The Post-War English Novel in Terms of Form and Theme

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of the First World War on the fiction of the third decade of the twentieth century – 1921 to 1930 – the immediate period succeeding war, and how the writers presented in fictional form the total disorder that had been spelt both in the world of history and the mind of men. Further, It has been intended tracing how the ‘novel form’ disintegrated and the novel is no longer remained a novel in the traditional sense. This paper also details how the writers tried to achieve their goal in fictional form and why the novel demanded a form which would not recapture the full texture of the horror scenario but also present an illuminating exploration of the deeper levels of individual consciousness.