Romntic Theory of the Novel : Genre and Reflection in Cervantes, Melville, Flaubert, Joyce, and Kafka

Parlej (English, Russell Sage College) links the romantic origins of the idea of the novel to postmodern philosophy in analysis of five canonical texts, concluding that romantic theory, in creating the ironic subject and the idea of universal history, helped usher in the concept of postmodernity. He distinguishes the romantic theory of the novel from the historical genre that dominated 19th-century literature, identifies traits of the romantic dissolved subject in five great works, and evaluates the relevance that romantic theory holds for texts written after historical romanticism. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.