Novel Definitions: An Anthology of Commentary on the Novel, 1688-1815

By Cheryl L. Nixon

Novel Definitionscaptures the lively critical debate surrounding the invention of the English novel, showing how the rise of the novel was accompanied by a rise in popular literary criticism. The anthology collects over 135 primary sources that chart the long eighteenth century's interpretation of the novel. These sources--many newly-discovered--include essays, prefaces, reviews, and sermons written by authors ranging from Aphra Behn to Walter Scott. Novel Definitionsbrings together authors' prefatory analyses of their work; essayists' debates concerning the novel's formal qualities; commentators' questions concerning the novel's cultural position, including whether or not women and children should read novels; reviewers' definitions of the qualities that make a novel successful; and literary historians' first attempts to write the history of the novel.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1551116464
• ISBN13: 9781551116464
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Broadview Press Inc
• Length: 438 Pages
• Weight: 1.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.9"