Discussion Topic
Summary and analysis of Andrew Michael Roberts' "The Novel as a Genre"
Summary:
Andrew Michael Roberts' "The Novel as a Genre" explores the evolution and defining characteristics of the novel. It examines how novels distinguish themselves from other literary forms through narrative structure, character development, and thematic complexity. Roberts also analyzes the cultural and historical contexts that have shaped the genre, highlighting its adaptability and enduring relevance in literature.
What is the summary and analysis of Andrew Michael Roberts' "Introduction: The Novel as a Genre"?
Everybody knows what we mean when we say the word “novel,” right? We all picture a relatively long book of prose fiction that tells a story. But Andrew Michael Roberts in his essay “Introduction: The Novel as a Genre” points out that defining a “novel” may not be quite as easy as it seems.
Roberts begins by outlining the problem. Some definitions are too broad, he maintains, and can include works that no one thinks of as novels. Even a narrower, more detailed definition like
a genre of written prose fictional narrative which emerged in the early eighteenth century and is characterized by a strong interest in plot, by a degree of psychological and/or social realism, and frequently by the presence of elements of moral, political or social comment
does not fit every single book that people describe as novels (1). So, he concludes, there is “no definitive...
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answer” to the question “What is a novel?” (1)
Yet this does not surprise Roberts, for literary forms shift and develop over time, and the novel emerged gradually and is often defined in contrast to other forms that rival it. Often, too, classifying a work as a novel or as something else—a romance or a history, perhaps—has been a subjective decision, and not all writers label their books in the same way.
Roberts then turns his attention to the idea that a novel is “a realist form,” that it deals with the details of real life in a particular time and place rather than fantastic or marvelous settings, characters, and plots. Yet even this idea is not completely settled. The Gothic novel, for instance, often contains elements of fantasy and the supernatural.
In some eras, the novel's “realism” has been associated with “the portrayal of characters in more humble circumstances” and the depiction of immoral people and actions (3). Yet a novel's realism must go beyond characters of low status and low morality and depict people from many different levels of society, for their lives are also “real.” On the other hand, some critics have even argued that the realism of a novel is merely an illusion, just “a verbal construct” with no connection to reality at all (4). Yet many novels do seek to “create the illusion of a transparent window on reality” (4).
Roberts then moves on to highlight novels that are actually self-conscious of being novels. These reflexive novels refer back to themselves as the narrator breaks into the story to address the reader directly. Yet somehow these self-references, these reminders of novel as story, do not disturb readers but actually draw them further into the tale, investing them personally in the book before them. These novels and others contain elements of “metafiction” and comment on their own narrative and linguistic elements.
Over the years, Roberts notes, critics have come up with dozens of ways to discuss the characteristics and criticisms of the novel. Some focus on the novel as discourse. Others study intertextuality. Still others concentrate on structures, forms, and parody. Scholars also debate exactly where the novel began and how works prior to the novel paved its way and exhibit various characteristics of it. Roberts lists and explains several proto-novels throughout the ages, showing their relationship to later novelistic developments.
The author concludes his essay by re-emphasizing the inherent diversity of the novel, which often assumes elements of other genres as it defines and re-defines itself throughout the ages.
Analyze the chapter "The Novel as a Genre" by Andrew Michael Roberts.
Your analysis of Andrew Michael Roberts’s chapter “The Novel as a Genre” could adopt several approaches.
You could analyze the competing definitions of the novel. You could note Roberts’s long definition in the first paragraph. You could also note the definitions (or anti-definitions) provided by earlier writers. Remember, Lord Chesterfield said the novel was not a novel but an “aberration of a romance.” Richardson countered Chesterfield with, “What a deuce, do you think I am writing a Romance? Don’t you see I am copying Nature.” You could tell which ones you think are the most applicable. You could also try to take specific parts from the diverse definitions and create your own.
Another way to analyze the chapter is by discussing realism. As you might have noted, many of the writers in the chapter seem to praise the novel due its ability to reflect human nature in a real way. At one point, Roberts quotes the French novelist Stendhal. He claims the “novel is a mirror.” You could link the importance of realism in novels to the importance of realism in TV shows or movies. You might want to analyze why realistic portrayals are presented as laudable qualities. You might also want to think about why realism might have its drawbacks. After all, the characters in Stendhal’s novels—or in scripted TV shows and movies—aren’t real.
Lastly, you might analyze Roberts’s chapter in terms of gender. You might have noted that one of most crucial realist novels was Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary. You might want to analyze why female characters were central to early novels. Remember, Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa—often credited with being the first novel—centers on a woman as well.
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