The novel is a literary genre that is framed in narrative.
Novel is a concept derived from the Italian novella , meaning "news." The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) defines the first meaning of the term as that work of literature that, developed in prose , is responsible for narrating actions that belong partially or totally to the realm of fiction.
Some examples where this word appears: «Ernesto Sábato was an Argentine writer who stood out for his novels and essays » , «They gave me Stephen King's latest novel» , «Someday I will write a novel about the English invasions» .
The literary novel and its different elements
In the way literature understands the term, a novel is distinguished from texts of other genres mainly by its length (over 60,000 words). Thus, it can be differentiated from short stories by being longer, presenting several intertwined stories and not having a linear character. In addition, novels generally (with some exceptions) present plots of great complexity , a large number of characters involved in the central theme and, in some cases, several narrators.
The novel consists of three fundamental elements: the action (the events that happen and that constitute the plot ), the characters (the characters that participate) and the environment or setting (the scene, the space where the actions take place and where said characters are).
In turn, regarding its structure, it is composed of three parts: the presentation ; the development ; and the outcome , conclusion or resolution . In each one the length varies, but the structure is rigorously maintained, although in some cases it is difficult to identify the various fragments.
The science that is responsible for establishing the conditions that each text corresponding to a type of narration must meet is called narratology . During structuralism this science grew considerably, subdividing and classifying the most important aspects of all narration. To mark these differences, it established ways of studying the narrator (the narrative voice, the point of view, etc.); the characters (their functions in the work); the plot (everything that happens in the story and how it happens); and the time and space of the narration (represented with the concept of chronotope , which focuses on the connection between different places and times in the same narrative work).
Before publishing a novel, a detailed review of the manuscript is essential.
Classification according to type
The novel can be classified in several ways: according to its length, its content, its narrator, etc.
Depending on its structure, it can be a short novel or simply a novel .
The short novel has a simple structure and lacks both long dialogues and detailed descriptions of events. It presents very concise stories , without subplots, and does not delve too deeply into the lives of the characters , but rather focuses directly on the events to be narrated.
For its part, the "conventional" novel presents the characteristics we mentioned above and is divided into chapters , where each unit has a coherence and a certain autonomy.
Depending on the narrator, the novel can be narrated in the first person (narrator protagonist or secondary character) or in the third person (narrator witness, omniscient or observer).
According to the structure of the story, the themes that are touched upon and the way in which the conflicts are addressed, on the other hand, the novel can be of several types: romance , mystery , science fiction , fantasy , thriller , historical novel ...
There are many literary awards designed to recognize the quality of novels.
The novel according to its narrative discourse
Another way to characterize a novel is according to the narrative discourse it presents and how it does so. Narrative discourse is the way in which the story is told, considering who is narrating it and how they do so. There are several types of discourse in narrative:
- Narrative discourse itself is a way of introducing the story as if it were being told. It is not so important how the author expresses himself, but what he expresses. It is important to pay special attention to the conversations and to each word spoken.
- Quoted speech is the name given to those stories where the narrator takes words from the characters and introduces them into the story. It can be direct style (reproducing the words exactly as they were spoken) or indirect style (reproducing the meaning of the characters' words but not literally).
- Stream of consciousness is the third type of narrative discourse and consists of presenting the characters' thoughts almost instantaneously, just as they arise in their consciousness. In addition, the events and conversations that will give life to the literary work are narrated.
Something from fiction
The notion of a novel is also used to refer to those situations in reality that, due to their characteristics, would seem to be from fiction , or to lies in general: "I'm already bored with Sol's novel with her boyfriend" , "Finish the novel and tell us what happened at school" , "The boss thought it was all a novel, but I was telling him the truth" .
Likewise, in some regions, someone who invents lies or believes stories that have no head or tail is called a novelero .
The novel as a TV series
In some countries , finally, the word novel can be used to name soap operas , which are fictional television series that usually belong to the romantic genre.
«Every night I watch the soap opera on Channel 6» y "Who is your favorite soap opera leading man?" son frases que muestran este uso.