Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. History and the Early English Novel
  • Cited by 48
      • Show more authors
      • You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Select format
    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      31 October 2009
      03 April 1997
      ISBN:
      9780511582066
      9780521563772
      9780521604475
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511582066
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.508kg, 264 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.405kg, 264 Pages
      • Subjects:
      Literature, British History after 1450, History, English Literature 1700-1830, History of Ideas and Intellectual History
      Series:
      Cambridge Studies in Eighteenth-Century English Literature and Thought (33)
    You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Selected: Digital
    Add to cart View cart Buy from Cambridge.org
    Subjects:
    Literature, British History after 1450, History, English Literature 1700-1830, History of Ideas and Intellectual History
    Series:
    Cambridge Studies in Eighteenth-Century English Literature and Thought (33)
    Information

    Book description

    This new study of the origins of the English novel argues that the novel emerged from historical writing. Examining historical writers and forms frequently neglected by earlier scholars, Robert Mayer shows that in the seventeenth century historical discourse embraced not only 'history' in its modern sense, but also fiction, polemic, gossip, and marvels. Mayer thus explains why Defoe's narratives were initially read as history. It is the acceptance of the claims to historicity, the study argues, that differentiates Defoe's fictions from those of writers like Thomas Deloney and Aphra Behn, important writers who nevertheless have figured less prominently than Defoe in discussions of the novel. Mayer ends by exploring the theoretical implications of the history-fiction connection. His study makes an important contribution to the continuing debate about the emergence of what we now call the novel in Britain in the eighteenth century.

    Reviews

    'His study makes an important contribution to the continuing debate about the emergence of what we now call the novel in Britain in the eighteenth century.'

    Source: http://www.readysteadybook.com/blog.aspx

    Refine List

    Actions for selected content:

    Select all | Deselect all
    • View selected items
    • Export citations
    • Download PDF (zip)
    • Save to Kindle
    • Save to Dropbox
    • Save to Google Drive

    Save Search

    You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

    Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
    Cancel
    ×

    Contents

    Contents

    Metrics

    Altmetric attention score

    Full text views

    Total number of HTML views: 0
    Total number of PDF views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    Book summary page views

    Total views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    * Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

    Usage data cannot currently be displayed.

    Accessibility standard: Unknown

    Why this information is here

    This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

    Accessibility Information

    Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.