Early twentieth-century Indian novels often depict the harsh material conditions of life under British colonial rule. Even so, these realist novels are profoundly imaginative. In this study, Ulka Anjaria challenges the distinction between early twentieth-century social realism and modern-day magical realism, arguing that realism in the colony functioned as a mode of experimentation and aesthetic innovation not merely as mimesis of the real world. By examining novels from the 1930s across several Indian languages, Anjaria reveals how Indian authors used realist techniques to imagine alternate...

This History traces the development of the Indian novel from its beginnings in the late nineteenth century up until the present day.