi lar

conspectus. Socioloy is the scient i f ic study of society, the study of social

institutions and of social processes, i t t r ies to answer the question of how

society is possible, how i t works and why i t pers is ts . Througha rigorous

examination of the social inst i tut ions, re l ig ious, economic, pol i t ica l and

fami l i a l , which together constitute the dominant aspects of social

structure, we acquire the knowledge of the ways in which man adapts to

and is conditioned by part icular environment of the meclianism of

social izat ion, of the process of role allocation and performance. This

aspect of sociology is in a sense related to the concept of social

s t ab i l i t y , the ways in which individuals come to accept the major social

instituions as both necessary and r i g h t . But sociology is also concerned

wi th the processes whereby society changes from one type of society to

another, for example, from feudalism to capi ta l ism, and the effect these

changes have on the social system as a whole. Social processes also refer

to small scale internal changes, l i ke the conf l ict between groups, between

classes or between individuals as regulated and governed by social

inst i tut ions.

As wi th sociology, l i terature too, is p r imar i l y concerned with

man's social wo r l d , his adaptation to i t , and his desire to change i t .

Part icular ly the novel being the major l i te ra ry genre of industrial society,

can be seen as an attempt to recreate the entire social world of man's

relation wi th his fami ly , wi th economic, po l i t ica l and al l other

inst i tut ions, his confl icts and aspirat ions, the tension between groups and

classes. In other words, th novel, l i ke sociology, deals with the social ,

economic and pol i t ica l aspects of the society. But i t achieves more than

th is objective scient i f ic analysis of the external wo r ld . It penetrates the

innermost recessess of social l i fe and expresses the feeling and

experiences of the common man and woman. It projects society as a mass

of palpable emotions. As Richard Hoggart had said that ; "without the fu l l

l i te rary witness, the student of society w i l l be b l ind to the fullness of

a society" .

This indicates that l i terature and sociology are not two di f ferent

discipl ines but Instead they complement each other in understanding

society.

Histor ical ly speaking sociology and l i terature have remained apart .

Early sociologists l i ke Comte Spencer, Durkheim and Weber gave more

importance, and focussed thei r attention to the study of social structure,

they made occasional references to l i te r ture and invar iably thought i t to

be of l i t t l e importance for the study of society.

In fac t , the sociological study of l i terature is a f a i r l y new branch

of sociology, although there are f a i r l y developed sociologies of re l ig ion ,

po l i t i cs , education and social change.

In England, the study of l i terature in a sociological perspective

focussed mainly on the novel. Ralph Fox in his Novel and the People said

that "the novel is not merely a f ict ional prose, i t is the prose of man's

l i f e , but is rap id ly becoming unreadable. The reader no longer gets what

2 he l i kes , he has to l i ke what he gets from the publishing colossus".

1 . R. Hoggart, 'L i terature and Society ' , in A Guide to the Social

Sciences, ed . N. Mackenzie, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1966

2. Ralph Fox, Novel and the People, Foreign Language Publishing

House, Moscow, 195t, pp . 62, 63.

Ian Watt in his book The Rise Of the Novel explores the growth

and development of the English Novels. In the preface of the book he

says, "my main effort has been to elucidate in f a i r l y systematic fashion

the enduring connections between the distructive l i te rary qual i t ies, of the

novel and those of the society in which it began and f lour ished" .

There are two broad approaches adopted by sociology of

l i te ra ture . The most popular perspectt ive adopts the documentary aspect

of l i te ra ture , stressing that i t provides a mirror to the age. This mir ror

image approach has a long h i s to ry . The French philosopher Louis de

Bonald (1754 - 1840) was one of the f i r s t wr i ters to point out that

through a careful reading of any nations l i terature one could get a

knowledge of its l i fe and society. Stendhal, in a celebrated passage in Le

Ronge et le Noir wrote of the novel as a "mirron journeying down the high

road" . 'On th is view l i terature is a d i rec t reflection of various facets

of social s t ructure, family re la t ionship, class conf l ic t , and possibly

2 divorce trends and population composit ion*. Further, in the words of a

dist inguished wr i ter " I t is the task of the sociologist of l i terature to

relate the experience of the w r i t e r ' s imaginary characters and situations

to the h is tor ica l climate from which they der i ve . He has to transform the 3

pr ivate equation of themes and s ty l i s t i c means into social equations".

