Development of Style and Form 19 TH -CENTURY REALIST NOVEL
One character: focus of the novel – usually life story Mimetic form – diary, travelogue, letters etc. Prose seen as inferior to poetry Not really a literary form but rather a cheap entertainment for (mainly) women EARLY NOVELS
Novel s become more sophisticated Narration: omniscient narration dialogues many protagonists (not just one) wide social background discursive distance: irony and satire 19 TH CENTURY
revealing unknown worlds penetrating mind charting social relations POLITICAL FUNCTION
1.Original plots – not universal stories 2.Characters as special people – recognizable individuals, not symbolic figures 3.Importance of when it takes place 4.Importance of where it takes place IAN WATT: FORMAL REALISM
1.Domestic subject matter. 2.Characters are ordinary people presented as complex. 3.Moralistic in its appeal. 4.Language does not draw attention to itself. 5.Events are arranged in the chronological order. 6.The narrative reaches a clear resolution. 7.The narrator does not draw attention to herself or himself. 8.Detailed description of the events characters and setting. 9.Realist operators – the inclusion of arbitrary detail. 10.Appeal to the cultural code supposedly shared by the recipients of the text. REALIST TEXT