The first English novelists turned to writing long prose fictions for a variety of reasons, some of which are not usually associated with the mainline Anglo-American novel today. Among them were political agitation, social protest, and moral reform. This book introduces the reader to the discourses out of which these fictions were created and to some of the theories about the cultural forces that lie behind the shaping of a distinctively new literary form. A major theme covered in the book is the writer's experimentation with how the novel can participate in social processes and debates. From its inception, spirited controversies erupted over what fiction does, what kinds of truth claims it can legitimately make, and how it affects readers' emotions and actions. Therefore, the creation of the novel will be presented with attention to the ways readers participated in deciding what a novel would be.
- ISBN10 0701138963
- ISBN13 9780701138967
- Publish Date 9 November 1992 (first published December 1957)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 19 October 2015
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Vintage Publishing
- Imprint Chatto & Windus
- Edition New edition
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 96
- Language English