1 . Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel, Penguin Books, HarmondsWorth.

p. 7

2. Cf M.C. A lbrecht , 'The Relationship of Literature and Society ' .

American Journal of Sociology, Vo l . 159, pp . 425-36.

3. L. Lowenthal, Literature and the Image of Man, 1957, Beacon

Press, Boiston p. x .

This transforming of the pr ivate wor ld of l i terature into specific

social meanings, has come under severe c r i t i c i s m , i t is said that this

method gives r ise to basical ly two problems. What the l i terature reflects

through the novel is considered as ' the mi r ror of the age ' . But sometimes

we f ind that the ar t i s t i c interpretation of the data of a part icular period

is a highly distorted one which obviously has disastrous consequences.

The second problem relates to the question of generalization; to

what extent are the f ict ional characters and situations true reflections of

a part icular period? Can any useful sociological generalization be drawn

from the novels of Charles Dickens on such social issues of the 19th

century, as management - labour re lat ions, the role of trade unions or

working class consciousness? In th is context we must remember that the

novelists view society in its t o t a l i t y .

So the concept of the m i r r o r , according to Alan Swingewood, must

be treated wi th great care, as i t does not take into account the mind of

w r i t e r , his awareness, his intentions and his values. The task of the

sociologist i s , therefore, not only to discover h is tor ica l and social

reflections but also to emphasize the nature of values embedded in the

l i te ra ry works. Thus Swingewood comments that according to Lowenthal,

the main purpose of any v iable sociology of l i terature is to discover the

'core of meaning' which is present in the di f ferent works of l i terature

and which expresses the various aspects of thought and feelings on

subjects such as work, love, social c lass, re l igon, and a r t .

1 . Alan Swingewood, The Sociology of Literature, 1972 Mac Gilbon and

Kee London, p. 16.

We now examine some of the other relevant wr i ters of this f i e l d .

According to Renu Weliek, "realism is a twentieth century concept applied

to a nineteenth century phenomenon". Its terms and references are very

wide. I t is an a r t i s t i c phenomenoon typ ical of the modern capi ta l is t and

industrial age as a whole. The l ink between realism and tragedy is v i t a l .

Nowhere are its effects more profoundly revealed than in the relat ionship

between the novel and modern society.

John Orr is c r i t i ca l of these ethical and evaluative perspectives

towards the sociology of the novel. His Tragic Realism and Modern Society:

2 Studies in the Sociology of the Modern Novel provides a good cr i t ic ism

of di f ferent theories expressed by modern thinkers in the f ie ld of

sociology of l i te ra ture .

"The three major l i te ra ry c r i t i cs to discuss th is relat ionship have

been George Lukacs, Raymond Will iams and Enich Auerbach. lukacs and

Auerbach have always been exp l i c i t about the i r representation!ist Mimesis

for bo th , l i te ra ry realism is the pinnacle of modern a r t i s t i c achievement.

Though not as e x p l i c i t , Williams is almost as equally committed to the

vir tues of real is t f i c t i on , and signi f icant ly analyses them in the English

3 novels which the two German c r i t i cs inexcusably over look". But beyond

1 . Rene Welleck, Realism in Literary, Scholarship in Concepts of

Criticism, London, 1963, p. 222

2. John Orr , Tragic Realism and Modern Society : Studies in the

Sociology of the Modern Novel, 1978, University of Pittsburgh

Press.

3. John Orr , Ibid p. 3

tha t , al l three have a sense of the inter-relat ionship between tragedy and

real is im in modern f i c t i on . Lukacs is concerned mostly wi th real ism,

Will iam with tragedy and Aurebach wi th tragic real ism.

