Humanism is basically a philosophical outlook centered on the authority of human being as a dignified, rational being. Humanism’s final court of appeal is human reason rather that any external authority. Its spirit is secular, liberal and tolerant. The humanists through their scholarship and learning registered their protest against socio-political and religious establishments. The emulation of the ancient writers is no longer a dominant force in literature but humanistic ideals are still influential in modern thought. In the Indian English novel the humanism centered upon moral, social, cultural and political values in the works of Mulk Raj anand, R.K. Narayan, Raja Rao and Khushwant Singh. While locating humanistic trends in Indian fiction in English, the earliest among women writers to figure prominently in the pantheon of Indian fiction in English is that of Kamala Markandaya, followed by anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande. Works written by writersn like Arun Joshi, anurag Mathur, Arundhati Roy and the recent works by Shobha De, Vikram Seth and Amitav Ghosh conform largely to the humanistic values/concerns. The twenty-seven essays in Humanism in Indian English Fiction interrogate and debate the humanistic concerns which inform the works of Mulk Raj anand, R.K. Narayan, Raja Rao, Khushwant Singh, V.S.Naipaul, Rohinton Mistry, Bhisham Sahani, Kamala Markandaya, Bhabani Bhattacharya, Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande, Arun Joshi, Chaman Nahal, Attia Hosain, Salman Rushdie, amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth, Shobha De, Arundhati Roy, Meera Syal, Githa Hariharan, Bharati Mukherjee, Sunetra Gupta, Meena Alexander, Chitra Divakaruni, Boman Desai, Jhumpa Lahiri, Rupa Bajwa.
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