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A '''novel''' (from French ''nouvelle'' Italian "novella", "new") is an extended, generally [[fiction]]al [[narrative]], typically in [[prose]]. Until the [[eighteenth century]], the word referred specifically to [[short fiction]]s of [[love]] and intrigue as opposed to ''[[romance (genre)|romance]]s'', which were [[epic poetry|epic]]-length works about love and [[adventure]]. Literary theory of genres has not yet managed to isolate a "single definite, stable characteristic of the novel" that holds without reservations.<ref>Bakhtin 1981, pp.8-9</ref>

A '''novel''' (from French ''nouvelle'' Italian "novella", "new") is an extended, generally [[fiction]]al [[narrative]], typically in [[prose]]. Until the [[eighteenth century]], the word referred specifically to [[short fiction]]s of [[love]] and intrigue as opposed to ''[[romance (genre)|romance]]s'', which were [[epic poetry|epic]]-length works about love and [[adventure]]. Literary theory of genres has not yet managed to isolate a "single definite, stable characteristic of the novel" that holds without reservations.

During the 18th century the novel adopted features of the old romance and became one of the major literary genres. It is today defined mostly by its ability to become the object of literary criticism demanding [[artistic merit]] and a specific 'literary' style—or specific literary styles.

During the 18th century the novel adopted features of the old romance and became one of the major literary genres. It is today defined mostly by its ability to become the object of literary criticism demanding [[artistic merit]] and a specific 'literary' style—or specific literary styles.

==History==

==History==

The modern novel can no longer be seen as an entirely European product. Works western critics can identify as novels - works like ''[[The Tale of Genji]]'' written by [[Murasaki Shikibu]] in the 11th century - works of prose fiction focusing on love stories and the individual, have been composed outside Europe centuries before comparable works came to be written by western authors. Non-European modern Authors such as [[Amos Tutuola]] have successfully brought their own traditions of the epic and the shorter story into the field of the European novel.  

The modern novel can no longer be seen as an entirely European product. Works western critics can identify as novels - works like ''[[The Tale of Genji]]'' written by [[Murasaki Shikibu]] in the 11th century - works of prose fiction focusing on love stories and the individual, have been composed outside Europe centuries before comparable works came to be written by western authors. Non-European modern Authors such as [[Amos Tutuola]] have successfully brought their own traditions of the epic and the shorter story into the field of the European novel.  

===Early novel, 1000-1600===

===Early novel, 1000-1600===

It is difficult to give a full catalog of the genres that finally culminated - with the works of [[Giovanni Boccaccio|Boccaccio]], [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], [[Niccolò Machiavelli]] and [[Miguel de Cervantes]] - in the original "novel", the production today generally categorized under the term "novella".

It is difficult to give a full catalog of the genres that finally culminated - with the works of [[Giovanni Boccaccio|Boccaccio]], [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], [[Niccolò Machiavelli]] and [[Miguel de Cervantes]] - in the original "novel", the production today generally categorized under the term "novella".

===Conflict between novels and romances, 1600-1700===

===Conflict between novels and romances, 1600-1700===

The invention of printing subjected both novels and romances to a first wave of [[trivia]]lization and commercialization. Printed books were expensive, yet something people would buy, just as people still buy expensive things they can barely afford. Alphabetization, or the rise of [[literacy]], was a slow process when it came to writing skills, but was faster as far as reading skills were concerned. The [[Protestant Reformation]] created new readers of religious pamphlets, [[newspaper]]s and [[broadsheet]]s.

The invention of printing subjected both novels and romances to a first wave of [[trivia]]lization and commercialization. Printed books were expensive, yet something people would buy, just as people still buy expensive things they can barely afford. Alphabetization, or the rise of [[literacy]], was a slow process when it came to writing skills, but was faster as far as reading skills were concerned. The [[Protestant Reformation]] created new readers of religious pamphlets, [[newspaper]]s and [[broadsheet]]s.

