FICTION AND NON FICTION

 FICTION AND NON FICTION

FICTION (based on imagination):

Refers to any narrative derived from the imagination, not on fact or history. Ex: Literature in the form of prose, especially novels; Short stories; fables; comic books; fairy tales; epic and narrative poetry, video games etc.

Short story has 2000-7500 words. Novella has 7500-50000 words; Novel has more than 15000 words.

There are two types of fiction:

1)   Genre Fiction or Popular fiction: Fictional works written with an intention to fit into a genre. based on the plot, it can be classified into subcategories such as horror, romance, mystery, fantasy, sci-fi. etc. Sub categories are:

Crime and detective fiction: With the elements of murder, mystery, thrill, suspense etc.

Fantasy fiction: Speculative in nature.

Romance: deals with love

Inspirational: Focus on values and good conduct.

Horror fiction: with supernatural elements Ex: gothic fiction

Western: cowboy as hero, set in American West in 1950’s.

Political fiction:

Magic realism: Ex: Midnight’s children by Salman Rashdie

 

2)   Literary fiction: Not based on plot, difficult to break into sub categories. It is anything that doesn’t fit into a genre. Focus on in depth character studies. Ex: To kill a mocking bird – by Harper Lee; Life of Pie- by Yann Patel; The Catcher in the Rye- by J.D. Salinger; The Kite Runner- by Khaled Hosseini; The Lord of the Flies- By William Golding;

 

Novel:

Originated from Italian Word Novella (=Fresh story or a little new thing). Current German term Novella is often used to an equivalent for Novelette (= a prose fiction of middle length). Novel has no rigid framework. Novel can have its setting or background in any part of the world an any time, past, present, or future. Ian Watt’s “The Rise of the Novel (1957)” suggests that the novel came into being in early 18^th century.

 

 

Quotes:

Ø “Novel is a pocket theatre”-F.M. Crawford.

Ø “Novel is a summary of actual life”     -George Meredith.

Ø “Novel is a comic epic in prose’’ - Henry Fielding      

Ø “Anyone can write a novel who has pens, ink and paper at command, and a certain amount of leisure and patience”        -W. H. Hudson.

 

History of Novel: In 1350, Boccaccio wrote Decameron, a world-famous collection of love stories in prose. Several Elizabethan writers wrote prose works of fiction.

The Oxford Dictionary describes novel as “a fictitious prose narrative of considerable length in which characters and actions are representative of real life and are portrayed in plot of more or less complexity.”

 

Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) is treated as first English Novel.

 

Samuel Richardson was regarded as “The Father of Modern Novel.”

 

Some of the early examples are:

-Bunyan’s Pilgrim Progress (1678).

-Swift’s- Gulliver Travels (1726).

-Nashe’s – Unfortunate Traveler or Life of Jack Wilton (1594)- first picaresque novel in English.

-Defoe’s – Robinson Crusoe (1719), Moll Flanders, Captain Singleton

 

In 18^th century, novel acquired its modern form.

-Richardson’s – Pamela or Virtue Rewarded, Clarissa- first epistolary novel in English

-Henry Fielding’s – Joseph Andrew, Jonathan Wild, Tom Jones, Amelia.

-Smolett’s – Roderick Random, Peregrine Pickle,

-Sterne’s – Tristram Shandy(1759)-

-Goldsmith’s – Vicar of the Wakefiled

-Dr. Johnsons’- Ressalas.

 

 

 

In 19^th century, process of refinement carried a step ahead.

-Gothic Novels (Walpole’s-Castle of Otranto- first gothic novel, Beckford’s- Vathek, Radcliffe’s- The Mysteries of Udolpho.)

- Jane Austen’s’ – Northanger Abbey, Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility (focus on of country life and characterization).

-Bronte sisters’- terror to heighten human story (Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights)

-Scott’s Historical novel (Waverly, Ivanhoe, Guy Mannering).

