A novel study: history and modernity

Abstract

There is the necessity in the contemporary science of literature for development of the intra-genre novel typology to systematize the knowledge of certain novel texts and determine the aesthetic possibilities of the modern novel. Traditionally the genre novel typology is considered in social-historical way and based on its content characteristics. Representatives of formalistic approach suppose the genre as a system of methods; they emphasize the artistic uniqueness of new novel form, which determines the specificity of the plot development and theme disclosure in a novel. G. N. Pospelov associates the interpretation of characters with the plot-composition peculiarities, M. M. Bakhtin formulates the idea of dialogue, defines the monologic and polyphonic novels. Bakhtin’s novel theory is developed by N. A. Verderevskaya, focusing on the image structure of protagonist. A. Ya. Esalnek considers the genre of a novel in close interconnection between the method and style of the author. N. S. Leites carries on the tradition of formalistic approach, and according to the type of plot formation, singles out a novel of direct and indirect reflection. N. D. Tamarchenko retraces the novel evolution through its aesthetic potential in the works of famous authors. The classifications developed in Western European literary criticism (the Anglo-American school of “neo criticism”, the German school of “interpretation”) are distinguished with dualism or variability. They focus on the structural organization, the artistic relationship between the author and narrator, author and character.