The alternative to dubious novels and satirical romances were better, lofty romances: a production of romances modeled after Heliodorus arrived as a possible answer with excursions into the [[bucolic]] world. [[Honoré d'Urfé]]'s ''L'Astrée'' (1607-27) became the most famous work of this type. The criticism that these romances had nothing to do with real life was answered through the device of the ''[[roman à clef]]'' (literally "novel with a key") — one that, properly understood, alludes to characters in the real world. [[John Barclay]]'s ''[[Argenis]]'' (1625-26) appeared as a political ''Roman à clef''. The romances of [[Madeleine de Scudéry]] gained greater influence with plots set in the ancient world and content taken from life. The famous author told stories of her friends in the literary circles of Paris and developed their fates from volume to volume of her serialized production. Readers of taste bought her books, as they offered the finest observation of human motives, characters taken from life, and excellent morals regarding how one should and should not behave if one wanted to succeed in public life and in the intimate circles she portrayed.

The alternative to dubious novels and satirical romances were better, lofty romances: a production of romances modeled after Heliodorus arrived as a possible answer with excursions into the [[bucolic]] world. [[Honoré d'Urfé]]'s ''L'Astrée'' (1607-27) became the most famous work of this type. The criticism that these romances had nothing to do with real life was answered through the device of the ''[[roman à clef]]'' (literally "novel with a key") — one that, properly understood, alludes to characters in the real world. [[John Barclay]]'s ''[[Argenis]]'' (1625-26) appeared as a political ''Roman à clef''. The romances of [[Madeleine de Scudéry]] gained greater influence with plots set in the ancient world and content taken from life. The famous author told stories of her friends in the literary circles of Paris and developed their fates from volume to volume of her serialized production. Readers of taste bought her books, as they offered the finest observation of human motives, characters taken from life, and excellent morals regarding how one should and should not behave if one wanted to succeed in public life and in the intimate circles she portrayed.

The novel went its own way: [[Paul Scarron]] (himself a hero in the romances of [[Madeleine de Scudéry]]) published the first volume of his ''Roman Comique'' in 1651 (successive volumes appeared in 1657 and, by another hand, in 1663) with a plea for the development Cervantes had introduced in Spain. France should (as he wrote in the famous twenty first chapter of the ''Roman Comique'' [http://www.pierre-marteau.com/library/e-1700-0002.html#c21]) imitate the Spanish with little stories like those they called "novels". Scarron himself added numerous of such stories to his own work.

The novel went its own way: [[Paul Scarron]] (himself a hero in the romances of [[Madeleine de Scudéry]]) published the first volume of his ''Roman Comique'' in 1651 (successive volumes appeared in 1657 and, by another hand, in 1663) with a plea for the development Cervantes had introduced in Spain. France should (as he wrote in the famous twenty first chapter of the ''Roman Comique'' [https://www.pierre-marteau.com/library/e-1700-0002.html#c21]) imitate the Spanish with little stories like those they called "novels". Scarron himself added numerous of such stories to his own work.

Twenty years later [[Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, comtesse de la Fayette|Madame de La Fayette]] took the next decisive steps with her two novels. The first, her ''Zayde'' (published in 1670 together with [[Pierre Daniel Huet]]'s famous ''[[Traitté de l'origine des romans|Treatise on the Origin of Romances]]''), was a "Spanish history". Her second and more important novel appeared in 1678: ''[[La Princesse de Clèves]]'' proved that France could actually produce novels of a particularly French taste. The Spanish enjoyed stories of proud Spaniards who fought duels to avenge their reputations. The French had a more refined taste with minute observation of human motives and behavior. The story was firmly a "novel" and not a "romance": a story of unparalleled female virtue, with a heroine who had had the chance to risk an illicit amour and not only withstood the temptation but made herself more unhappy by confessing her feelings to her husband. The gloom her story created was entirely new and sensational.