There is a strong relat ionship between tragic realism and modern

society as emphasized by a l l three w r i t e r s . And one can only understand

the decline of tragic realism by looking at the histor ical fact of its

persistence. And in the pol i t ical novel one can f ind the major forms that

persistence has assumed.

The author, John Orr , fur ther says that there is an important

relat ionship between the l i terature and recent h istory and that no

sociology of the novel can exist without a histor ical consciousness,

because l ike its readers every l i te ra ry text has a h istor ical location.

"The novel speci f ical ly has an enduring relat ionship to h istory and

society. I t exposes the academic separation of the ar t and social sciences

as a pedagogic my th " . There is no l i te ra ry c r i t i c who can understand

the novel by turning his back on the society, and no social scientist who

can understand modern society by turning his back on the novel.

The term tragic realism belongs to Auerbach. Lukacs has never

used i t , and th is fa i lure on his part is a l imitat ion not only on his

sociology of the novel but also his general aesthetics. The main answer

can be found in Lukacs's intellectual career created by his conversion to

Marxism. His c r i t i c ism of the novel form gave sol id findings to the

1 . John Orr , Ibid p. 1

discussion of the novel in Marsist perspect ive. I t is with the quest for

to ta l i ty that the problem of realism is inextr icably l inked. According to

Lukacs, both art and science, including Marxism, s t r ive for the whole man

in the to ta l i ty of his social wo r l d . Though they accomplish th is by

dif ferent means, the struggle of both is against social d iv is ion of labour,

against class d iv is ions , and against al ienat ion. In his Marxist wr i t ings,

Lukacs distinguishes the intensive to ta l i ty of drama from the extensive

tota l i ty of the novel.

The two most signif icant c r i t i cs of Lukacs's c r i t i ca l theory are

Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin. Both resisted that total issue mode

of theorising which is character ist ic of Lukacs and Auerbach : Adorno

based his l i te ra ry cr i t ic ism on the pr inc ip le of detotalising to ta l i t y .

This pr inc ip le is part of his wider conception of theory as a negative

cr i t ique of exist ing culture and society. In Benjamin's work, th is negative

cr i t ique takes the form of a c ryp t i c mediation on public l i f e , which is

viewed as an ever recurrent threat to the freedom of the individual

s p i r i t .

2 Walter Benjamin, contr ibutor to the Frankfurt school, had a

personal preference for the society, or ta le , and th is strongly influenced

his analysis of the novel. The former he saw as pre-bourgeois, the

la t ter , i .e . the novel as the main l i te ra ry form of bourgeois society. At

1 . See Frederick Hameson, Marxism and Form, Princeton, 1971.

Chapter I .

2. Jonathan Cope Limited and Harcourt Brace Javanovich Inc . , for

extracts from Illuminations : Essays and Reflections by Walter

Benjamin, translated by Harry Zohn (1969).

the same time he saw a negative l ink between the avant - garde

experiments of his own t ime. Benjamin's att i tude towards modern

technology was ambivalent. He saw its culture threatening the tale and the

novel wi th total ext inct ion.

In his ear l ier work where he compares the novel and the ta le ,

Benjamin is strongly influenced by the young Lukacs. he sees the tale as

a communal experience whose content can be taken from any aspect of l i fe

and be to ld by anyone. The individual is equally a narrator or a

l istener, and the context of his l i te ra ry experience is co l lec t ive. By

contrast, the novel arises from the solitude of the individual in bourgeois

society. Not only its context, but also its form expresses the sol i tude.

The Russian Formalists have produced methods of c r i t ic ism which

can not be ignored. The Formalists were more interested in fo lkta le and

the development of modern poetry than in the novel. Yet many Formal ists,

including Jacobsen, Shiovsky, Eichenbaum and Tomashevsky, t r i ed to come

to terms wi th the problem of realism in the modern novel.

2 Tomashevsky's famous essay, though concerned wi th creating a

formal aesthetics of the novel, has a number of important sociological

insights. He considered more seriously than many other Formalists the

1. For the Classic study of Russian Formalism see Victor E r i i ch ' s

Russian Formalism; History, Doctrine, The Hague Mouton, 1955.

