The Novel: Origins and Development of an Experimental Genre in the Long 18th Century and Beyond

In this seminar we will explore the origins of the genre of the novel and its development in the long 18^th century and beyond.  We will engage with accounts of the rise of the novel and ask why the genre¡¯s beginnings are often located in eighteenth-century England. We will look at formal features and thematic concerns that took shape as the novel developed, thinking about the function of prefaces and other paratextual material, the roles of author, narrator(s), and character(s), and the effects of narrative perspective. We will see how authors experimented with genre in the period of the novel¡¯s formation, but also ask whether the novel is an inherently experimental genre. Concepts and insights from cognitive science will help us explore the creative potential of experiments with genre and the reader¡¯s experience in their engagement with a given text.