Picaresque novel

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Gerhart Hoffmeister (University of California, Santa Barbara)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.02: French Writing and Culture in the Renaissance, 1400-1600.
Vol. editors: Robert J. Hudson (Brigham Young University), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), Phillip John Usher (New York University), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1550

Places

France (Location)
Germany (Location)
Spain (Location)
United Kingdom (Location)

Genres and Modes

Novel
Picaresque

Resources

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Recommended Reading

The emergence of the picaresque novel in Spain (

novela picaresca

), in Germany (

Schelmenroman

) and in England (literally rogue's tales, or novel of roguery) forms one of the most fascinating chapters in the history of the novel. Removed from ancient and Renaissance novels – such as those by Longus and Heliodor in the third century CE, or Montalvo (

Amadis de Gaula

, 1482 cont.) and Silvio Piccolomini (

Euryalus et Lucretia

, 1470) – the development of the modern novel as a genre within the canon of rhymed poetry took centuries to achieve. Scholars usually attribute its final success to the rise of the middle class in England and the articulation of their world view in such works as

Robinson Crusoe

(1719) and

Moll Flanders

(1722) by Daniel Defoe and

Pamela

(1740) by Samuel Richardson.…

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4505 words

Citation: Hoffmeister, Gerhart. "Picaresque novel". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 February 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=862, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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Picaresque novel

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