In what ways was the novel In colonial India useful for both the colonisers as well as the nationalists?
(i) Source of Information : Colonial administrators found the ‘vernacular' novels a valuable source of information on native life and customs. Such information was useful for them in governing Indian society, with its large and a variety of communities and castes.
As outsiders, the British knew little about life inside Indian households. The novels in Indian languages often had descriptions of domestic life.
(ii) Novels and colonialism : The novel originated in Europe at a time when it was colonizing the rest of the world. The early novel contributed to colonialism by marking the readers feel they were part of a superior community of fellow colonialists.
(iii) The novel and nation making : The history written by colonial historians tended to depict Indians as weak, divided, and dependent on the British. These histories could not satisfy the tastes of the new Indian administrators and intellectuals. Nor did the traditional Puranic stories of the past- peopled by gods and demons, filled with the fantastic and the supernatural- seem convincing to those educated and working under the English system. Such minds wanted a new view of the past that would show that Indians could be independent minded and had been so in history. The novel provided a solution. In it, the nation could be imagined in a past that also featured historical characters, places, events and dates.
(iv) Novels and struggle for freedom : The imagined nation of the novel was so powerful that it could inspire actual political movements. Banking's Anandamath (1882) is-a novel about a secret Hindu militia that fights Muslims to establish a Hindu Kingdom. It was a novel that inspired many kinds of freedom fighters.
(v) Novels and common sharing novelists included : Various classes in the novel in such a way that they could be seen to belong to a shared world. Premchand's novels, for instance, are filled with all kinds of powerful characters drawn from all levels of society. In his novels you meet aristocrats and landlords, middle level peasants and landless labourers, middle class professionals and people from the margins of society. The women characters are strong individuals, especially those who come from the lower classes and are not modernised.
Discuss some of the social changes in the nineteenth century Britain which Thomas Hardy and Charles Dickens wrote about.
Which novel supplied the adventurous text for the young English population ? [CBSE 2014]
Which social issues were included in the novels in India? Explain by giving examples. [CBSE 2014]
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Novels helped in creating a sense of social awareness in India.' Explain. [CBSE 2012]
Who is the author of novel "Titash Ekti Nadir Naam"? Why is it considered a special novel ? Explain any four reasons. [CBSE 2013, 2014]
Or .
Who is the author of novel "Titash Ekti Nadir Naam"? Describe the theme of this novel. [CBSE 2012]
Explain the following :
(a) Social changes in Britain which led to an increase in women readers.
(b) What actions of Robinson Crusoe make us see him as a typical coloniser ? [CBSE Sept. 2011]
Or
"Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe made the readers feel that they were part of a superior community". Support the statement. [CBSE 2013]
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What actions of Robinson Crusoe made him as a typical coloniser ? Explain. [CBSE 2013]
(c) After 1740, the readership of novels began to include poorer people.
(d) Novelists in colonial India wrote for a political cause.
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How does the novel Pariksha Guru reflect the inner and outer world of the newly emerging middle classes ? [CBSE Sept. 2010]
What did the novels in the nineteenth- century India mean to :
(a) Women
(b) Children
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What was the attitude of people in India in the 19th century towards women reading ? How did women responded to this ? [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]
How most of the novels of the 19th century represented the true picture of the community and the society ?
In many novels written during the colonial period, the ideal person successfully deals with one of the central dilemmas faced by colonial subject'. What was the dilemma ?
Name a novelist who has written about terrible effects of industrialisation on people's lives and character.
What were the favourite themes to women novelists in India? Explain giving any three examples. [CBSE 2012]
In what ways was the novel In colonial India useful for both the colonisers as well as the nationalists?
How did Charles Dickens focus on the life of the industrial workers and the terrible conditions of urban life in his novels ? Explain with examples. [CBSE 2008 (O)]
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Explain the themes and issues of the . novels of Charles Dickens with examples. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Elaborate upon the contribution of Charles Dickens in the field of novel writing. [CBSE-2012]
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Novels of Charles Dickens deal with which changes of the 19th century Britain ? Mention any three such changes. [CBSE-2013]
Or
Which type of problems were highlighted by the novelist, Charles Dickens through his novel? Explain from any of his two novels. [CBSE-2013]
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Explain any three aspects highlighted by Charles Dickens in his novel "Hard Times". [CBSE-2012]
Name a novel which is about a secret Hindu militia that fights Muslims to establish a Hindu Kingdom. It was a novel that inspired many kinds of freedom fighters. ‘
Write a note on:
a) The Oriya novel
b) Jane Austen's portrayal of women
c) The picture of the new middle class which the novel Pariksha-Guru portrays.
How did novels promote colonialism ? Explain with an example of a novel. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
What kind of novels were written for young boys in the 19th century ? Explain. [CBSE Sept. 2010]
Or
How did novels make themselves relevant to young boys ? [CBSE Sept. 2011]
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Explain any five features of novels written for the young in the last stage of 19 th century. [CBSE 2012]
Discuss how the issue of caste was included in the novels in India. [CBSE Sept. 2011]
Or
Describe, the theme of the novel . Saraswativijayam' written by Potheri Kunjambu.
Or
Who is the author of novel "Saraswati vijayam"? Describe the theme of it.
Or
How does Saraswativijayam' lay stress upon the importance of education for the upliftment of the lower castes ? [CBSE 2012]
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How did authors from so called low castes gain recognition in the world of literature? Explain with examples of any two such authors. [CBSE 2012]
Novels had explained and focussed on the terrible conditions of urban life under industrial capitalism. Justify.
What are the main features of novel Sewasadan' written by Munshi Premchand? Mention any three. [CBSE 2012]
Who was Charlotte Bronte ? How has she presented the picture of a woman in her novels ?
Or
Describe the depiction of women in the novels of Charlotte Bronte. [CBSE 2013]
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In which way was women depicted in Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre'? [CBSE 2011]
How did the early novels contribute to colonialism ?
Or
With the help of an example show how the early novels in Europe contributed to colonialism? [CBSE Sept. 2010, 2011]
Mention some important characteristics of novels which increased their popularity among the readers.
"It is a truth universally accepted acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife". Name the novel and the author.