The Modern Novel A Short Introduction

by Matz, Jesse

• ISBN13: 9781405100496
• ISBN10: 1405100494
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-01-30
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

This book introduces readers to the history of the novel in the twentieth century and demonstrates its ongoing relevance as a literary form. A jargon-free introduction to the whole history of the novel in the twentieth century. Examines the main strands of twentieth-century fiction, including post-war, post-imperial and multicultural fiction, the global novel, the digital novel and the post-realist novel. Offers students ideas about how to read the modern novel, how to enjoy its strange experiments, and how to assess its value, as well as suggesting ways to understand and appreciate the more difficult forms of modern fiction Pays attention both to the practice of novel writing and to theoretical debates among novelists. Claims that the novel is as purposeful and relevant today as it was a hundred years ago. Serves as an excellent springboard for classroom discussions of the nature and purpose of modern fiction.

Author Biography

Jesse Matz is Assistant Professor at Kenyon College. He is the author of Literary Impressionism and Modernist Aesthetics (2001) and winner of Harvard University's Roslyn Abramson prize for excellence in teaching.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vi
Introduction: Modern How?	1	(14)
When and Why: The Rise of the Modern Novel	15	(17)
The ``New Novel,'' circa 1914	15	(7)
Seven Modern Novelists	22	(10)
``What is Reality?'': The New Questions	32	(13)
New Forms: Reshaping the Novel	45	(16)
New Difficulties	61	(17)
Regarding the Real World: Politics	78	(20)
Questioning the Modern: Mid-Century Revisions	98	(29)
Postmodern Replenishments?	127	(19)
Postcolonial Modernity	146	(17)
Conclusions	163	(19)
Four Contemporary Modern Novelists	163	(6)
The Future of the Modern Novel	169	(13)
Notes	182	(8)
Index	190