The Fiction of Bhabani Bhattacharya

The book provides a general survey of the Indo-Anglian fiction and a detailed analysis of the prominent political fictions and the fiction of Bhabani Bhattacharya. Showing Bhattacharya’s position and achievement in the domain of Indian fiction, the book studies his art of writing novels for political and social value. The book also dwells on the Indo-Anglian fiction of varied themes—social, political, nationalistic, diplomatic, cultural, etc., of pre- and post-independence periods and shows the significant place of the Indian political novels and those of Bhabani Bhattacharya. The Indian content of these political novels has created a context for the study of Bhattacharya’s novels. The book also makes a critique on Bhattacharya’s six novels depicting contemporary social, political, economic and religious realities of India before and after independence. It also highlights his plea for the social and moral function of art and for reality and truth in literature and also his defending of the use of contemporary events as worthy subjects for writing novels. The author presents a perspective on Bhattacharya as an innovator and a free user of English language in an Indianised style. His authentic tone and Indianness are also shown through the common theme, traditional technique and typical Indian language of his novels.