-Dickens’ complex plot changed the history. (David copper field, Great Expectations)

- Thackeray’s Vanity fair

-George Eliot’s philosophical dissertations (Adam Bede, Middle March, Mill on the Floss)

-Hardy’s Wessex novels (Tess, Mayer of the Casterbridge)

- Political and social novels- by Benjamin Disareli (Sybil), Mrs.Gaske(North and South)

- Trollope’s Barchester Towers- about clerical life

-Stevenson’s- Treasure Island- about adventures

- Willkie Collins’- Detective novels (The women In White, The Moon Stone)

-Butler’s Erewhon, Lytton’s The coming race, Morris’s News from Nowhere- about future governments.

-Henry James’- Psychological novels, about manners and conventions

 

In present time, rapid changes caused by two world wars.

-Edwardians- interested in portraying the external world, new discoveries, social changes.

-Georgians- Subconscious mind, stream of thoughts.

-psychological theories, freedom of expression

During last 50 years, the scope of novel has widened and included every subject under the sun

 

Types of Novels:

Epistolary Novel: novel in the form of letters by one or more characters in the novel, Ex: Richardson’s Pamela, Alice Walker’s Colour Purple etc.,

Picaresque novel: From Spanish word picaro, a rogue; picaresque novel is one with a rogue as hero, or loosely one dealing with roguish or low life adventures. It is realistic in manner, episodic in structure and satiric in aim. Cervantes was a Spanish writer who wrote a novel called “Don Quixote’ (1605) and with it begins the history of the Picaresque novel. “The Unfortunate Traveler” is the best example of the picaresque novel in English.  In English, Daniel Defoe was the first to write a Picaresque novel. Ex. Defoe’s Captain Singleton and Fielding’s Jonathan Wild.

Sentimental or Epistolary novel: Epistolary came from the word “Epistle” which means letter. This kind of novel is written in form of series of letters. Here the main character corresponds with others through letters. Samuel Richardson, the father of the English novel. His famous novels are “Pamela or Virtue Rewarded”, “Clarissa Harlowe” and “Sir Charles Grandison.” one striking feature of his novels are that all are titled after the name of the protagonist. Ex: The Color Purple (By Alice Walker).; Frankenstein (By Mary Shelley).; Dracula (By Bram Stoker).;

Domestic novel: In this type of novel, the writer deals with the social life of the people and with the daily lives of the characters. The beginning is made by Fanny Burney but the most popular exponent is Jane Austen. Frances or Fanny Burney is another important figure in the history of domestic novel.

Regional Novel: it depicts the customs, way of life, setting, language of a specific region. Ex: Wessex in Hardy’s Novels, Malgudi in R K Narayan’s works, Yaknapatawpha country in Faulkner’s novels

Gothic novel: Novel of mystery, terror, horror set in ruined castles. The term ‘Gothic’ originally referred to ‘Goths’- a Germanic tribe, then came to signify ‘Germanic’ and then medieval. Towards the end of the eighteenth century grew the Novel of Terror or Gothic Novel better known as Gothic Romances. The English romantic movement which found its supreme expression in poetry, was reflected in a somewhat cruder and more primitive manner in the novel, where it helped to inaugurate a new literary genre- the thriller. Its origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled "A Gothic Story". Ex: Shelly’s Frankenstein.; Lewis’s Monk.; Beckford’s Vathek., Clara Reeve’s Old English Baron, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights etc.

Sci-fi novel: deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life. It has been called the "literature of ideas", and often explores the potential consequences of scientific, social, and technological innovations. Ex: H.G. Well’s notable science-fiction works: The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898).

Stream of consciousness novel: term was first used by May Sinclair in connection with Dorothy Richardson’s novels.  A deep probe is made here into the dark corridor of the human mind.  Focus is on inner world.  Virgina Woolf, James Joyce used this technique.

