Literature v5

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

The rise of the novel

How do you think the novel started to rise in popularity?

The novel

• Evolved from the prose fiction of the 18th century
• 15th century -> The invention of the printing press
• 1620 -> newspapers
• 1695 -> end of state censorship

What effect do you think the end of state censorship had?

The novel

• Before the end of state censorship every news article had to agree with the general ideas of the church and state
• After there was freedom in what you could write and thus read
• Newspapers grew in popularity
• Readers were not only the rich anymore, the general public would also spent their time reading 

The Novel

• The public and the newspaper influenced each other 
• The public got used to reading prose
• The newspaper had to adapt to keep all of their new readers interested
• Together this created a simple logical prose style -> which was very characteristic of 18th century writing

The Novel

• This development created a reader for The Novel 
• Closely connected to the emergence of the middle class public
• Trade and commerce, cities, middle class merchants and tradesmen

When you read a book, do you like to recognise yourself in the characters you read about?

Yes!

No!

I don't really mind either way

The Novel

• The middle class did not want to read poetry
• They wanted to read "true stories" -> so they could recognise themselves
• Novelists like Defoe, Richardson and Fielding presented their fictional works as fact
• There was faith in the reader to be able to find the truth themselves

The Novel

• This age was known as the age of Reason/age of Enlightenment 
• Reason and knowledge were expected to contribute to general human progress
• Newspapers and Books helped spread ideas, not just in England but also Europe and America

Now

Read #4 

Do you understand all the terms and events described?