German Novelle [Novella]

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Petra Rau (University of East Anglia)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.2: German-language Writing and Culture: Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, 800-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1795

Places

Austria (Location)
Germany (Location)
Switzerland (Location)

Genres and Modes

Novella

Resources

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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…

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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 21 November 2024.]

German Novelle [Novella]

Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

Resources

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