2. Tomashevsky, 'Thematics' in Russian Formalist Criticism : Four

Essays, Lee Lemon and Marlon Reiss (ed.) Lincoln, Nebraska 1965

p. 65.

10

problem of readership arguing that modern audiences demand plausible and

by impl icat ion, real is t themes. The realism of a theme i s , therefore,

conditional upon the audience accepting i t as rea l i s t i c , measured by thei r

Involvement in what they read.

In genetic structural ism, a serious attempt has been made to

consider man and his h istory in the study of l i te ra ture . It attempts to

restore rea l i ty to f ic t ion but in a way which escapes the epistemology of

naive real ism.

Luclan Coldmann has pointed out the significance of "the content

of l i te ra ry works and the relat ionship between that content and the

2 col lect ive consciousness". Therefore he emphasizes that "the sociologist

of l i terature In general, the c r i t i c must treat the conscious Intentions of

the author, as one indication among many others, as a sort of reflection

of work , from which he gathers suggestions in the same way as in other

c r i t i ca l work, but he must form his judgement in the l ight of the tex t , 3

without according i t any favour".

1 . Luclan Coldmann calls his method genetic structural ism quoted in

Alan Swingewood's The Novel and Revolution U.C.D. L i b r a r y , p.24.

2. Lucien Coldmann, 'The Sociology of Li terature : Status and

problems of Method' in the International Social Science Journal

XIV No. 4 1967, p . H95

3 . I b i d , p . 497 .

11

Goldmann treats l i terature not as a passive mimesis of the

wr i te r ' s class posi t ion, but the wr i te r as an individual expresses the

aspirat ions, values, and feelings of a part icular social group. "He calls

his method the genetic Structuralism genetic for its stress on l i terature as

a creative process^ each l i terature as a creative process each l i te ra ry

work developing h is tor ica l ly and organically from the conjunction of the

w r i t e r ' s social position and ca l l s " .

Another new view of social approach in the f i e l d of l i terature was

2 ini t iated by Ronald Barthes, It was known as L i te rary Structural ism. This

can be seen as the conslous appl icat ion of the notion of structure to the

object of a study. Thus th is includes both ' f o rm ' and 'content' of

l i te ra ture. "A l i te rary work is seen, then, not as a unique, autonomous

structure, but as belonging w i th in , and dependent upon, the general system

of l i terature; for however much of an indiv idual genius an author may be,

he s t i l l has no choice but to use the interpersonal mediating sign -

3 systems of language and l i te ra ture" . In th is connection John Orr points

out that In a l iberal - capi ta l is t society tragic realism Is found in the

theme of "Wuthering Heights". According to him here we witness the

introduction of a proletarian outcast Into provincial landed society,

an outcast who eventually takes

1 . Alan Swingewood, The Novel and Revolution, UCD L ibrary p. 24.

2. John Rutherford, 'Structuralism in the Sociology of Li terature :

Theoretical Approaches', publ ished In Sociological Review

Monograph 25, edi tors. J . Routh & Janet Wolff, p. 43.

3. Ib id p. 45

12

control . He fu r ther , says that In novels of tragic realism we f ind a

part icular type of social set t ing. There is preeminence of the rural setting

and the relat ionship between c i ty and country throws some l ight upon the

urban cul ture, which is largely ignored in th is type of novel. The sole

occasion of a major western c i ty being used in a tragic real is t ic novel

Is London, In The Secret Agent. This Is remarkable considering how much

real ist l i terature there is of the modeern c i ty in Balzac, Dickens, Cissing,

Zola, Wells, Joyce Dos Passos. But just as balzac and Flaubert, and Mann

lack a tragic v is ion of bourgeois l i f e , so the city i tsel f eludes tragic

real ism.

The c i ty is usually the setting of an af irmative real ism, according

to John Orr . By th is he does not mean that urban f ict ion fa i l to reveal

the miseries of c i ty l i f e , but seldom is misery the basis of conveying

the i r repairable loss we call t rag ic .

