Early Growth and Historical Beginnings of the Indian Novel in English:
There are salient characteristics of Indo-Anglian Fiction. The Indian novel written in English emerged during the final three decades of the nineteenth century. Early Indo-Anglian fiction took shape at a time when Jane Austen and Sir Walter Scott were already established classics, Dickens had completed most of his major novels in England, Balzac and Alexandre Dumas had passed away in France, and Dostoevsky and Tolstoy in Russia had produced the greater part of their significant works.
In its initial phase, the dominant tendency was historical writing, and the novels of this period clearly revealed the rawness and inexperience of early efforts. This situation continued until about 1920. A range of historical narratives can be seen in works such as S. K. Ghosh’s The Prince of Destiny (1900), S. K. Mitra’s Hindupur (1909), and Jogendra Singh’s Nur Jahan (1909), when the historical romance enjoyed wide popularity.
Paradoxically, although these works were labeled historical novels, they were scarcely grounded in authentic historical fact. Instead, they were largely romantic in nature, marked by commonplace themes, weak historical imagination, structural shortcomings, and an overall atmosphere of romantic unreality.
1920 as the Turning Point and the Rise of Major Novelists:
By and large, fewer than a dozen Indian novels in English had been produced before 1920. The year 1920, therefore, can justifiably be seen as the starting point of earnest and sustained endeavour in Indo-Anglian fiction. Over time, this body of writing has evolved its own distinctive characteristics through a prolonged, gradual process of experimentation with narrative techniques, structure and form, along with a continuous search for appropriate and meaningful themes, while also grappling with the challenges of expressing Indian experience in a foreign language.
During the ensuing four decades, remarkable contributions were made by writers such as Mulk Raj Anand, R. K. Narayan, Raja Rao, G. V. Desani, Anita Desai, Manohar Malgonkar, Kamala Markandaya, Nayantara Sahgal, Sudhin Ghose, Khushwant Singh, and Arun Joshi.
Dominance of the Novel Form in Indo-Anglian Literature
One of the most notable characteristics is the prominence of the novel as the leading genre in Indo-Anglian literature, much like its position in American literature. Although the Indo-Anglian novel developed at a comparatively later stage, it constitutes the major portion of Indo-Anglian literary output. Despite several challenges—such as addressing an average readership, coping with a restricted market, and facing competition to secure publication overseas—Indian writers have actively engaged with the novel, described as “the form of imaginative literature that artistically shapes the relationship between the individual and society.” This preference may be attributed to the fact that the novel, more than any other genre, harmonizes with the Indian sensibility and outlook.
The Question of Imitation and the East–West Synthesis:
The Indo-Anglian novel cannot be dismissed as a mere copy of Western fiction. Indian novelists writing in English—such as R. K. Narayan, Raja Rao, and Mulk Raj Anand—have certainly absorbed important techniques from the Western novel, particularly from writers like James Joyce, but they are by no means shallow imitators of Western models. V. S. Naipaul, in An Area of Darkness, characterized the Indo-Anglian novel as a form of “Western mimicry” and described it as an act of “Indian self-betrayal,” arguing that the novel is essentially a Western form. According to him, Western fiction focuses on life in the immediate present, while reflective Indian minds traditionally seek to fulfil a deeper longing for the unseen and the spiritual.
Such criticism, however, is largely unfounded. It appears that Naipaul’s judgement was based on a limited reading of writers like R. K. Narayan, Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Malgonkar, and Prawer Jhabvala, and that he overlooked works such as Raja Rao’s The Serpent and the Rope. The Indo-Anglian novel arises from the interaction of two literary traditions—Indian and Western—and it is this dual inheritance that led Meenakshi Mukherjee to describe it as “twice-born fiction.”
C. D. Narasimhaiah strongly challenges Naipaul’s allegations by pointing out that the novel, whether Eastern or Western, has roots stretching far into the past. He argues that India, in fact, possessed a greater latent capacity for the novel form than the West, owing to its long-standing tradition of storytelling that can be traced back to the Rigveda and the Upanishads. The Indo-Anglian novel reflects not only contemporary social realities but also spiritual truths—both of which are integral to ancient Indian narratives. While Western fiction generally confines itself to the “here and now,” the Indo-Anglian novel transcends this limitation, achieving a broader and more elevated scope.
Narasimhaiah further observes that Indian storytelling does not end with surface reality; its vision extends deeper and higher. This, he suggests, explains why Narayan’s The Guide is more compelling than Naipaul’s The Mystic Masseur or Kipling’s Kim, and why Raja Rao’s The Serpent and the Rope holds greater significance than E. M. Forster’s A Passage to India. According to him, The Serpent and the Rope carries forward the inquiry that A Passage to India leaves unresolved.
The novel form suits the Indian temperament particularly well, as narrative has always been central to Indian literature. India’s rich legacy of storytelling naturally aligns with the demands of the novel. Raja Rao himself emphasizes this in the preface to Kanthapura, noting that traditional Indian storytelling moves fluidly from one episode to another, following the natural rhythm of thought and breath—a method that continues to shape Indian narrative practice.
Emergence of the Indo-Anglian Novel as a Distinct and Mature Genre:
Alongside this development, the Indo-Anglian novel emerged as an independent literary form. Within a relatively brief span of about four decades, it attained notable maturity and evolved a distinct identity. This maturity is reflected in several significant features. Indian novelists writing in English became increasingly aware of narrative technique and artistic form. Their creative impulses were diverse and continuously changing from one period to another, as writers showed a growing preference for new themes and innovative methods of presentation. Although fiction allows limited scope for experimentation, a number of writers achieved remarkable success in this area.
