Centuries of the novel: Medium for modernization

Abstract

There was a time when reading the novels was regarded as a central part of liberal arts education, i.e. general education of a higher level. University students and intelligent adults were supposed to read great novels. They were not “reading for fun”, but “reading for Building”. However, my impression is that we are the last generation to experience this notion. The reason is this: the second half of the twentieth century was the last period when the novel played its role as a medium for modernization in many countries. In this respect it is possible to call the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries “the centuries of the novel”.