BILDUNGSROMAN: Novel of development, oftern the growth of hero or heroine from boyhood to youth to maturity. It is also called novel of formation or education. Combination of two german words: building- formation; and roman- novel Ex: Davidcopperfield

Kunstelrroman: Novel that portrays the growth of a an artisit/writer. Ex: James Joyce’s Portrait of an artist as an Youngman

Utopian: (Literally good place) from Thomas More’s Utopia. It presents a ideal state from which all the problems ae real world are eliminated, and life appears to be happy and harmonious. Ex: The Republic (ca. 370-360 BC) by Plato; William Morris’ News from Nowhere; New Atlantis (1627) by Sir Francis Bacon; Erewhon (1872) by Samuel Butler; A Modern Utopia (1905) by H. G. Wells

Distopian: (literally bad place) Opposite to Utopian. Ex: George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932), and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (1953).

Novella/ novelette:

A novella is a short novel, that is, a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than that of most novels, but longer than most short stories. US-based Writers of America defines novella's word count to be between 17,500 and 40,000 words. The English word "novella" derives from the Italian novella, which means "new”.

Ex:

Animal Farm by George Orwell,

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad,

Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens,

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

 

 

Short story:

Short story shares all the elements of fiction such as plot, character and setting, but it is not a shortened novel.  Language of short story must be a model of economy. As early as Chaucer, there were shot stories in verse, but a proper prose medium was lacking.

Although Chaucer’s Parson’s Tale and Tale of Melibee are in prose, but of poor quality. Bocaccio wrote Decameron, a collection of 100 short stories in 1350 was a great success. In 18^th century Addison and Steele evolved the short story with a purpose. Nathanial Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe formulated the modern theory of short story in 1830’s.

A.H. Upham remarks, “Author must see end in the beginning.”   

Short stories can be:

Plot based: Take plot and fit characters in it

Character based: take characters and choose incidents to fit it.

Setting based: take an atmosphere and get actions and persons to realize it.

 

Beast Fable:  short story with moral. Beast Fable involves story of animals and birds. Ex: George Orwell’s Animal farm

 

NON-FICTION (based on fact/history):

Based on real events and people, draws evidences such as newspaper articles, letters, interviews, etc. The author takes the responsibility for truth and accuracy of the events. Simplicity, clarity and directedness ae some of the most important considerations when producing nonfiction. Nonfiction may be presented either objectively or subjectively. Boundaries between fiction and nonfiction are continuously blurred.

Ex:

reference works (almanacs, encyclopedias, atlases, bibliographies, chronicles, dictionaries, thesauri, telephone directories, handbooks, yearbooks, books of quotations, etc),

life writings (autobiographies, biographies, confessions, diaries, logs, memoirs, epistles, letters, epitaphs, obituaries, etc.),

literary/art criticism (book reports, movie reviews and book reviews),

promotional writing (brochures, pamphlets, press releases, advertorials, etc.),

persuasive writing (apologias and polemics),

others: essays and essay collections, history books, academic texts (scholarly papers including scientific papers, monographs, scientific journals, treatises, conference proceedings, etc.), news stories, editorials, letters to the editor, and manifestos, notices, documentary films, textbooks, study guides, field guides, travelogues, recipes, owner's manuals and user guides, self-help books, popular science books, blogs, presentations, orations, sayings, etc.,

 

1)Biography: 

Dryden used this term in 1683 for the first time and defined it as “The history of particular men’s lives.” Biography differs from history in being a record of the life of one individual. It deals with two events, birth and death. It is an account of one’s achievements and personality. It should be a faithful picture of its subject, with neither praising his virtues and nor condemning his faults. 

“Its function is to transmit personality to rebuild a living man from dead bones”- Sydney Lee.

“History is an essence of countless biographies”- Carlyle.

 

Pure Biography Vs Impure Biography

Pure biography gives perfect picture of development of external and inner life. Many factors intervene to make it impure. They are:

i)    De Mortuis Nil Nisi Bonum: A Latin proverb which says “living should speak nothing but good of the dead”. A desire of honor the dead, makes it impure

ii)   Author’s own views and prejudices: Author must maintain detachment or else this personal interest makes it impure. He must have only a professional interest, such as a doctor has in his patient.

iii) Substitution of moral or utilitarian aims for artistic: Biography should not be treated as some theory or with the intention of driving home some particular lesson.

