Types of novel

Novel as a form of literature and a brief acquaintance with its various types

1. Types of novel

2. The term-Novel The word ‘novel’ was not used until the end of the 18 th century An English transliteration of the Italian word ‘novella’- French word- nouvelle Used to describe a short, compact, broadly realistic tale popular during the medieval period eg . Boccaccio’s Decameron The desire to depict and entertain the human character Deeper perception of life & its problem

3. Definition The Shorter Oxford Dictionary defines a novel as “a fictitious prose narrative of considerable length, in which characters and actions representative of real life are portrayed in a plot of more or less complexity”. Plot- What happens in the story Characters-Who is involved in what happens in the story Point of view- how the story is told Setting- When & where the story takes place Novelist’s criticism-the interpretation or philosophy of the writer

4. Hybrid genre The novel is the loosest form of literary art encompasses many different sub-genres is always in search of a definition battled with other genres from the very beginning Very effective medium of the portrayal of human thought and action Often contains letters, dialogues, narration, poetry etc.

5. The precursors of novel Medieval European Romances Arthurian tales culminating in Malory’s Morte D Arthur Prose romances John Lyly- Euphues,The Anatomy of wit(1578) Robert Greene- Pandosto (1588) Thomas Lodge- Rosalynde (1590) Philip Sidney- Arcadia(1590) Thomas Nashe’s The Unfortunate Traveller (1594) Deloney’s Jack of Newbury(1626) John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (1678)

6. Only Connect ... New Directions The increase of the reading public in the Augustan Age was due to the growing importance of the middle class the individual’s trust in his own abilities the practice of reason and self-analysis Most readers were middle-class women They used to borrow books from circulating libraries The rise of the novel The novel

7. Major types of novel Epistolary Picaresque Experimental Novel of manners Sentimental Gothic Historical Social Realism Psychological- Stream of consciousness

8. Epistolary novel Novels in which the narrative is told in letters by one or more of the characters Allows author to present feelings and reactions of characters allows multiple points of view Psychological realism Samuel Richardson , (1689-1761 ) Pamela (1740) Clarrisa ( 1748)

9. Picaresque Novel Derives from Spanish picaro : a rogue A usually autobiographical chronicle of a rascal’s travels and adventures as s/he makes his/her way through the world more by wits than industry Episodic, loose structure, usually a first person narrative Cervantes- Don Quixote(1605), the first modern European novel Daniel Defoe- Robinson Cruisoe (1719)& Moll Flanders (1722) Lacked in character development-advanced the narrative side

10. Masters of picaresque novel Henry Fielding (1707-1754) Shamela (1741 ) Joseph Andrews (1742) Tom Jones (1749) Sir Walter Scott -‘the father of English Novel’ Tobias Smollett(1721-1771) Roderick Random (1748 ) Peregrine Pickle(1751) Markedly different in his humor Realistic style & wry sense of humor The comedic misadventure o f unscrupulous vagabond

11. Experimental novel (meta-novel) Laurence Sterne(1713-1768) Tristram Shandy 1759- in nine volumes One of the greatest comic novels in English Rambling plot Meddling and maddening third person narrator Digressions as important as main plot A forerunner for many modern narrative devices stream of consciousness self-reflection modernist and postmodernist writing

12. Sentimental novel A heightened emotional response to events Self-indulgence and elevated feeling Conventional situation, stock characters & rhetorical devices Oliver Goldsmith- The Vicar of the Wakefield Emotion is touted as superior to reason Extremely moral & didactic

13. Gothic novel Magic, mystery & horror Exotic setting- medieval, oriental etc Horace Walpole’s Castle of Ortanto (1764) Guise of a translated lost manuscript on the day of wedding Fantastic romance Blended two kinds of romance- the ancient and the modern

14. Historical novel Novels that reconstruct a past age, often when two cultures are in conflict Fictional characters interact with historical figures in actual events Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832),the father of the historical novel: The Waverly Novels ( 1814-1819) Ivanhoe (1819) Evokes the atmosphere of a vanished era

15. Social realism Social or Sociological novels deal with the nature, function and effect of the society which the characters inhabit – often for the purpose of effecting reform Social issues came to the forefront with the condition of laborers in the Industrial Revolution and later in the Depression: Dickens’ Hard Times, Gaskell’s Mary Barton; Eliot’s Middlemarch; Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath Slavery and race issues arose in American social novels: Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 20 th c. novels by Wright, Ellison, etc.

16. Stream of Consciousness novel Narration that mimics the ebb and flow of thoughts of the waking mind Uninhibited by grammar, syntax or logical transitions A mixture of all levels of awareness – sensations, thoughts, memories, associations, reflections Emphasis on how something is perceived rather than on what is perceived James Joyce, Dorothy Richardson, Virginia Woolf, Thomas Wolfe, William Faulkner

17. Stream of Consciousness Ulysses- the master piece written in a number of differing literary styles, ranging from internal monologue to first-person speculation to question-and-answer During the twenty four hours of narrative time, the characters move through their day in Dublin, interacting with a stunning variety of individuals James Joyce 1882-1941 The Dubliners Portrait of an Artist Ulysses Finnegan’s Wake Virginia Woolf 1882-1941 To the LightHouse The Waves Mrs. Dalloway Orlando