The Indian Novel in English: Its Critical Discourse 1934-2004

"Range of readings by Indian and international critics over a period of six decades, or from the beginnings of a critical discourse in the 1930s until the present time. The four chapters of the book offer a critical investigation into the reception of the novel genre as such and of the works of its three `founding fathers`, viz., Mulk Raj Anand, R.K. Narayan and Raja Rao. The latter chapters are supplemented by a list of the respective author`s novels, the most comprehensive critical bibliography to date and a list of critics that includes their publications dates. Following the development of both the emergence of the modern Indian novel in English since the mid-1930s and its critical evaluation, Riemenschneider illustrates the, at times controversial reaction to a `new` literary genre, as well as the national and international shifts of the critical literary discourse from the earlier close-reading approach of New Criticism to the more recent employment of postmodern and postcolonial theorems. The Indian Novel in English thus offers the reader insight into the development of a particular regional critical scene, as well as into the general critical concern with what is now referred to as postcolonial literature. No serious student of the Indian novel in English should miss this comprehensive, informative and balanced critical study."