 

“A well written life is almost as rare as a well spent one”- Carlyle.

If the biographer is not a contemporary/associate, biography can become a herculean task. It is extremely difficult for a biographer who wasn’t lived constantly with his subject to present an accurate image of him.

From writing biographies with real names attached to them it was but a short step to writing biographies with fictitious names.’ Who is the author referred to? (Kerala SET)

a)Colley Cibber           b)Daniel Defoe

c)George Barkeley      d)Richard Steele

Ex:

Biography- Name of the biographer

The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)- by Boswell (friend of Johnson)- most famous

Queen Victoria- by Lytton Strachey (writer of Eminent Victorians)

The life of Walter Scott- by J. G. Lockhart (son-in-law of Scott)

The Life of Charles Dickens (1874)- by John Forster (close friend of Dickens)

Marlborough- by Churchill.

Macaulay- by Trevelyan

Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt (2004).

Thomas Gray- by Mason

Nelson- By Southey

Pepy- by Arthur Byrant

The Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857)- by Gaskell

Cowper (The Stricken Deer)- by Lord David Cecil

Byron- by Peter Quennel

 

 

2)Auto-Biography:    

            Its main aim is to present personality with best examples. It can never be complete. It must always come to an end before the death of the writer. Longfellow said “Autobiography is a product of first-hand experience; Biography is of secondhand knowledge. It progresses from the “outward to the inner” and from the “objective to the subjective”. It is almost impossible for anyone to be entirely objective. “It is a hard and nice subject for a man to write on himself”- Abraham Cowley.

Ex:

Famous Autobiographies

Confessions (5th century)- St. Augustine.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (1947)

Left hand! Right hand! - Osbert Sitwell

Confession of an opium eater- De Quincy.

An Autobiography by Agatha Christie (1997)

Speak, Memory -by Vladimir Nabokov.

Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life (1955)- C S Lewis

Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela (1994)

My experiments with Truth(1929)- M.K. Gandhi

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai (2013)

Wings of Fire by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and Arun Tiwari, 1999

Mein Kampf (My Struggle) by Adolf Hitler, 1925

Under My Skin: Volume One of My Autobiography, to 1949 (1994) -by  Doris Lessing

A Little Learning: The First Volume of an Autobiography (1964) -by  Evelyn Waugh

 

2)Memoirs: is a literary form in which the author relates and reflects on experiences from their own life. Memoirs and autobiographies share many similarities, as both are types of self-written biographies. The term memoir comes from the early 15th century Anglo-French word memorie, meaning “written record” or “something written to be kept in mind.”

Ex:

Earliest memoirs:  Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico, also known as Commentaries on the Gallic Wars & Commentarii de Bello Civili (or Commentaries on the Civil War).

Walden in 1854 - Henry David Thoreau’s experiences living simply in the New England woods.

A Moveable Feast (1964) - Ernest Hemingway’s account of his years as an American expatriate in Paris in the 1920s.

Joseph Anton: A Memoir by Salman Rashdie (title is based on two writers: Joseph Conrad and Anton Checkov)

4) Guides / Manuals / Handbooks / Technical books:

5)Travelogues: Travelogue - A truthful account given by a traveller of their experiences on a journey.

Ex:

Herodotus (Greek) is widely viewd as the first travel writer. His book, Histories (450BC-420BC) was a record of his travels across Greece, North Africa and East Asia, it is widely regarded as one of the first travelogues.

Mandevelle’s Voyage and Travels of Sir John Mandeville (1356) – the tales are selections from narratives of genuine travelers,

Bill Bryson has written multiple books about his travels. One of particular note is Notes from a Small Island (1995).

 

6)Self-help books: For thousands of years, people have been writing down their wisdom and advice that have led them to greater health, happiness, and harmony. With the perfect self-help book at hand, you can become your own life coach and the master of your own growth.

Ex:  

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

 

7) Historical nonfiction: consists of true accounts of historical eras and events.