Twentieth Century Novel & Important Facts

A Brief Introduction

In the history of English literary the twentieth century remains to be magnificient age of fiction. Rightly speaking modern aga in literature is the age of the novel. The English novel enjoyed immense popularity in the 20th Century. The other forms of literature, Poetry, drama were eclipsed by the novel.

It is only literary form which has competed successfully with radio, cinema and television. The immense popularity of the novel is accountable to the growing needs of the modern man in the age of science and technology. The modern man under the influence of science requires discussion, clarification and analysis.

Important Facts to Remember

1. The modern English Novel has immense variety and complexities. It is so on account of the growing complexities of life. The twentieth century has witnessed the advance of Science at a terrific speed. As Alirn Toffler has pointed out in is famous Book “The Third wave” the present century has entered the third wave of civilization.

2. Means of Communication have shortened distance to world has become a global village. Living styles have changed, moral values have changed. All this has to be reflected in literature. Novel being the most popular form reflects this change in all its variety and complexity H.G. Wells, Arnold Benett, John Galsworthy and Joseph Conrad belong to the group of traditional novelist. At this time these writers mere active on writing impressionism in painting and naturalism in fiction were the two movements running parallel.

3. In modern age relam fiction this revolt appeared in mainly two forms revolt against reason and revolt in style. Henry James, James Joyce, Dorothy Richardson and Vriginia woolf were the innovator of the new style. They revolutionised the technique of the novel. They wrote novels on the stream of consciousness, technique. Aldous Huxely and E.M. Forster Even the two great novelists of satire. Forster’s ‘A Passage to India’ and Huxely is Brave New world’s are the two great novels which can be cited as examples. There are number of novelists who wrote novels on satire. The novelists of satire adopted intellectual and critical attitude of life.