Origin and Development of the Bengali Novel

The word ‘Upanyas' has been adopted in Bengali as a term for the English word Novel. A novel, in a
general sense, refers to the representation of a holistic life system written in prose. Generally, since
ancient times, people have been accustomed to hearing stories and they want to hear or understand them
with great interest if they are written or told to indicate any mystery or any real event in social life. Stories
are usually short in form and reflect only one aspect. But in the form of a novel, the image of the entire
human life and society emerges against a larger and wider background. Bengali novel writing began in
the mid-nineteenth century, but in terms of organization and plot, the Bengali novel reached maturity in
the early twentieth century. Before knowing the origin and development of the Bengali novel, let's
understand what a novel is called.

Preliminary Discussion

A novel is a complete story of a group of people in which all the different characters are depicted in their
own form and symbolically point to a deep truth of life. The novel is the transformation of the author's
philosophy and feelings of life into works of art based on real stories. Bengali novel writing started in the
first half of the 19th century, which was based on social stories. In a good novel, mainly through the
story, events, characters, presentation, humor, dialogue or conversation, language, area, etc., the writer's
outlook, real experience and life feeling are revealed and also any special indication of social defects is
revealed.

What Does Fiction Mean?

To know or understand the origin and development of Bengali novels, it is important to have a clear idea
about fiction. Since people have been accustomed to listening to stories since ancient times. When a story
or story is heard or understood by people with interest and if it has literary value, then it becomes fiction.
In other words, fiction describes a story or subject, which aims at something bigger than just a story. In
this endeavor, it comments on some significant issues related to social, political, or human life issues.
This literature is created through stories and novels. So literature only refers to novels and short stories. A
novel explores the larger scope of a person's life, but a short story reflects only one aspect of a character.
At this stage of the origin and development of the Bengali novel, we will know about the origin of the
Bengali novel.

Origin of the Bengali Novel

To know about the origin and development of the Bengali novel, we have to look back a little. That is, in
the middle of the nineteenth century because the Bengali novel was written then. Especially when the
poetry of the middle ages came to the modern era and moved towards prose literature, attempts were
made to create the Bengali novel. When the first novel was written in the middle of the 19th century, it
was new to us, the style of writing was new to us, the use of language and the society for which it was
written and its members were also new.

Vabanicharan Bandyopadhyay (1787-1848) made the initial attempt to write the first novel. His novel -
'Kalikata Kamalaloy' (1823): This book depicts the life and lawlessness of Calcutta at that time. This
book describes the true story of how to come to Calcutta and find the oligarchy there to find your destiny.
'Nabababu Bilas' (1825): This book depicts the babu society of Calcutta. Many of the big people of those
days used to spend the night outside with guards. As a result, the stumbling and deplorable fate of their
wives are the subject of this book. These books written by Vabanicharan Bandyopadhyay are considered
to be the first attempt at novel creation.

In 1852, Hana Catherine Mullens wrote the book called Fulmani O Karunar Bibaran’ which is considered
as the first novel in the Bengali language. But it does not have all the characteristics of a novel. The main
story of this book is the happiness of Fulmani for accepting Christianity and the suffering of Karuna for
not practicing proper Christianity, then the mercy and happiness of Mam Sahib's God-sent advice.
Although it was originally written for the purpose of preaching Christianity, it shows some signs of a
novel.

Later, in 1857, Parichand Mitra wrote "Alaler Gharer Dulal" and the characteristics of the novel were
marked. It is not a novel but has the characteristics of a novel. That is, there is a debate about whether it is
a worthwhile novel or not. Parichand Mitra is called the founding man or the first novelist of Bengali
literature.

Then "Durgeshanandini" written and published by Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay in 1865 in imitation of

the European style is the example of the first authentic or meaningful novel in the Bengali language.
Because it kept all the features of the novel properly. This is the first meaningful novel in Bengali
literature. The struggle between the Mughals and the Pathans for the rights of Orissa began in the late
sixteenth century.

Evolution of the Bengali Novel

Beginning with Bankimchandra, the first significant novelist of Bengali literature, the style of the
European novel was prevalent in Bengali novels for a long time. Rabindranath Tagore who gave birth to
all branches of literature also brought a new dimension to the Bengali novel. Although critics do not
consider Rabindranath's novel to be satirical enough. Another influential novelist of the 19th-20th century
was Saratchandra Chattopadhyay who adopted indigenous socio-culture for his novels.

In the 1980s, Bengali fiction gained a new dimension with the strong presence of Humayun Ahmed. The
contribution of fiction writers of West Bengal to the domain of Bengali novels was limited before it was
realized. Some of the major writers of this period who continued the rich trend of Bengali novels are
Gouriprasanna Majumdar, Ramapad Chowdhury, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, and others. However, the
existence of unique novels of Bangladeshi novelist Jibananda Das was unknown until the seventies. He is
the only writer in Bengali literature whose writings became wildly popular after his death. He wrote 22
novels in the 1930s and 1940s.

Bengali novels take another step forward with the help of Manik Banerjee, Jagdish Gupta, and
Kamalkumar Majumdar. In their hands, the European thought or the novel developed by focusing on
various aspects of human existence rather than on a large scale. In fact, Manik Banerjee is perhaps the
most powerful novelist in the post-Rabindra era. Tarashankar Banerjee can be seen developing along his
path. They filmed the novel to shed light on the psychological and social complexities of people. In their
hands, the ability of strong prose has been conveyed in the art style of the novel. The diverse
consideration of human and social issues has brought the novel closer to the general reader and at the
same time the novel itself.

In the late 20th century, Humayun Ahmed of Bangladesh appeared with a completely new technique in
Bengali novels. He took the Bengali novel into a new direction. The Bengali novel was nurtured by West
Bengal fiction writers for a long time. Humayun Ahmed alone filled the gap of a hundred years. He
introduced the method of speaking on a small and short scale by giving priority to the interaction of
spouses i.e. dialogue rather than the narrative of the author. Humayun Ahmed showed that it is possible to
write successful, funny, and sophisticated novels outside the European model.