-
Matteostok94
.User deleted
• NOVEL
In the Augustan Age we can assist to an increase of the interest in reading, also because of the lower prices of the books, which made them affordable even for members of the middle class and the lower middle class. This is why the new genre of literature, the novel, had been adapted to the ideology and interests of
these of the bourgeois public.
Even though there had been different types of novels (Richardson: sentimental, Defoe: realistic, Swift: satirical), the novels were all written in a simple way
• Defoe and the realist novel
Defoe’s works are written in the form of fictional autobiography (a sort of diary or journal) to make the stories more realistic. There is no real plot, just a chronological series of connected events with a single protagonist. The protagonist, male or female, must struggle to overcome a series of misfortunes, using only his mental and physical capacity (the Puritan idea that man mast save himself and the merchant capitalism of hard work based on own ability). Defoe anticipate the semi-autobiographical novels such as Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Dickens’s David Copperfield.
• Richardson and the bourgeois sentimental novel
Richardson wrote epistolary novels, that is novels in form of letters. In his fists book, Pamela, he talks about a young maid who, by resisting the attempts of her employer’s son to seduce her, eventually wins his hearth and marries him. The letter was also intended as a model of correct moral conduct and included a special section dedicated to young servants, teaching them how avoid being seduced by their employers. Richardson is the first novelist to write love stories exploring the psychology of his characters and the interior word, the subjective experiences and the world of passion and feelings.
• Fielding and comic novel
Fielding was a very innovative writer: in his novel he portrayed not just the lives of few individuals but the life of society in all its variety. Fielding said that his intention was to ‘describe not man, but manners; not an individual, but a species’.
• Elements of the novel
Setting: place settings can be interior (feelings) or exterior (landscape) and the time setting refers to the season, the years and the historical-social facts.
Plot: the sequences of events aren’t always presented in chronological order (there are flashback, anticipation or digression).
Narrative models: the dialogue, the description and the narration are usually combined together.
Point of view: internal or external.
First-person narrator: the “I” narrator or character gives an impression of reality and the reader is closer to the mind or feelings of the narrator.
Third-person narrator: is omniscient and could be obtrusive (makes personal remarks or comments on society and characters) or unobtrusive (doesn’t obstruct in the story).
Characters: can be presented directing or with an indirect presentation (the readers infers from his/her actions, reactions or behaviour.
Journalism
The interest of the middle class in literature caused the origin of a new literary form, the journalism, which discussed political, social and cultural issues. Richard Steele gave birth to “The Tattler”, and later Joseph Addison joined Steele and the founded together “The Spectator”, who was printed almost every day. The journalism didn’t have only the duty to inform, but brought forward also moral and other teachings, thus “Mr. Spectator”, who stood for the authors themselves, commented upon all the habits and values etc. of the society.
The plots were appealing to the practical-minded tradesman, who was self-made and self-reliant. The sense of reward and punishment was related to the Puritan ethics of the middle class and particularly present in the novels by Defoe.
The hero, set in a precise and realistic time and place, was the bourgeois man and generally the mouthpiece of the author. Therefore the public was meant to be sympathizing with him..
Journalism
The interest of the middle class in literature caused the origin of a new literary form, the journalism, which discussed political, social and cultural issues. Richard Steele gave birth to “The Tattler”, and later Joseph Addison joined Steele and the founded together “The Spectator”, who was printed almost every day. The journalism didn’t have only the duty to inform, but brought forward also moral and other teachings, thus “Mr. Spectator”, who stood for the authors themselves, commented upon all the habits and values etc. of the society.
The plots were appealing to the practical-minded tradesman, who was self-made and self-reliant. The sense of reward and punishment was related to the Puritan ethics of the middle class and particularly present in the novels by Defoe.
The hero, set in a precise and realistic time and place, was the bourgeois man and generally the mouthpiece of the author. Therefore the public was meant to be sympathizing with him.
The narrator was omnipresent and omniscient and never abandoned his characters.
.
Novel and journalisminglese |