Twenty years later [[Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, comtesse de la Fayette|Madame de La Fayette]] took the next decisive steps with her two novels. The first, her ''Zayde'' (published in 1670 together with [[Pierre Daniel Huet]]'s famous ''[[Traitté de l'origine des romans|Treatise on the Origin of Romances]]''), was a "Spanish history". Her second and more important novel appeared in 1678: ''[[La Princesse de Clèves]]'' proved that France could actually produce novels of a particularly French taste. The Spanish enjoyed stories of proud Spaniards who fought duels to avenge their reputations. The French had a more refined taste with minute observation of human motives and behavior. The story was firmly a "novel" and not a "romance": a story of unparalleled female virtue, with a heroine who had had the chance to risk an illicit amour and not only withstood the temptation but made herself more unhappy by confessing her feelings to her husband. The gloom her story created was entirely new and sensational.

''The Wonders of this Man's Life exceed all that (he thinks) is to be found extant; the Life of one Man being scarce capable of a greater Variety.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

''The Wonders of this Man's Life exceed all that (he thinks) is to be found extant; the Life of one Man being scarce capable of a greater Variety.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

''The Story is told with Modesty, with Seriousness, and with a religious Application of Events to the Uses to which wise Men always ap[p]ly them'' (viz.) ''to the Instruction of others by this Example, and to justify and honor the Wisdom of Providence in all the Variety of our Circumstances, let them happen how they will.''</br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

''The Story is told with Modesty, with Seriousness, and with a religious Application of Events to the Uses to which wise Men always ap[p]ly them'' (viz.) ''to the Instruction of others by this Example, and to justify and honor the Wisdom of Providence in all the Variety of our Circumstances, let them happen how they will.''</br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

''The Editor believes the thing to be a just History of Fact; neither is there any Appearance of Fiction in it: And however thinks, because all such things are dispatch'd [later editions: disputed], that the Improvement of it, as well as the Diversion, as to the Instruction of the Reader, will be the same; and as such he thinks, without farther Compliment to the World, he does them a great Service in the Publication.''[http://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1719-robinson-crusoe/p-iii.html]

''The Editor believes the thing to be a just History of Fact; neither is there any Appearance of Fiction in it: And however thinks, because all such things are dispatch'd [later editions: disputed], that the Improvement of it, as well as the Diversion, as to the Instruction of the Reader, will be the same; and as such he thinks, without farther Compliment to the World, he does them a great Service in the Publication.''[https://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1719-robinson-crusoe/p-iii.html]

</blockquote>

</blockquote>

The big market success of the next decade, Daniel Defoe's ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]'', appeared that very year and [[William Taylor (Publisher)|William Taylor]], the publisher, avoided these traps with a title page claiming neither the realm of novels nor that of romances, but that of [[histories (history of the novel)|histories]], yet with a page design tasting all too much of the "new romance" with which Fénelon had just become famous.

The big market success of the next decade, Daniel Defoe's ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]'', appeared that very year and [[William Taylor (Publisher)|William Taylor]], the publisher, avoided these traps with a title page claiming neither the realm of novels nor that of romances, but that of [[histories (history of the novel)|histories]], yet with a page design tasting all too much of the "new romance" with which Fénelon had just become famous.

Defoe's ''Robinson Crusoe'' was everything but a novel, as the term was understood at the time. It wasn't short, it didn't focus on an intrigue, and it wasn't told for the sake of a clear cut-point. Nor was Crusoe an [[anti-hero]] of a satirical romance, though he spoke in the first person singular and had stumbled into all kinds of miseries. He did not really invite laughter (though readers of taste would read, of course, all his proclamations about being a real man as made in good humour). The feigned author was serious: against his will his life had brought him into this series of most romantic adventures. He had fallen into the hands of [[piracy|pirates]] and survived years on an uninhabited island. He had survived all this — a mere sailor from [[York]] — with exemplary heroism. If readers read his work as a romance, full of sheer invention, he could not blame them. He and his publisher knew that all he had to tell was strictly unbelievable, and yet they would claim it was true (and if not, still readable as good [[allegory]]) — this is the complex game which puts this work into the fourth column of the pattern above.

