The social novel, also known as the social problem novel, is a "work of fiction in which a prevailing social problem, such as gender, race, or class prejudice, is dramatized through its effect on the characters of a novel". More specific examples of social problems that are addressed in such works include poverty, conditions in factories and mines, the plight of child labor, violence against women, rising criminality, and epidemics because of over-crowding and poor sanitation in cities.
Facts
Place of Origin Notable ExampleThe Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck 1 Defining TraitA prevailing social problem, such as gender, race, or class prejudice, is dramatized through its effect on the characters 1 FAQs
Why is the social novel sometimes called the Condition-of-England novel?
The name comes from Thomas Carlyle's Condition-of-England Question of 1839. British social novels of the 1830s and 1840s took up its concerns.
In Britain the social novel is also known as the Condition-of-England novel. The name comes from the Condition-of-England Question, which Thomas Carlyle first raised in Chartism in 1839 and expanded in Past and Present in 1843 and Latter-Day Pamphlets in 1850. Condition-of-England novels set out to engage directly with the social and political issues of their day, including class, gender and labour relations, social unrest and the growing antagonism between rich and poor. Early examples include Benjamin Disraeli's Sybil, published in 1845, and Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton, published in 1848.
Connections
Features Author
Source Ivan Turgenev (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Originated In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.
Sources
1. Social novel (Wikipedia)
Britain
In England during the 1830s and 1840s the social novel "arose out of the social and political upheavals which followed the Reform Act 1832".
America
John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath often is cited as the most successful social protest novel of the 20th century.
Definition
a work of fiction in which a prevailing social problem, such as gender, race, or class prejudice, is dramatized through its effect on the characters of a novel
View the SourceIvan Turgenev (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Ivan Turgenev, Lead sectionQuote, Features Author: Ivan Turgenev, Lead section
His novel Fathers and Sons (1862) is regarded as one of the major works of 19th-century fiction.
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