Inner Workings of the Novel: Studying a Genre

222 Pages·2010·8.72 MB·English

by  Allan H. Pasco

AlsobyAllanH.Pasco
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10.1057/9780230117433 - Inner Workings of the Novel, Allan H. Pasco
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Inner Workings of the Novel
Studying a Genre 2
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INNERWORKINGSOFTHENOVEL
Copyright©AllanH.Pasco,2010.
Allrightsreserved.
Firstpublishedin2010byPALGRAVEMACMILLAN®inthe
UnitedStates-adivisionofSt.Martin’sPressLLC,175FifthAvenue,
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NewYork,NY10010. 4-0
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WherethisbookisdistributedintheUK,Europeandtherestof 20
theWorld,thisisbyPalgraveMacmillan,adivisionofMacmillan ct -
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PublishersLimited,registeredinEngland,companynumber785998, n
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ofHoundmills,Basingstoke,HampshireRG216XS. Co
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PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabove algr
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companiesandhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld. o -
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Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnited Tro
States,theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries. et i
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ISBN:978–0–230–10698–7 bli
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData sitet
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Pasco,AllanH. Uni
Innerworkingsofthenovel:studyingagenre/AllanH.Pasco. d to
p. cm. se
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ISBN978–0–230–10698–7(alk.paper) ce
1. Frenchfiction—19thcentury—Historyandcriticism. m - li
2. Frenchfiction—19thcentury—Historyandcriticism. o
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3. Fiction—Technique. I. Title. ct.
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PQ653.P372010 nn
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843(cid:2).709—dc22 2010014508 ec
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Contents
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Preface ix ect -
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1 TheLongandShortoftheNovel 1 eC
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2 MakingShortLong:ShortStoryCycles 33 al
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3 RemakingtheNovel 63 s
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4 TrinitarianUnity 89 et i
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5 Proust’sReader 117 ot
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6 Conclusion 155 ets
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Index 197 d to
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Preface
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Theory which does not seek ultimately to explain the form of novels, as C
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organicwholes,ispointless. av
gr
al
—PhilipStevick o - P
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Novelists as diverse as the French Nouveaux Romanciers, Oulipo (most Tro
notably Queneau and Perec), and the “extreme” novel insist that their et i
k
e
novelsareinessencedifferentfromthoseofthepast.Theclaimisalong- ot
bli
standingcommonplaceofnovelists’prefacesandessays.Nonetheless,they bi
s
andothersaregenerallycontenttoinsistonwhattheydonot do:theydo sitet
notdependonplot,character,chronology,causality,andsoon.1And,curi- ver
ni
ously, while Vladimir Propp, Claude Levi-Strauss, A. J. Greimas, Tzvetan U
o
Todorov, Claude Bremond,2 and others have done considerable impor- d t
e
s
tant work in describing the structure of narration, it might be valuable en
c
to attempt to reevaluate the standard view of novels in the light of both m - li
recentandformertraditions.Ifthegenrehasinfactchanged,theconcep- co
tionsthatilluminateorsupporttherelatedcriticalworkshouldberevised. ect.
n
n
Those definitions of the novel that appear in recent criticism show little o
c
e
or no evolution. Some stress intention,3 some subject matter,4 some the av
gr
creation of a character confronting a universe,5 some length,6 some the al
p
action or plot,7 but whatever the emphasis, all, or almost all, novels are ww.
w
easilyrecognizedasnovels. m
o
I want to propose a simple definition of the novel, one that allows for al fr
radicalexperimentationwithintheconfinesofwhatwenormallyhavein eri
at
mindwhenweusetheword.WhenIsayorwritetheterm,Imeanalong ht m
prosefictionthatisunified,coherent,andliterary.Thenovelmayusepopu- yrig
p
lartales,mythology,arecentscientificorhistoricaldiscovery,orthelatest o
C
newspaper, but it integrates its materials into a fiction that exists only as
the reader creates it from the words he or she confronts. It is then nei-
therhistorynoressay,thoughitmaymakeuseofeitherorothergeneric
forms within the confines of its fictional creation. It may be a hundred
or several thousand pages long, and it may use a choice of techniques,
whether dialogue, monologue, description, punctuation (or a lack of it),
10.1057/9780230117433 - Inner Workings of the Novel, Allan H. Pasco
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x PREFACE
allusion, symbolism, letters, or whatever, but it is on some level coher-
ent and unified. And not only is its final form artistic, it is prose. That
is, it is not verse, however close it may come to verse in the hands of a
DylanThomasoraNabokov.Norisittheater,thoughtoagreaterorlesser
extent novelists, like Flaubert, may use some of the devices and forms of
thestage. 2
0
Becausethenovelisagenre,ithasdelineatingparameters.Nonetheless, 04-
1-
enormousvariationofemphasisandinterestispossiblewithinitsform.In 01
2
thisvolume,Iwanttotestsomeoftheouteredges.Ihavebeenstruckby ct -
e
thenumberoftimesgreatnovelistshavedevelopedtechniquesthatmake nn
o
the novel seem absolutely new and different from previous incarnations. eC
v
Isuggestthatitstrueinnovationsareintherealmoftechnique,notsub- gra
al
ject matter, which is superficial, however much the topic may for a very P
o -
shorttimemaketheparticularexampleseemnew.Whenastartlingdevice s
m
appears, other novelists will doubtless come along and exploit it, at least Tro
untilitiswornoutandlosesitsabilitytocreateinterest.Thenstudentsof et i
k
e
thegenrewillawaitanothersurprisingdeviceorstrategy.Ithink,forexam- ot
bli
ple,ofautobiographicalorepistolarynovels.Suchreorganizations,andthe bi
s
accompanyingapproachesandtechniques,generallytakeplacewithinthe sitet
limits of the genre. Sometimes, the rearrangement or device is so subtle ver
ni
thatitspowerremainseffectiveforalongtime.Igiveexamplesthat,though U
o
continuingtobeexploredbyotherauthors,stillchallengereadersoverone d t
e
s
hundredyearsaftertheirinvention.SuchisthecasewithAreboursandLa en
c
tentationdesaintAntoine. m - li
Anewdevicedoesnotchangethegenresignificantly,butitmakesthe co
workseemnew.WhileIamnotsurethatMaupassant’sencroachmenton ect.
n
n
theshortstorycycleinBelami(1885),forexample,isparticularlyinter- o
c
e
esting, the reverse, when short story writers invade the domain of the av
gr
novel,hasimportantlessonsworthconsidering.ThoughIdonotgointo al
p
w.
detailaboutnovelcycles,whichdifferinlittlebutlengthfromshortstory w
w
cycles,theshortstorycyclesIanalyzeheremakeuseofthebasicconceptual m
o
structuresofimageandsequence.Thoughthesestructureshavebeenused al fr
effectivelyinthenovel,theexistenceofsuchformsisnotdiscretelylimited eri
at
to any particular genre. Still, just as a trip to the center of the labyrinth ht m
createsresonanceinourdeepestbeings,sotoothesuddenperceptionofa yrig
p
unifiedwhole.Thesubjectmaybeloveatfirstsight,oritmaybeasenseof o
C
eureka,anaestheticortheatricalexperience,buttheresulting,integrative
illuminationorepiphanycanbeallconsuming.Suchapowerfuleffectmay
becausedbyanyartform,whetherbyoneofBaudelaire’sexquisitesonnets
orProust’smasterpieceorasuperbperformanceofIonesco’sLeschaises.It
dependsonthearrangementimposedbytheartistonhisorhermaterials
andonourabilitytoperceiveandconceivethewriter’screation.
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