ABSTRACT
The essay discusses the development of Punjabi fiction in the modern period, while focusing on the features of a novel that make it distinct from other genres of literature, placing the Punjabi novel in its various phases of advancement. From the viewpoint of genre, novel as long fiction is a form, with the possibilities of the depiction of realism. Due to the diverse possibilities in the thematic construction and plot-settings, it is an open genre. The modes range from mythic to realistic and from realistic to fantasy and appear in various forms. But the references associated with the reality of life which emerge in the characterisation, action, and dialogues of novel, do not appear in any other genre of literature.