Defoe's ''Robinson Crusoe'' was everything but a novel, as the term was understood at the time. It wasn't short, it didn't focus on an intrigue, and it wasn't told for the sake of a clear cut-point. Nor was Crusoe an [[anti-hero]] of a satirical romance, though he spoke in the first person singular and had stumbled into all kinds of miseries. He did not really invite laughter (though readers of taste would read, of course, all his proclamations about being a real man as made in good humour). The feigned author was serious: against his will his life had brought him into this series of most romantic adventures. He had fallen into the hands of [[piracy|pirates]] and survived years on an uninhabited island. He had survived all this — a mere sailor from [[York]] — with exemplary heroism. If readers read his work as a romance, full of sheer invention, he could not blame them. He and his publisher knew that all he had to tell was strictly unbelievable, and yet they would claim it was true (and if not, still readable as good [[allegory]]) — this is the complex game which puts this work into the fourth column of the pattern above.

===Reformation, 1700-1800===

===Reformation, 1700-1800===

The publication of ''Robinson Crusoe'' did not directly lead to the mid-18th century market reform. Crusoe's books were published as dubious histories; they played the game of the scandalous early eighteenth century market, with the novel fully integrated into the realm of histories. They even appeared reprinted by one of the London newspapers as a possibly true relation of facts. Philosophers like [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] turned ''Robinson Crusoe'' into a classic decades later, and it took another century before one could see Defoe's book as the first English "novel" — published, as [[Ian Watt]] saw it in 1957 — as an answer to the market of French romances.

The publication of ''Robinson Crusoe'' did not directly lead to the mid-18th century market reform. Crusoe's books were published as dubious histories; they played the game of the scandalous early eighteenth century market, with the novel fully integrated into the realm of histories. They even appeared reprinted by one of the London newspapers as a possibly true relation of facts. Philosophers like [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] turned ''Robinson Crusoe'' into a classic decades later, and it took another century before one could see Defoe's book as the first English "novel" — published, as [[Ian Watt]] saw it in 1957 — as an answer to the market of French romances.

===Novels as literature, 1740-1800===

===Novels as literature, 1740-1800===

The early eighteenth century market for classics of prose fiction inspired living authors. Aphra Behn, writing in relative anonymity, became a celebrated author posthumously. Fénelon achieved the same fame during his lifetime. Delarivier Manley, Jane Barker and [[Eliza Haywood]] followed their famous French models who had dared to claim fame with their real names: the [[Madame d'Aulnoy]] and [[Anne Marguerite Petit du Noyer]]. Most novels had previously been pseudonymous; now they became the productions of famous authors.

The early eighteenth century market for classics of prose fiction inspired living authors. Aphra Behn, writing in relative anonymity, became a celebrated author posthumously. Fénelon achieved the same fame during his lifetime. Delarivier Manley, Jane Barker and [[Eliza Haywood]] followed their famous French models who had dared to claim fame with their real names: the [[Madame d'Aulnoy]] and [[Anne Marguerite Petit du Noyer]]. Most novels had previously been pseudonymous; now they became the productions of famous authors.

*'''1651''': Paul Scarron, ''The Comical Romance'', Chapter XXI. "Which perhaps will not be found very Entertaining" (London, 1700). Scarron's plea for a French production rivalling the Spanish "Novels". [http://www.pierre-marteau.com/library/e-1700-0002.html#c21 Marteau]

*'''1651''': Paul Scarron, ''The Comical Romance'', Chapter XXI. "Which perhaps will not be found very Entertaining" (London, 1700). Scarron's plea for a French production rivalling the Spanish "Novels". [https://www.pierre-marteau.com/library/e-1700-0002.html#c21 Marteau]

*'''1670''': Pierre Daniel Huet, "Traitté de l'origine des Romans", Preface to Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne comtesse de La Fayette, ''Zayde, histoire espagnole''  (Paris, 1670). A world history of fiction. [http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Visualiseur?Destination=Gallica&O=NUMM-57594 pdf-edition Gallica France]

*'''1670''': Pierre Daniel Huet, "Traitté de l'origine des Romans", Preface to Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne comtesse de La Fayette, ''Zayde, histoire espagnole''  (Paris, 1670). A world history of fiction. [https://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Visualiseur?Destination=Gallica&O=NUMM-57594 pdf-edition Gallica France]

