German Novelle [Novella]

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

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The

Novelle

is the major narrative genre, alongside the

Bildungsroman

, in nineteenth-century German literature. Heavily theorised and widely practised, it has stimulated reflection about narrative form and structure from writers and academics alike. Initially definitions of the novella tended to be normative, insisting on a range of essential criteria, such as medium length; a narrative frame setting up a conversational situation; a turning point or climax within a dramatic structure; a “realist” mode of narration with focus on a single extraordinary event; and a compressed, “closed” form. Recent criticism sees the genre’s historical variations as a result of an historic evolution and a straining

against

previous definitions rather than continuing attempt to approximate an…

2219 words

Citation: Rau, Petra. "German Novelle [Novella]". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 November 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1337, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1337 German Novelle [Novella] 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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