Raffaella Mannori –The rise of the novel 2014-2015
Raffaella MANNORI
-The rise of the novel- adapted from The rise of the novel by Ian Watt
THE RISE OF THE NOVEL
The most outstanding characteristics of the new literary form are:
1. REALISM
2. INDIVIDUALISM
1. Modern REALISM begins from the position that truth can be discovered by the individual
through his senses ( LOCKEempiricism). (2)
The Novel is the form of literature which most fully reflects this individualistic position the
novelist’s primary task is to convey the impression of fidelity to human experience. It takes its
plots from real life not from mythology , history, legends etc.
The attention to details give verisimilitude to the narration. Robinson Crusoe’s story does not matter if the
story is true what is important is that it looks like being true thanks to the great amount of details. This
mainly because the reading public ( middle class)(1) would be more interested if they thought they
were reading the life of a real person
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2. The novel is distinguished from previous form of fiction by the amount of attention it gives to the individualisation of its
characters and to the detailed presentation of its environment ( see the use of ordinary contemporary proper name, the
interest in in the minute-by-minute and day-by-day temporal and spatial setting, adaptation of prose style to give an air
of complete authenticity.
This aspect of individualism is connected to the new outlook of individualism typical of the middle class. All DEFOE’s
heroes pursuit money and they pursuit it methodically according to the profit and loss book-keeping( middle class habit
of mind.
ROBINSON CRUSOE is not linked to his country by sentimental ties, he is satisfied by people , whatever their nationality,
who are good at doing business with . He feels that “ with money in the pocket one is at home everywhere” On the
desert island RC realises economic, social and intellectual freedom for the individual . He does not become a savage , he
remains a civilised person
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A novel should have the following characteristics:
be an extended prose narrative;
be a coherent story in which all parts contribute to the total effects;
have a consistent moral point of view which motivates the actions ;
be concerned largely with personal relationships.
(1)
The expansion of the reading public, a new
reading public made up of the rapidly growing
middle class of wealthy merchants and
professionals , most of whom could read and write .
Many of these new readers were women because
they were more educated and have more leisure
time .The new reading public wanted real stories
which reflected their own interests and problems
with characters they could identify with .These
middle class men also felt the need to improve their
education , both for professional reason or simply to
have a better understanding of the world, thus
encouraging the expansion of the education
system.
In addition printing technology was becoming more
refined , which meant that books and reading
material could be reproduced better , quicker and at
a lower price.. This helped to rise the circulating
libraries , where people could borrow books,
newspapers, magazine freely or at a very low price.
(2)
Philosophical rationalism : the
application of rational method
LOCKE:
He elevated judgement –the function of
analysing and distinguishing ideasover imagination ;
He underlined the importance of giving
clear definitions to words and ideas :
strong desire to order, clarity and
harmony
-philosophical rationalism: man can
discover the reality of the world around
him by his senses and perceptions(
empiricism). The novel’s the form of
literature which mostly reflects this
approach. Previous literary forms were
based on past history, mythology and
fable while the novel’s primary criterion
was truth to individual experience
Raffaella Mannori –The rise of the novel 2014-2015
ROBINSON CRUSOE
ROBINSON AS THE SUCCESSFUL SELF-MADE MAN
Robinson
Crusoe belongs to the tradition of the Bildungsroman -German for
"formation novel" in that it follows the protagonist development in a
period of his life. the novel starts with Robinson as a young man who is
supposed to obey and respect his father's ideas but knows that he has to
work out his own destiny. He breaks with his middle-class background
and pressures of his family to face the unknown both because he feels
the appeal of adventures and in the name of economic independence.
According to the critic Ian Watt, Robinson Crusoe exemplifies the homo
economicus, the successful self-made man who enjoys and exploits the
island where he was shipwrecked.
ROBINSON CRUSOE AS THE PARABLE OF A RELIGIOUS CONVERSION
At the beginning of the novel Robinson is a 19-year-old boy with a rebellious attitude towards middle-class values and
also their religious frame of mind. But during his long period of solitude he radically changes his mind, starts reading the
Bible and chooses God as the constant addressee of his thought. He embodies the myth of the God - fearing and
industrious coloniser who brings civilization where savagery had formerly reigned:” The novel is ordinarily viewed as a
working out of the Puritan myth of industry, fulfilling labour, the correct combination of faith and good works.
ROBINSON AS THE PROTOTYPE OF THE BRITISH COLONIZER
Robinson is in many ways the celebration of
the English mercantile spirit. Today Robinson appears to us as the representative of the Englishman who in those years was
beginning to colonize the world, turning deserted spots into civilised places and lucrative trading posts. Robinson is the
archetype pioneer: he is armed only with his own strength and intelligence, and has a Puritan's firm conviction that he has God
on his side. He has been rightly defined as the new homo economicus , representative of the early 18th -century Englishmen
who were founding Britain's commercial empire in countries as far away as Canada or India.
Robinson Crusoe is also
the archetype colonist. This becomes clear especially in the last part of the novel, after he has met Friday. Their relation
perfectly describes the pattern of the relation between colonist and native, or master and slave. Robinson's education of Friday
closely recalls the processes of modern colonialism, which follow a recurrent pattern:
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name giving - he gives Friday a new name which is meant always to remind the Indian of his debt to the white man
(he was saved by Robinson on a Friday); Friday, on the other hand, must call him "master"
new (European) clothes- Robinson covers Friday's nakedness by giving him worn-out European clothes; Friday "was
very pleased to see himself almost as well dressed as his master";
new (European ) language - Robinson doesn't bother to learn Friday's language but teaches him enough English to
understand him and follows his orders;,
new religion - Robinson teaches Friday the principles of Christianity;
technical superiority- Robinson never gives Friday a weapon and is even careful never to let him see how he loads
his gun.