*'''1683''': [Du Sieur], "Sentimens sur l’histoire" from: ''Sentimens sur les lettres et sur l’histoire, avec des scruples sur le stile'' (Paris: C. Blageart, 1680). The new novels as published masterly by Marie de LaFayette . [http://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1683-1712-novels.html Marteau]

*'''1683''': [Du Sieur], "Sentimens sur l’histoire" from: ''Sentimens sur les lettres et sur l’histoire, avec des scruples sur le stile'' (Paris: C. Blageart, 1680). The new novels as published masterly by Marie de LaFayette . [https://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1683-1712-novels.html Marteau]

*'''1702''': Abbe Bellegarde, "Lettre à une Dame de la Cour, qui lui avoit demandé quelques Reflexions sur l’Histoire" aus: ''Lettres curieuses de littérature et de morale'' (La Haye: Adrian Moetjens, 1702). Paraphrase of Du Sieur's text. [http://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1683-1712-novels.html Marteau]

*'''1702''': Abbe Bellegarde, "Lettre à une Dame de la Cour, qui lui avoit demandé quelques Reflexions sur l’Histoire" aus: ''Lettres curieuses de littérature et de morale'' (La Haye: Adrian Moetjens, 1702). Paraphrase of Du Sieur's text. [https://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1683-1712-novels.html Marteau]

*'''1705/1708/1712''': [Anon.] In English, French and German the Preface of ''The Secret History of Queen Zarah and the Zarazians'' (Albigion, 1705). Bellegarde's article plagiarised. [http://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1683-1712-novels.html Marteau]

*'''1705/1708/1712''': [Anon.] In English, French and German the Preface of ''The Secret History of Queen Zarah and the Zarazians'' (Albigion, 1705). Bellegarde's article plagiarised. [https://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1683-1712-novels.html Marteau]

*'''1713''': ''Deutsche Acta Eruditorum'', German review of the French translation of Delarivier Manley's ''New Atalantis'' 1709 (Leipzig: J. L. Gleditsch, 1713). A rare example of a political novel discussed by a literary journal. [http://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1712-atalantis.html Marteau]

*'''1713''': ''Deutsche Acta Eruditorum'', German review of the French translation of Delarivier Manley's ''New Atalantis'' 1709 (Leipzig: J. L. Gleditsch, 1713). A rare example of a political novel discussed by a literary journal. [https://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1712-atalantis.html Marteau]

*'''1715''': Jane Barker, preface to her ''Exilius or the Banish’d Roman. A New Romance'' (London: E. Curll, 1715). Plea for a "New Romance" following Fénlon's ''Telmachus''. [http://www.pierre-marteau.com/library/e-1715-0008.html Marteau]

*'''1715''': Jane Barker, preface to her ''Exilius or the Banish’d Roman. A New Romance'' (London: E. Curll, 1715). Plea for a "New Romance" following Fénlon's ''Telmachus''. [https://www.pierre-marteau.com/library/e-1715-0008.html Marteau]

*'''1718''': [Johann Friedrich Riederer], "Satyra von den Liebes-Romanen", from: ''Die abentheuerliche Welt in einer Pickelheerings-Kappe'', 2 ([Nürnberg,] 1718). German satire about the wide spread reading of novels and romances.  [http://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1718-liebes-romane.html Marteau]

*'''1718''': [Johann Friedrich Riederer], "Satyra von den Liebes-Romanen", from: ''Die abentheuerliche Welt in einer Pickelheerings-Kappe'', 2 ([Nürnberg,] 1718). German satire about the wide spread reading of novels and romances.  [https://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1718-liebes-romane.html Marteau]

*'''1742''': Henry Fielding, preface to ''Joseph Andrews'' (London, 1742). The "comic epic in prose" and its poetics. [http://www.munseys.com/diskone/joeandrewdex.htm Munseys]

*'''1742''': Henry Fielding, preface to ''Joseph Andrews'' (London, 1742). The "comic epic in prose" and its poetics. [https://www.munseys.com/diskone/joeandrewdex.htm Munseys]

[[Category: General Reference]]

[[Category: General Reference]]