I t is ironic that the vas t , immensely detailed urban vis ion of

Dickens 's transformed into tragedy by two such important wr i ters namely

Dostoevsky and Kafka who also come under his Influence; for of these

two, Dostoevsky d id not l ive in an urbanised society and Kafka dispensed

wi th realism in wr i t ing tragic f i c t i on .

Thus we see that using both l i te ra ry and sociological perspectives

John Orr presents a thoery of tragic realism In the modern novel, and

1 . John Orr , Opcit p. 189

13

traces the evolution of this type of f ic t ion in modern society. Reviving

and revising the representationalist theory of l i terature he attacks the

inadequacies of c r i t ica l theory and structural ism as we l l .

Drawing on the work of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Zola, Conrad, Mann

and Hemingway, Orr proposes the l i te ra ry continuity of tragic realism as

an alternative perspective to that of the 'great t r ad i t i ons ' . This is an

eloquent plea for the importance of a f ict ional genre which had undergone

recent eclipse in both capi ta l is t and state societ ies. The most orglnal

aspect of the book is the systematic use of tragic realism as a generic

concept in the theory of the modern novel. Taken from Auerbach's

mimesis, i t has been resurrected to provide a fresh theoretical approach

to the sociology of l i te ra ture.

The book also looks in detai l at the importance of passion as the

predominant patttern of sensib i l i ty in tragic real is t ic f i c t i on , and shows

its intr insic relat ionship to the nature of the t rag ic . By way of

i l lust rat ion Solzhenitsym is discussed as the sole tragic real is t to

survive the demise of tragic realism in the west since Thomas Mann's

Doctor Faustus and Malcolm Lowery's Under The Volcano.

In conclusion, John Orr« gives some reasons for the decline of

tragic realism in both capi ta l is t and state-social ist societ ies. In th is

context, he refers to the impoverishment of l i terature which is the result

of decline of tragic real ism.

1 . F.R. Leavis. The Great Tradition, London.

I t

In her essay ent i t led 'The Interpretation of Li terature in society:

the hermeneutic approach, Janet Wolff says, :L i te ra ture , too, as a 'fact

of consciousness' must be viewed In the context of Its social and material

background for human ac t iv i ty has a total character, and there is an

Indissoluble band between the h is tory of economic and social facts and the

history of ideas. Li terature is fu l l y understood and explained only by

considering the social group out of which It ar ises, and the process which

have formed the ideology of this group".

The above account shows that sociology of l i terature is gradually

coming on its own and becoming a very popular branch of sociology. Many

boooks, art ic les and research papers are contributing to its growth, to

mention some of them, Alan Swingewood and Diana laurenson; The Sociology

of Literature and Alan Swingewood, The Novel and Revolution, Jane Routh

and Janet Wolff ed i tors ; The sociology of Literature; Theoretical

Approaches, Janet Wolff, The Social Production Of Art , Luclan Coldmann,

The Sociology Of Literature : Problems of Method and John Orr , Tragic

Realism And Modern Society; Studies in the Socciology of Modern Novels.

Section II

In India some significant works have been undertaken as far as

the study of the sociology of l i terature is concerned. Dr. Narmadeshwar

Prasad In his forward note to the book ent i t led Sociology of Major Bengali

1 . Janet Wolff in 'The Sociology of L i terature; Theoretical

Approaches'. The Sociological Review, Monagraph 25 editors

Jane Routh & J . Wolff. P. 27

l!::[ Da: ./••)

15

Novels, by Dr. D.K. Biswas has sa id , "Analysing l i terature is a

fascinating approach which is being developed in sociology. Literature as

data can bu i ld a new methodology. Sociology of I i terture can be worked

out as a legitimate branch of the ever increasing science of society. In its

own tu rn , i t shapes and moulds the age i tse l f . Further, I i terture

incorporates wi th in i tsel f human interaction on a symbolic l eve l " .

