The Literary Explorer

A Little Bit About Novels
Author of this webpage: Renée Goodvin

The English word novel comes from the Italian word novella. In Italian, novella means "little new thing." However, in most European languages, the term for novel is roman - derived from the medieval term romance.

Today in English a novella refers to a work of prose fiction that is longer than a short story, but shorter than a novel. A novella is usually between 12,000 and 30,000 words and is sometimes called a long short story, a short novel, or a novelette.

By definition, a novel is a fictional prose narrative of considerable length (usually between 30,000 and 100,000 words) and complexity that deals imaginatively with human experience. The narrative is conveyed by the author through a specific point of view and connected by a sequence of events (the plot) involving a group of persons (the characters) in a specific setting.

Novel also refers to the literary type constituted by such narratives. Click here for a list of the different types of novels and here for a list of frequently studied novels.

Early Roots of the Novel:

Compared to other genres, such as poetry or drama, the novel is a relatively recent phenomenon. Yet the novel has antecedents in narrative and verse in the tales of every age and every culture. The first European novel is usually considered to be Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (part I, published 1605).

Attributes of the Novel:

The English Novel:

The novel took root in England in the first half of the 18th century when Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, and Henry Fielding came onto the literary scene.

Early British Novels include:

During the Romantic Era of British literature, poetry continued to be the dominant form of literature. However, a growing population of authors (such as Jane Austen) began to write novels that enjoyed immense popularity. By the second half of the 19th century the novel had displaced all other forms of literature in popularity, primarily due to four major factors:
  1. The growing middle class and their (1) increased literacy rate and (2) disposable income
  2. Cheaper production and distribution of materials
  3. Publication of novels in serial form
  4. The introduction of a system of circulating libraries
In the early 19th century, the novel also enjoyed tremendous popularity in the United States with the works of authors such as James Fenimore Cooper. Around 1850 the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville propelled the American novel to its full power. Later, Mark Twain made the first linguistic break with British tradition using forms and cadences of the American South in his works The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, thus proving that North American English had its own unique literary merit.

The early 20th century novel was influenced by new social attitudes and psychological insights. This led authors to pay closer attention to character thought and motivation.

Today the novel is still the dominant form of literary expression. The novel has staying power because it has the ability to cover a wide range of tastes and interests. The line between literary and popular is at best a thin one. In their time, Austen and Dickens were considered popular writers, but today they are studied as great classic novelists. Modern authors such as Toni Morrison and Amy Tan consistently see their books on best-seller lists and are also studied in college classrooms. Currently the novel is a varied form practiced with skill by a large number of novelists and read more than any other literary form.

Types of Novels:

Realistic Novel
A fictional attempt to give the effect of realism. This sort of novel is sometimes called a novel of manners. A realistic novel can be characterized by its complex characters with mixed motives that are rooted in social class and operate according to a highly developed social structure. The characters in a realistic novel interact with other characters and undergo plausible and everyday experiences.

Prose Romance
This is a novel that is often set in the historical past with a plot that emphasizes adventure and an atmosphere that is removed from reality. The characters in a prose romance are either sharply drawn as villains or heroes, masters or victims; while the protagonist is solitary and isolated from society.

Novel of Incident
In a novel of incident the narrative focuses on what the protagonist will do next and how the story will turn out.

Novel of Character
A novel of character focuses on the protagonist's motives for what he/she does and how he/she will turn out.

Epistolary Novel
This first person narrative progresses in the form of letters, journals, or diaries.

Picaresque Novel
A picaresque novel relates the adventures of an eccentric or disreputable hero in episodic form.

Historical Novel
A historical novel is a novel set in a period earlier than that of the writing.

Regional Novel
A regional novel is a novel that is set against the background of a particular area.

Non-fictional Novel
This type of novel depicts living people and recent events fictionalized in the form of a story.

Bildungsroman
German term that indicates a novel of growth. This fictional autobiography is concerned with the development of the protagonist's mind, spirit, and character from childhood to adulthood.

Roman à thèse
French term that refers to a social novel that has an argument, social, or political message.

Roman à clef
French term for a novel with a key; imaginary events with real people disguised as fictional characters.

Roman-fleuve
French term for a narrative that has a common theme or range of characters that stretch across a number of novels.

Some information for the following page is adapted from:
The Oxford Companion to the English Language, ed., by Tom McArthur and
A Glossary of Literary Terms, 6th ed., by M. H. Abrams

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Last updated January 27, 2005