Epic Novel

The epic novel is the largest and most complex variety of the novel, combining the scale of a people's national-historical destiny with a detailed depiction of the private lives of many characters. The genre grows out of the ancient epic but transfers its monumentality into modern prose. The epic novel is marked by a wide temporal and spatial span, numerous plot lines, and the portrayal of pivotal historical events (wars, revolutions) as a background that shapes the characters' fates. The classic world example is Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. In Ukrainian literature the genre is approached by Ulas Samchuk's Volhynia, by the novels of Oles Honchar (notably The Standard-Bearers), and by historical prose that embraces the destinies of whole generations against the backdrop of the liberation struggles.