Li terature ref lects tempo and t rend, in which i t is produced as

pro f . D.K. Biswas points out and then asserts that "The men of l i terature

in di f ferent countries have di f ferent styles and modes of expression but

no where I i ter ture claims an independent existence outside the social

2 o rder " . He goes on to say that l i te ra ture , however, is not a carbon copy

of the social order because the way a part icular social theme is depicted

in the novel depends very much on the education, individual s ty le , taste

and temperament of the wr i t e r , and the way he is social ly si tuated. With

these ideas and views Prof. Biswas has undertaken the analysis of the

Bengali novels and explored the dominant themes of culture in Bengal, the

social consciousness, the concept of ' t r ad i t i on ' and 'modern i ty ' , the

' I dea l ' and ' r e a l ' characters, and the impact of Marx and Gandhi on the

ideology of the Bengali novel . He has also ut i l ised the Freudian pr inciples

of psycho-analysis to examine the intr icacies of the characters. Moreover,

he has studied the "social dynamics in modern Bengal as a result of the

! • Dr. Narmadeshwar Prasad in his forward note to Prof. D.K.

Biswas, Sociology of Major Bengali Novels 1973, Curgaon, Defhi.

2 . I b i d . p . 2

16

diffusion of the forces of renaissance".

2 As early as 1961 Professor GopI Krishna Prasad undertook a

sociological study of imagery in English Poetry, he found that the term

'Imagery' is mainly a l i te rary term, but i t has social implications as

w e l l . There are many social factors involved in its inception, formation

and expression in di f ferent ar t forms. A vast undivided realm of special

relat ionship determines the structure of imagery. Dr. Pradad supported a

working hypothesis that (1) the creation of imagery is strongly a claim

to the understanding of human relat ionship and the i r pattern.

He further observed that "the poets own universe, the i r world

of books, the i r reminiscences, in shor t , thei r own universe and

experiences account for the i r re lat ive awareness of the vulnerable points

3 of men and the i r feel ings".

What Professor Prasad has said about imagery applies to novels

also. The perceptions and observations of a novelist as depicted in his

work can be subject to sociological analysis which we have t r ied to do

in the present study.

The l i te rary c r i t i cs have also contributed to the growth of the

sociology of l i terature in India by ut i l is ing the study of the novels

1 . I b i d , Preface p.1

2. Prof. O.K. Prasad, Imagery in English Poetry, Patna, 1961

3. I b i d , P- 107

17

writ ten in di f ferent languages in the country. I t is significant that

scholarly studies have been undertaken of the novels wri t ten in English by

Indian authors. Kai Nicholson in his A Presentation of social problems in

the Indo Anglian & the Anglo-Indian Novels says t h a t " th is is a study of

how novelists interpret problems facing Indian society and the sources,

which have influenced the i r w r i t i ng " . The Chapters are on Angllanised

Indian, the Indian, the fami ly , the Mahanagar and the paddy f i e l ds ,

po l i t ics in Anglo Indian society, the Sahib and the Eurasian. He has taken

into account the histor ical l i te ra ry and the l inguist ic influence, on the

novels chosen, he points out in conclusion, that the post independence

novelists do not convey a monolitthic picture of India, as was the case

among wriers of the Candhian age. Secondly the characters in the novel

today expresses individual ism and do not succumb to the overwhelming

ideology of the Candhian era. But Anglo Indian novelists in th is aspect

have ramined close to the colonial theme and have not moved beyond the

o rb i t of B r i t i sh Imperialism in India.

Dr. Shaileshwar Sati Prasad in his research study on Social

Realisim in the Novels of Mulk Raj Anand has shown that "Anand's novels

are the result of his att i tude towards social and histor ical phenomena.

They not only represent men as rea l i ty defined social ly & h is to r ica l l y but

also portray social relat ionships which are in the process of continous

development and change. These novels are d i rec t ly concerned with the

1 . Kai Nicholson, A Presentation of Social Problems in the Indo

Anglian & the Anglo-Indian Novel, 1972, Jaico Publishing House,

Bombay, see introduction.

18

nature of the Indian situation and with the forces involved in social

transformation.

