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Lesson - 3
p10133 Classification of Novels
This lesson talks about the classification of novels. Novels can be classified as follows detective novels, historical novels, sociological novels, science fiction and regional novels. Tamil novels witnessed a rapid growth during the 20th century. Detective novels appeal to the reader's thirst for mystery and suspense thrill the reader by their content. These detective novels created a wide - spread interest among the readers and most of these novels were based on western detective novels.
The first half of the twentieth century saw authors like Arni Kuppusami Mudaliar, Vaduvoor Duraisamy Iyengar and K.R. Rangaraju. Rathinapuri Ragasiyam written by Arni Kuppusami Mudaliar was welcomed by many readers. Rajesh Kumar, Pattukottai Prabhakar and Indira Soundarajan are popular detective novelists today.
There are novels that focus on a particular problem in society and give remedies for it. Such are sociological novels. Naarayana Duraikannan, Kalki, Indhumathi and Sivasankari are a few authors who specialize in sociological novels. There are also novels that focus on Gandhian philosophy.
Authors writing historical novels used the works of Walter Scott as examples. Kalki is referred to as the father of Tamil historical novels. His works include Parthiban Kanavu, sivakamiyin Sabatham and Ponniyin Selvan. Other historical novelists are Sandilyon, Jegasirpi and Kalaignar Karunanidhi.
Jules Verne and H.G. Wells forerunners of science fiction in the west. Sujatha and K. Rajendran are famous Tamil science fiction novelists.
Novels based on specific regions portray the people of area, their habits and their life style. K.S. Venkataramani, R. Shanmuga Sundaram and Sankararam were forerunners of such types of novels.
From this lesson we have learnt about the classification of novels. Novels are classified as detective novels, historical novels, novels creating social awareness, science fiction and regional novels. We also saw a few famous authors who specialised each of these types.