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LINKS AND CONNECTIONS
NATURAL MAN
ROUSSEAU AND ROBINSON : THE MYTH OF THE
Rosseau (1660-1731)In the 18th century many philosophers and scientists put
forward a view of the universe as a living organism (this view was also favoured by the discoveries
of the new science, biology, which showed how living organisms were not fixed but subject to
change and evolution). In simplified form: nature is good, and the closer man is to nature the
better he/she is. From this idea comes the myth of the bon sauvage and of the myth of the good
natural man which will be central to both the English Enlightenment and Romanticism. Its main exponent was
the French- Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In his Discours sur l'origine et les fondements de
l'inégalité parmi les hommes he considers society to have spoilt the freedom and virtue of primitive peoples
who lived closed to Nature. Rousseau deals with this theme in his two best known works: the novel La
nouvelle Héloise and the political treatise Du Contrat Social, in which he argues that the basis of society is
artificial and advocates a return to nature.
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Rousseau's reading of Defoe's novel Rousseau wanted his philosophy of Man and Nature to be at the core
of the modern educational system. In this view he wrote Emile, in which he says that only by stimulating the
natural impulses and interests of the child can a true education be achieved. To do so, according to
Rousseau, no books are a necessity except one, Robinson Crusoe: "The one book that teaches all that books
Raffaella Mannori –The rise of the novel 2014-2015
can teach". Defoe's novel is considered essential to a child's education especially for two reasons: it shows
him/her how to satisfy only natural or primitive necessities, such as those experienced by Robinson on the
island; also, Robinson embodies one of Rousseau's favourite ideas: a radical, that is complete, individualism.
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Modern readings of Defoe's novel
1)
Robinson, in the first place, doesn't choose to live a natural life in a deserted place, as Rousseau's
heroes do: he is forced into solitude and lives the island as soon as he can.
Secondly, Defoe mainly conceived of nature as a resource to be exploited economically.
Robinson alone on the island doesn't feel closer to nature, nor does he lose much time
philosophizing. The absolute freedom from social restraints which Rousseau asks for man is used
by Robinson to exploit the island, first alone and then with the help of Friday who provides him
with free labour force. As a critic has pointed out: "For the original Crusoe, 'nature' is appealing
not for adoration but for exploitation.
2)
Rousseau's view of Robinson Crusoe, however, seems idealized, or
perfectly suited to his own philosophy. Modern critics and readers have pointed out that, in fact, Defoe and Rousseau
had very different ideas of nature.
The novel narrated in the first person as though it were an actual autobiographical account, shows the shipwrecked
trader trying to rebuild the whole pattern of the material and moral word he has left behind.
ROBINSON is not an adventurer who goes to sea in search of excitement , but a SOBER and PRUDENT merchant
engaged in a business enterprise. PRUDENCE rather than HEROISM I the ky to his actions ( THE PRUDENTIAL HERO).
Robinson does not absorb his frightening experience on the island : his long years of living alone produce no moral
and psychological change.The hero is a man who seeks comfort and safety rather than honour.
THE AVOIDANCE OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL REALITY
ROBINSON CRUSOE
LORD OF THE FLIES
It takes man out of the complexities of society
onto a desert island in order to prove a strong
social point : man is capable ,through
education ,of progress. It is a book about how
man can use his brains and hands to
manipulate objects around him: not merely to
survive , but positively to triumph.
Defoe, despite removing Robinson from
everyday social reality, is concerned with
creating verisimilitude , making us believe
Robinson as a real man and the island as a
real island
Reacting against the Romantic notion that man is basically
noble if freed from the constraints of society, Golding 's idea is
that man is a fallen creature: evil is inherent in man ; it is a
terrifying force which he has to recognise and , therefore,
control , if he wants to be saved from instinctive savagery
In the Romantic movement , THE CHILD represents a preIndustrial Revolution innocence , a being based on an unlimited
capacity for wonder and fancy . For Wordsworth the child might
have INTUITIVE PERCEPTION of eternal truth.
THE ISLAND ENVIRONMENT
Defoe uses the isolated environment to
uphold his current social philosophy:
Robinson is a hymn to individualism , an echo
of the great confidence which the early 18thcentury placed in the ECONOMIC MAN.
In LORD OF THE FLIES there is an intense awareness throughout
the novel of man's physical surroundings . The island and the sea
are described beautifully but NATURE cannot teach the boys
anything in the Romantic tradition of NATURE as having a morally
uplifting function.
It's clear that nature ( its beauty may be usefully contrasted
ROBINSON embodies the idea of ECONOMIC with the increasing savagery on the island, has not connection
INDIVIDUALISM : Robinson pursues an
with the human action. It is just indifferent to them and to their
utilitarian idea of human relationships as seen feelings.
in his relationship with MAN FRIDAY ..
MAN is alone in his quest for the knowledge of evil and his
isolation is enforced by the relentless ebb and flow of the sea.
Robinson represents the single-minded pursuit The CHILDREN 's dream of freedom from the restrictions of an
of the associated tendencies of modern
adult society mirrors the civilised adults’ dream of freedom from
civilisation:
the burdens of a civilised society.
-economic individualism;
In both cases the dream becomes a nightmare INDIVIDUALISM
-social and intellectual freedom for the
leads to REGRESSSION and BROTHERHOOD is impossible.
individual.
What is shown on the island is that man in such an isolated
situation can't control either the environment or his inner
desires , which are basically evil and beastly.
Raffaella Mannori –The rise of the novel 2014-2015