Novel

Definition

The novel is a genre of fiction. It is a prose narrative of considerable length and certain complexity. It deals imaginatively with human experience. Through a connected sequence of events involving a group of persons in a specific setting, it reveals the story of a protagonist. The term novel is derived from the Italian novella meaning “a little new thing”.  

Origin

A novel as a genre developed at the time of the introduction of paper and innovation in printing by Johannes Gutenberg in 1439. Recent technological developments led to novels being published in non-print media such as audiobooks, web novels and eBooks. The earliest novels include classical Greek and Latin prose narratives from the first century BC to the second century AD, such as Chariton's Callirhoe (mid-1st century),  Petronius' Satyricon, Lucian's True Story, Apuleius' The Golden Ass, and the anonymous Aesop Romance and Alexander Romance. In the 14^th Century,  there were collections of novelle(a kind of enlarged anecdote) like  Boccaccio’s Decameron. The modern European novel is often said to have begun with Don Quixote in 1605, a chivalric romance filled with adventures of a knight-errant with heroic qualities, who undertakes a quest.

Features

1. Plot – The series of events having a logical connection with the theme
2. Characterisation – qualities revealed through narration, action, monologue, soliloquy, and dialogue

a) Flat – uncomplicated and does not change in the course of action

            b) Round – complex personality undergoing development

      c) Type – the representative of a group/class/region

           d) Individual – having peculiar or special habits, qualities

    3. Setting – general locale and the historical time in which the action occurs.

   4. Point of View – signifies the perceptive through which the reader is presented with the story. 

                                   Simply it is who tells the story.

            Harper Lee’s To kill a Mocking bird  - first-person narrative

            Toni Morison’s Beloved – third-person narrative

5.       5. Narrative Techniques – methods and literary devices used to tell the story - backstory, flashback,          flash-forward, and foreshadowing

                               a)    Linear - follows a chronological order of narration

      Charles Dickens's Great Expectations

b)    Non-Linear –  multiple plot lines and timelines woven together 

Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights

William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury

c)     Descriptive – create a vivid image of the story in the reader’s mind

Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles 

Types of Novels

Novels are categorised into various types based on the style – picaresque, epistolary, Gothic, romantic, realistic, historical and so on.

· The Picaresque Novel is a form of adventure. The Spanish word picaro means “rogue”, a social outcast. A string of independent episodes tells the adventures and journey of a younger son of a good family.

                     Lazarillo de Tormes(1554)

                     Alain Rene Lesage’s Gil Blas

                     Thomas Nash’s The Unfortunate Traveller(1594)

                     Defoe’s Moll Flanders

                     Smollett’s Reoderick Random

                     Fielding’s Tom Jones

•     Gothic Novel is a novel of horror based on the supernatural. The Greek term Goths refers to the Germanic tribe and then the medieval type of architecture. The fiction evokes chilling terror by exploiting mystery, cruelty and horror.

                    Horace Walpole’s  Castle of Otranto (1764)

                    Ann Radcliff’s The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)

                    Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1817)

                    Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey

• Realistic Fiction presents an accurate imitation of life as it is. It deals with the ordinary experiences of the protagonist from the middle class.

                    Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe

      · Psychological Novel brings the reader into direct contact with the human mind. There is complete elimination of action and logical connection.

                    Richardson’s Clarissa

                    Lawrence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy

• Historical Novel tries to reproduce the life of a bygone age. Historical events merely form the background for the plot.

                    Sir Walter Scott’s Kenilworth

                    Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities

• Epistolary Novel is written as a series of letters between the fictional characters of a narrative. The Greek word epistole means “letter”.

                        Richardson’s Pamela

• Utopian novel represents an ideal political state and way of life. The Greek term eutopia means “good place”

                    Sir Thomas More’s Utopia (1515)

                    Samuel Butler’s Erewhon (1872)

• Dystopian novel represents a very unpleasant imaginary world.

                    Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World

                    George Orwell’s 1984

• Satiric fiction ridicules the human follies and absurdities.

                    Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels

                    Thomas Love Peacock’s Nightmare Abbey

• · Science Fiction explores the marvels of discovery and scientific development.

                    Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain

• Bildungsroman Fiction explores the journey(from childhood to adulthood) in which the protagonist develops morally and psychologically (or immaturity to maturity).

                    J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye

                    Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

        · Autobiographical Novel is based on the personal experiences and subjective observations of the novelist.

                      Dostoevsky’s The Idiot

                      Bunyan’s Grace Abounding (1666)

    · Novel of Social Reform draws the attention of the readers to the social evils.

                    Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers

                    Galsworthy’s Forsyste Saga

                    Richardson’s Amelia

                    Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim