Novella
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| - | {{Template}}A '''novella''' is a narrative work of [[prose]] [[fiction]] longer than a [[short story]] but shorter than a [[novel]]. While there is some disagreement of what length defines a novella, the [[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]] [[Nebula Award]]s for [[science fiction]] define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000 or 60 to 130 pages.<ref>http://www.sfwa.org/awards/faq.htm Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Awards FAQ. (Accessed 2/21/07)</ref> | + | {| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5" |
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| + | "It is not very difficult to determine the essence of the "[[novella]]" as a [[literary genre]]: Everything is organized around the question, "[[What happened]]? Whatever could have happened?" The [[tale]] is the opposite of the novella, because it is an altogether different question that the reader asks with bated breath: "What is going to happen?" Something always happens in the [[novel]] also, but the novel integrates elements of the novella and the tale into the variation of its perpetual living present." --''[[A Thousand Plateaus]]'' (1980) by Deleuze & Guattari, p. 192 | ||
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| + | {{Template}} | ||
| + | A '''novella''' is a narrative work of [[prose]] [[fiction]] longer than a [[short story]] but shorter than a [[novel]]. While there is some disagreement of what length defines a novella, it has generally between 17,500 and 40,000 or 60 to 130 pages. | ||
| Although the novella is a common [[literary genre]] in several [[European language]]s, it is less common in English. English-speaking readers may be most familiar with the novellas of [[Franz Kafka]], particularly ''[[The Metamorphosis]]'' and ''[[In the Penal Colony]]'', [[George Orwell]]'s ''[[Animal Farm]]'', [[Ernest Hemingway]]'s ''[[The Old Man and the Sea]]'', [[Philip Roth]]'s ''[[Goodbye, Columbus]]'' and [[Joseph Conrad]]'s ''[[Heart of Darkness]]''. | Although the novella is a common [[literary genre]] in several [[European language]]s, it is less common in English. English-speaking readers may be most familiar with the novellas of [[Franz Kafka]], particularly ''[[The Metamorphosis]]'' and ''[[In the Penal Colony]]'', [[George Orwell]]'s ''[[Animal Farm]]'', [[Ernest Hemingway]]'s ''[[The Old Man and the Sea]]'', [[Philip Roth]]'s ''[[Goodbye, Columbus]]'' and [[Joseph Conrad]]'s ''[[Heart of Darkness]]''. | ||
| - | Like the [[English language|English]] word "novel", the English word "novella" derives from the [[Italian language|Italian]] word "novella" (plural: "novelle"), for ''a tale, a piece of news''. As the [[etymology]] suggests, novellas originally were news of town and country life worth repeating for amusement and edification. | + | Like the [[English language|English]] word "novel", the English word "novella" derives from the [[Italian language|Italian]] word "novella" (plural: "novelle"), for ''a tale, a piece of news''. As the [[etymology]] suggests (from ''[[novo]]''), novellas originally were [[Journalism|news of town and country life worth repeating for amusement and edification]]. |
| + | ==History== | ||
| + | The idea of [[Serial (literature)|serialized]] novellas dates back to the ''[[One Thousand and One Nights]]'', also known as the ''Arabian Nights'', from around the 10th century. The novella as a literary [[genre]] later began developing in the early [[Renaissance]] literary work of the Italians and the [[France|French]]. Principally, by [[Giovanni Boccaccio]] (1313–1375), author of ''[[The Decameron]]'' (1353)—one hundred novelle told by ten people, seven women and three men, fleeing the [[Black Death]] by escaping from [[Florence]] to the Fiesole hills, in 1348; and by the French [[Queen]], [[Marguerite of Navarre|Marguerite de Navarre]] (1492–1549), [aka Marguerite de Valois, et. alii.], author of ''[[Heptameron|Heptaméron]]'' (1559)—seventy-two original French tales (structured like ''The Decameron''). | ||
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| + | Not until the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth centuries did [[writer]]s fashion the novella into a literary genre structured by precepts and rules. Contemporaneously, the [[Germany|Germans]] were the most active writers of the ''Novelle'' (German: "Novelle"; plural: "Novellen"). For the German writer, a novella is a fictional narrative of indeterminate length—a few pages to hundreds—restricted to a single, suspenseful event, situation, or conflict leading to an unexpected turning point (''Wendepunkt''), provoking a [[logical]], but surprising end; ''Novellen'' tend to contain a concrete symbol, which is the [[narrative|narration's]] steady point. | ||
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| + | == See also == | ||
| + | :''[[Il Novellino]] by [[Masuccio Salernitano]] and [[Matteo Bandello|Matteo Bandello's novelle]]'' | ||
| + | *[[News]] | ||
| + | *[[Novel]] | ||
| + | *[[Nouvelle]] | ||
| + | *[[Cent nouvelles nouvelles]] | ||
| + | *[[Novelette]] | ||
| + | *[[Chain novel]] | ||
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| + | {{GFDL}} | ||
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"It is not very difficult to determine the essence of the "novella" as a literary genre: Everything is organized around the question, "What happened? Whatever could have happened?" The tale is the opposite of the novella, because it is an altogether different question that the reader asks with bated breath: "What is going to happen?" Something always happens in the novel also, but the novel integrates elements of the novella and the tale into the variation of its perpetual living present." --A Thousand Plateaus (1980) by Deleuze & Guattari, p. 192 |
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A novella is a narrative work of prose fiction longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. While there is some disagreement of what length defines a novella, it has generally between 17,500 and 40,000 or 60 to 130 pages.
Although the novella is a common literary genre in several European languages, it is less common in English. English-speaking readers may be most familiar with the novellas of Franz Kafka, particularly The Metamorphosis and In the Penal Colony, George Orwell's Animal Farm, Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, Philip Roth's Goodbye, Columbus and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
Like the English word "novel", the English word "novella" derives from the Italian word "novella" (plural: "novelle"), for a tale, a piece of news. As the etymology suggests (from novo), novellas originally were news of town and country life worth repeating for amusement and edification.
History
The idea of serialized novellas dates back to the One Thousand and One Nights, also known as the Arabian Nights, from around the 10th century. The novella as a literary genre later began developing in the early Renaissance literary work of the Italians and the French. Principally, by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375), author of The Decameron (1353)—one hundred novelle told by ten people, seven women and three men, fleeing the Black Death by escaping from Florence to the Fiesole hills, in 1348; and by the French Queen, Marguerite de Navarre (1492–1549), [aka Marguerite de Valois, et. alii.], author of Heptaméron (1559)—seventy-two original French tales (structured like The Decameron).
Not until the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth centuries did writers fashion the novella into a literary genre structured by precepts and rules. Contemporaneously, the Germans were the most active writers of the Novelle (German: "Novelle"; plural: "Novellen"). For the German writer, a novella is a fictional narrative of indeterminate length—a few pages to hundreds—restricted to a single, suspenseful event, situation, or conflict leading to an unexpected turning point (Wendepunkt), provoking a logical, but surprising end; Novellen tend to contain a concrete symbol, which is the narration's steady point.
See also
