Mulk Raj Anand : From Literary Naturalism to Hopeful Humanism

Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Social heredity. 3. Social environment. 4. Hopeful humanism. 5. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.

A pioneer of the Indo-Anglian literary naturalism, Mulk Raj Anand was the best known writer of the Indian fiction of the 1930s. He was the most profile of his contemporaries and his literary credits include about twenty five novels, a few collections of short stories and numerous non-fictional works. His life and work testify to his participation and achievement in a variety of fields fiction, journalism, editorship, politics, social welfare and administration. Nevertheless his most ambitious mode of expression has been fiction. The Indo-Anglian novel before Anand was yet to be fully developed. In point of form and technique it was not abreast of modern development in English. Its range of subjects were limited and the naturalism of Zola and Dostoevsky were also still immature but he went beyond the works of these writers and carried the tradition to heights and brought the form of the novel in line with the latest development in Indian writing in English today. (jacket)