Genres & Forms
Novel
The novel is a large epic prose genre with a ramified plot, a broad cast of characters, and an extended fictional time that embraces the fate of an individual in relation to society. The term comes from the Old French romanz — a work in the vernacular (Romance) rather than in Latin. The novel is able to absorb varied modes of narration, styles, and documents, and is therefore called the most 'open' of genres. Its classic form was established by Cervantes's Don Quixote and by the European novel of the nineteenth century (Balzac, Tolstoy, Dickens). In Ukrainian literature the novel is represented by the works of Panas Myrny, Valerian Pidmohylny's The City, Ivan Bahriany's The Hunters and the Hunted, Ulas Samchuk's Maria, and Oksana Zabuzhko's The Museum of Abandoned Secrets.
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Compare “Novel” with another term
Meaning, origins and distinction — side by side.
Distinction
Both are epic prose genres, but of different scale and structure. The novel spans a broad panorama of life, many plot lines and characters, extended time and the developed evolution of character. The novella is a middle form with ONE governing plot line, a narrower cast, and a focus on a single decisive conflict or stage of the hero's life. The novel builds a world; the novella traces a fate.
