The
Novelleis the major narrative genre, alongside the
Bildungsroman, in nineteenth-century German literature. Heavily theorised and widely practised, it has stimulated reflection about narrative form and structure from writers and academics alike. Initially definitions of the novella tended to be normative, insisting on a range of essential criteria, such as medium length; a narrative frame setting up a conversational situation; a turning point or climax within a dramatic structure; a “realist” mode of narration with focus on a single extraordinary event; and a compressed, “closed” form. Recent criticism sees the genre’s historical variations as a result of an historic evolution and a straining
againstprevious definitions rather than continuing attempt to approximate an…
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Citation: Rau, Petra. "German Novelle [Novella]". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 November 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1337, accessed 23 November 2024.]