Novel affinities : composing the family in the German novel, 1795-1830 / Sarah Vandegrift Eldridge.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Eldridge, Sarah Vandegrift, author.

Series:

Studies in German literature, linguistics, and culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

German fiction--19th century--History and criticism.

German fiction.

Families in literature.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

x, 202 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Rochester, New York : Camden House, 2016.

Summary:

"The novel, according to standard scholarly narratives, depicts an individual's path to maturity. Scholarship on the rise of the novel in Germany and in Europe has essentially collapsed the genre into the individualist Bildungsroman, exemplified by an extremely narrow canon. This study challenges and nuances this narrative, first by expanding the focus from the individual to the family, second by broadening the field of novels under consideration to include not only canonical works but also so-called "trivial literature," and third by reading novels alongside contemporary biological, legal, and pedagogical texts"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: novel subjects, novel genealogies

I. Models of generation

The formation of the self: biology and pedagogy around 1800

Cultivated resemblance: imitation and education in the novel

II. Text as testament

Direct testation: legal inheritance, plot inheritance, origin stories

Indirect testation: documents, written culture, and the writing of life

Conclusion: novel instability.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [181]-190) and index.

ISBN:

9781571139597

1571139591

OCLC:

929590090