By focussing on the novels of Anand Dr. Prasad takes note of the

fact that the "b i r t h and development of Indian novel has a def ini te

co-relation with the economic, po l i t i ca l , social and cultural changes, with

2 the r ise of Br i t i sh power". He concludes that "these changes activated

the social forces, which were congenial to the growth of the novel, the

consolidation of the middle class and the growth of the educated

bourgeoisie, a rational scient i f ic cur iosi ty to understand social rea l i ty 3

and the impulse to interpret i t r ea l i s t i ca l l y " . Therefore majority of the

Indian novelists have investigated the impact of modernity on Indian

consciousness and with a genuine concern for the national dest iny. Their

characters welcome & s t r ive for social change and the i r struggle in novel

symbolizes the need for creating a just humane and egaliterian society.

Meenakshi Mukherjee in Realism and Reality, the Novel and society

in India (1985) writes "that the novel in India can be seen as the product

of configrations in phi losophical aesthetic, economic and pol i t ica l forces

in the larger l i fe of the country despite regional var iat ions, a basic

pattern seems to emerge from shared factors l ike the puranic heri tage,

heiracheal social st ructure, colonial education, disjunction of agranian l i fe

and many others that affect the form of a novel as well as i t ' s content."

1 . Dr. S.S. Prasad, Social realisim in the Novels of Mulk Raj Anand,

unpublished Ph.D. thes is , Patna Univers i ty , 1981.

2. I b i d .

3. I b i d .

19

She has d iv ided her book into two par ts , the f i r s t indicates the

conceptual premise and the second tr ies to val idate th is through textual

f inal isation of the individual novels.

Subhashini Kumar in her study on Untouchability in the Indo

Anglian and the Hindi Novels : a comparative study t r ies to show the

view of the Indian wr i ters of the pre and post independence per iod , who

have wri t ten on the themes of untouchabi l i ty. But she has dwelt mainly on

thei r levels of technique, sty le and thematic choice. She points out that

during the pre independence era the basic ideological s imi la r i ty between

the Indo Anglian and the Hindi novelists of the pre independence e r a ,

show that both shared real is t ic and ideal ist ic approach in the context of

the Indian national movement for freedom.

Both the Indo Anglican and the Hindi novelists of this period

bring out the co-relation between the socio po l i t ica l forces and the

creative consciousness. But in the Hindi novelists i t is perceived in a

wider context of class and caste struggle, in keeping withthe pol i t ica l

upheavals of the t ime.

The post-independence Hindi as well as the Indo Anglian novels on

untouchabil i ty are unanimous to a great extent in pointing out the following

1 . Subhashini Kumar, Untouchability in the Indo Anglian and the Hindi

Novels; A Comparative Study, unpublished Ph.D. Thesis P.U. ,

1986.

20

general probiems of the untouchables, the economic problems of proverty

and iandiessness, social injustice and disabilities, exploitation or

the untouchable women, perpetuation of caste hatred by the upper casco

and problems of ignorance and illiteracy.

In contrast to their Indo-AngIlean contemporaries, the pobt

independence Hindi novelists visualise a new aspect of the problems of

untouchabi I i ty. The atrocities of the upper caste men get more and

more protection from the forces of establishment. At the same t line tiie

Ujiy:ouchabi es are getting more and more vocal in expressing their

reactions X o the upper caste tyranny. They are boldly a:>sertlng their

demands for justice, leading to terrible retribution, often resultiiuj

in death and destruction. In both the English and the Hindi novels

of thl5 period, one finds the younger generation among the untouchables

illiterate or semi literate, more vocal in expressing their ancjer

and frustration, and in asserting their rights.

Thus we see that sociologists and literary critics have contributed

to the study of Hindi literatures though Raghuvir Sinha is correct in

his assessment that "sociology of literature is absolutely new in

India, but its gradual development has made it an adequate method

of social research with special reference to its application in India".

• ' .

1. Raghuvir Sinha, Social Change in Contemporary Literature, 1978,

Delhi, sci, first chapter of 'Sociology of Literature : A Now

Approach to Social Research'.

