Book contents
- The Cambridge History of the Novel in French
- The Cambridge History of the Novel in French
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Conventions
- Chronology
- Introduction
- Part I Beginnings: From the Late Medieval to Madame de Lafayette
- 1 Late Medieval Precursors to the Novel: ‘aucune chose de nouvel’
- 2 Cultural Transmission and the Early French Novel
- 3 The Rise of the Novel in Sixteenth-Century France?
- 4 The Evolution of the Novel System in the Long Seventeenth Century
- 5 Seventeenth-Century French Women Writers and the Novel: A Challenge to Literary History
- 6 Madame de Lafayette and La Princesse de Clèves as Landmark
- Part II The Eighteenth Century: Learning, Letters, Libertinage
- Part III After the Revolution: The Novel in the Long Nineteenth Century
- Part IV From Naturalism to the Nouveau Roman
- Part V Fictions of the Fifth Republic: From de Gaulle to the Internet Age
- Index
- References
2 - Cultural Transmission and the Early French Novel
from Part I - Beginnings: From the Late Medieval to Madame de Lafayette
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 February 2021
- The Cambridge History of the Novel in French
- The Cambridge History of the Novel in French
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Conventions
- Chronology
- Introduction
- Part I Beginnings: From the Late Medieval to Madame de Lafayette
- 1 Late Medieval Precursors to the Novel: ‘aucune chose de nouvel’
- 2 Cultural Transmission and the Early French Novel
- 3 The Rise of the Novel in Sixteenth-Century France?
- 4 The Evolution of the Novel System in the Long Seventeenth Century
- 5 Seventeenth-Century French Women Writers and the Novel: A Challenge to Literary History
- 6 Madame de Lafayette and La Princesse de Clèves as Landmark
- Part II The Eighteenth Century: Learning, Letters, Libertinage
- Part III After the Revolution: The Novel in the Long Nineteenth Century
- Part IV From Naturalism to the Nouveau Roman
- Part V Fictions of the Fifth Republic: From de Gaulle to the Internet Age
- Index
- References
Summary
Whereas much scholarship on the history of the novel focuses on its relationship to large narrative forms such as epic or romance, this chapter argues that the novella tradition plays a central role in the development of the novelistic world. We show how intercalated novellas, translated or adapted from Italian or Spanish, inflect the emergence of the French novelistic canon, functioning as sites at which cultural difference is explored and managed. Material from the novella tradition helps shape and define the notions of national character and identity, as well as the role of a national language, in the emerging French canon. The chapter moves from the history of translation and editing, through a discussion of Scarron and Mme de Lafayette, to a study of the politics of genre.
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- The Cambridge History of the Novel in French , pp. 38 - 53Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021