Mulk Raj Anand employed the stream-of-consciousness technique in Untouchable, shaping it into a structured and coherent narrative, unlike the diffuse form found in Ulysses. In The Guide, R. K. Narayan attained a remarkable artistic and technical achievement by interweaving the objective account of Raju as a saint with the personal narrative of Raju as a tourist guide. Anand’s Coolie stands as a notable example of the picaresque tradition adapted to the Indian context. Raja Rao also made a significant contribution through The Serpent and the Rope, where he skilfully combined autobiographical narration with introspection, flashbacks, diary-like reflections, and the chronicle method.
Thus, the maturity of Indo-Anglian fiction is evident in the emphasis Indian novelists placed on narrative technique. Furthermore, this concern for form was closely linked with thematic exploration, and the Indo-Anglian novel often anticipated literary trends that appeared much later in regional Indian literatures. As Meenakshi Mukherjee observes, the Indo-Anglian novel assumed a distinct shape in the 1920s, gradually gaining confidence and establishing itself over the next two decades. Its progress has not slowed, and the 1960s witnessed a greater number of publications than any previous period.
This growth is striking, considering that before 1920 there were barely a handful of such novels. One possible explanation is that the rise of Indo-Anglian fiction coincided with the coming of age of the novel in India’s regional languages. Ultimately, the maturity of the Indian English novel is reflected in its skilled plot construction, rich characterization, and exploration of fresh and varied themes.
Awareness of Western Readership and the Question of Exoticism:
Another characteristic of Indo-Anglian fiction—whether one views it as a strength or a limitation—is the writers’ consciousness of a Western readership. Indo-Anglian novelists primarily address a small intellectual elite in India, while the larger reading public tends to favour sensational genres such as sex novels or spy thrillers. As a result, these writers face a narrowly restricted home audience and are compelled to look beyond it.
To overcome this constraint, many have deliberately written with Western readers in mind. Consequently, a significant number of Indo-Anglian novels have been published overseas. The works of Raja Rao, R. K. Narayan, Khushwant Singh, and others appeared abroad, and almost all of Malgonkar’s novels were published outside India. In fact, the story of how Indo-Anglian novels came to be published would itself make a fascinating narrative.
This orientation towards a Western audience has also shaped the themes and content of these novels. They frequently portray elements of what is perceived as “exotic” India—sadhus and fakirs, caves and temples, Vedantic thought, Gandhi, as well as rajahs and nawabs. In this context, Manohar Malgonkar aptly remarked about Raja Rao and R. K. Narayan that “they essentially present a Western conception of India.”
Indianness and National Sensibility in Indo-Anglian Fiction:
This view, however, does not suggest that the Indo-Anglian novel is written solely for a Western audience. Indian writers have infused their fiction with unmistakable elements of Indianness. Like novels from any nation, these works reflect the spirit of their own cultural and national identity. Indian novels in English function as carriers of Indian sensibility, since the creative consciousness of Indo-Anglian novelists remains deeply rooted in local experience.
Consequently, Indo-Anglian fiction rightly belongs to the body of Indian national literature. As Dr. A. V. Krishna Rao observes, “The Indo-Anglian novel … has secured its place within the mainstream of modern Indian national literature.” This position becomes evident through an examination of recurring themes, the employment of Indian myths and symbols, and the portrayal of Indian settings and characters shaped by the author’s personal, regional, racial, and national sensibility.
Variety of Themes and Expanding Range of the Indo-Anglian Novel:
Another notable characteristic of Indo-Anglian fiction is the breadth of its thematic diversity. Its scope is extensive and its concerns are substantial. Although it broadly falls into three principal categories—the historical novel, the social and political novel, and the introspective or psychological novel—it nevertheless displays remarkable variety. This aspect has been insightfully articulated by Prof. C. D. Narasimhaiah, who observes that the Indian novel in English possesses an exceptional ability to embrace a wide spectrum of interests.
In the works of Mulk Raj Anand, one encounters a deep compassion for the oppressed, going beyond a narrow focus on economic determinism. R. K. Narayan employs the comic mode as a counterpart to tragedy in his portrayal of ordinary life, while K. Nagarajan stands out for his sensitive exploration of the human meaning embedded within the complex religious and theological traditions of Hindu society.
Raja Rao, on the other hand, revives the rich mythical imagination of ancient India in his novels and short stories, while simultaneously, in T. S. Eliot’s sense, reshaping expression to suit a distinctively Indian sensibility. Similar tendencies, in varying measures, are evident in the writings of Sudhin Ghose, Desani, and Ananthanarayan.
Women novelists, particularly Kamala Markandaya, Santha Rama Rau, and Anita Desai, display a keen perception of urban life. Bhabani Bhattacharya and Khushwant Singh, though differing greatly in approach, offer penetrating insights into the suffering caused by poverty, unequal distribution of wealth, and the dehumanizing effects of political disturbances.
The expansive canvas of the Indo-Anglian novel is further revealed through its treatment of diverse themes and character types, and this range has been extended by the exploration of previously neglected subjects. For instance, Malgonkar’s The Distant Drum stands alone as a novel devoted to military life in Indo-Anglian fiction.
Limitations and Achievements of Indo-Anglian Fiction
Indo-Anglian fiction is often marked by a pronounced element of exoticism. As Mrs. Derrett has observed, many Indian writers appear to address primarily an Anglo-Saxon readership, a factor that inevitably shapes the portrayal of characters, the choice of themes, and the development of narrative structure. Kamala Markandaya’s Two Virgins may be cited as a contemporary illustration of this tendency.
However, this is only one aspect of the matter. Indo-Anglian fiction also stands as a significant and unique segment of Indian writing in English. It has served as an effective medium for social and political critique, contributed substantially to the growth of other Indian literatures, and reflected both India’s cultural inheritance and the realities of its modern social life.