21

In h i s . Social change in Contemporary Literature (1978) he has

made use of content analysis In his study of l i terature and the direct ion

of social change, he says "I have analysed these short stories in four

contexts; change in the social order , change in the roles of family and

Inter-personal relat ionships, and change in the values, and generation

change and generation gap".

About his approach, he says that in the whole process of

analysing interpretation and cr i t ic ism his approach has been basical ly that

of a social scient ist , while his sensib i l i ty has been t ru ly that of a

2 l i terateur . He draws a very significant conclusion. "By my own experience

as a part ic ipant wr i ter in Hindi L i terature, I have found that post 1950

wr i t ing in Hindi widely reflects a social change In various ways; basical ly

i t expresses a feeling of constant disil lusionment of the modern man; I

had also known for certain that the short stories emerging In the

aftermath are quite authentic. I immediately Involved myself in the task

and restudied some of these prominent short stories from a sociological

point of v iew. And I realized that many of them could be put to concrete

sociological analysis to draw independent observations on social change in 3

family and society" .

1. Ibid, Preface VII

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

22

In Hindi also a number of books have been p u b l i s h e d . Dr .

Nagendra 's , Sahitya Ka Samaj Shastra" is an ana lys is of the use of the

r e l a t i onsh ip between l i t e r a t u r e and soc ie t y , the development of social

l i t e r a t u r e and i ts i n t e r p r e t a t i o n , l i t e r a t u r e and social m i l i e n , and f i n a l l y

l i t e r a r y values and social va lues . The other book , Sahitya ka Samj

2 Shastriya Chintan is a co l l ec t ion of essays by western scholars and

t rans la ted into H i n d i , ed i t ed by N i rmala Jain of De lh i Un i ve r s i t y w i t h the

he lp of M i n i s t r y of Human Resources, Govt , of I n d i a .

Chandi Prasad J o s h i ' s research study in H ind i on Hindi Upanayas

3 Samaj Shastriya Vivechan was p u b l i s h e d in 1962. Th i s book has two

p a r t s , the f i r s t has undertaken an ana lys is of s o c i a l , p o l i t i c a l and

cu l tu ra l conditons of the 20th century Indian Society so as to enable us to

understand how these condi t ions inf luenced the growth of Indian

consciousness. The second pa r t deals w i t h the impact of t h i s consciousness

on the Hind i novels and f i n a l l y the con t r i bu t i on of the Hind i novels to the

growth of s o c i a l , p o l i t i c a l and cu l t u ra l consciousness. Thus h is ana lys is

of the Hind i novels f rom i ts b i r t h and development f o l l ow ing a soc io log ica l

f rame work has con t r i bu ted to the g rowth of soc io logy of l i t e r a t u r e in

I n d i a .

1 . Dr . Nagendra, Sahitya Ka Samaj Shastra, National Pub l i sh ing

House, D e l h i , 1982.

2 . Nirmala J a i n , Sahitya Ka Samaj Shastriya Chintan, 1986 Delh i

U n i v e r s i t y .

3. Chandi Prasad J o s h i , Hindi Upanayas; Samaj Shastriya Vivechan,

1962 Anusandhan Prakashan, Kanpur.

23

Yogendra Singh Verma's book ent i t led Sahitya Ka Samaj Shastriya

Adhayan, analyses the f ict ions of Renu sociologically but the methodology

is less of a social scientist and more of a l i te rary c r i t i c .

Recently an attempt has been made to develop sociological models

to study part icu lar ly the t h i r d world l i te ra ture . Dr. P.D. Tr ipath i in his

unpublished paper "The core and the Per iphery; A view of Third World

Litera'ry - Culture", proposes that "an adequate sociology of modern ' t h i r d

wor ld ' l i terature wi l l lead to draw upon Marxist ideas of imperial ism.

P.D. T r i pa th i , 'The core and the Periphery : A view of Th i rd

World L i terary - Culture' unpublished paper wri t ten in 1987 at

Department of Modern European Languages, in University of l lo r in

Nigeria and a xerox copy sent to Prof. S.S. Prasad, Department

of English P.U.