ORIGIN OF NOVEL / FICTION
INTRODUCTION:
Literature is written in different forms like poetry, drama, novel, short story, biography, autobiography, travelogue etc. Among all these forms, novel is the latest for of literature which emerged and became widely popular during the 18th century in English literature. It is interesting to note that though novel is the last for of literature to be originated, it is now the most widely read and loved form of literature. ‘Pamela’ (1741) by Samuel Richardson is unanimously considered as the first novel of English literature.
ETYMOLOGY OF THE TERM ‘NOVEL’:
The term ‘Novel’
is derived originally from Latin word ‘Novus’ meaning ‘New’. From Latin this
word came to Italian language. In Italy there was a phrase ‘Novella Storia’
which means ‘New Story’. The English word ‘Novel’ comes from this Italian word
‘Novella’. During the 18th century, a new form of expression came
into existence in English literature and so it was named as ‘NOVEL’.
ROOTS OF ENGLISH NOVEL / FICTION:
In the earliest
times, literature was mostly written in poetic form. Novel is written in prose.
The roots of novel lie long back in the French Romances written during the 14th
and 15th centuries.
One of the
notable English Romance is Malory’s ‘Morte d Arthur’ (1470) written in prose
which narrates the story of the legend of King Arthur and his Knights.
Geoffrey
Chaucer, a noted poet of the 14th century also wrote both in poetry
and prose. Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tales’ (1387-1400) presents 24 stories
which contains two stories in prose, namely, ‘Tale of Melibeus’ and ‘Parson’s
Tale’. Kuiper opines that the roots of novel lie in Chaucer’s work because he
introduced character, plot, dialogue, conflict etc in his ‘Canterbury Tales’
which later became the salient features of novel.
· Origin of novel owes much to the Italian stories written by
Boccassio. He published ‘Decameron’, a collection of stories during the 14th
century.
· ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ (1678) by John Bunyan too contributed to
the origin of novel. According to Bora, “It provided an
important model for story telling with vivid characterization and recording of
dialogue which influenced a lot of later novelists.”
· Aphra Ben’s short work of fiction ‘Oroonoko’ (1688) is also
hailed as the first attempt of novel
writing in English.
· Eliza Haywood’s ‘Love in Excess’ (1719) too is sometimes
described as the first prose fiction in English.
· ‘Robinson Crusoe’ (1719) by Daniel Defoe is also termed as
the first novel of English literature by some scholars and critics. It appeared
not a fiction, but more as a history of real events.
· Joseph Addison and Richard Steel (‘The Tatler’ in 1709 and
‘The Spectator’ in 1711) popularized Periodical essays in the beginning of the
18th century. They prepared a clear ground for novel to flourish as
their character essays won the admiration of the readers.
However,
novel in the real sense of the word came into existence only during the 18th
century with the publication of ‘Pamela’ (1740/41) by Samuel Richardson.
FOUR PILLARS OF ENGLISH FICTION:
1. Samuel Richardson, known for his epistolary novels. ‘Pamela’ (1740/41), ‘Clarissa’ (1748) ‘Sir
Charles Grandison’ (1753)
2. Henry Fielding, known for his picaresque novels. ‘Joseph
Andrews’ (1742), ‘Tom Jones’ (1749) and ‘Amelia’ (1751)
3. Tobias Smollett, known for his adventure novels. ‘The
Adventures of Roderick Random’ (1748), ‘The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle’
(1751) and ‘The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker’ (1771)
4. Laurence Stern, known for his unorthodox novels. ‘Tristram
Shandy’ in nine volumes (1759-1767)
CONCLUSION:
In this way,
we may conclude that the whole journey of novel actually began during the 18th
century, but its roots lie in the Italian prose stories ‘Decameron’ by Boccaccio
and Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tales’ during the 14th century. The
credit is given to Daniel Defoe, John Bunyan and others for preparing a ground
for the four pillars of English novels, namely, Richardson, Stern, Smollett and
Henry Fielding.
