Saint Mary's University

English 2364: The Modern Novella

w/ Prof. David R. Wilson

You've got to accentuate the positive,

eliminate the negative,

and latch on to the affirmative,

but don't mess with Mr. In-between. Johnny Mercer (1944)

The novella is a dilemma. On the surface it seems to lack the scope found in novels or the discipline found in short stories. Too short to market as a novel; too long to include in a magazine. As a form, it's been largely ignored by scholars as fringe, patronized by many reviewers as minor, and feared by most writers as experimental. Yet some of our most beloved stories are novellas: A Christmas Carol, Jekyll and Hyde, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Time Machine, Of Mice and Men, and Animal Farm. Moreover, when it begins to win prizes like Julian Barnes' recent The Sense of an Ending, and a respected writer like Ian McEwen states that the novella is actually more superior to the novel, we can see that this lack of perceived value in the form is changing. No longer is the novella seen as a lesser genre or unjustly ignored. The term itself, however, is still in dispute, and something that we will explore. In fact, the in-betweenness of the novella, its liminality, is what makes it a flexible and powerful way to tell a story, whether it's a romance, children's tale, science fiction, horror, or mystery. This hybrid nature of the novella will be studied, as well as its myriad distinct features to provide both an in-depth examination of several key examples and a broad perspective on why the form is flourishing today.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Edith Wharton                 Ethan Frome (1911)

George Simenon               The Engagement (1933)

Adolfo Bioy Casares          The Invention of Morel (1940)

Nathaniel West                 The Day of the Locust (1939)

Muriel Spark                    The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961)

Neil Gaiman                      Coraline (2003) 

Daniel Clowes                   Ghostworld (1997)

Don DeLillo                     Point Omega (2010)

Stephen King                    Different Seasons (1982)

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

To introduce students to a variety of novellas.

To understand its differences and similarities, advantages and disadvantages, when compared with short fiction and novels.

To decide if size is the only, and main, consideration for defining a novella.

To learn the reasons behind the stigma attached to novellas.

To trace its rise in popularity in the culture.

To explore the techniques and elements present in this form of story-telling.

To discover how a novella affects a writer's structural approach to the narrative.

To explain the ways in which the form offers an audience a different experience from other genres.

To consider if the novella is the ideal fictional form for the 21st century.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of the course students should be able to...

discuss the history of the modern novella and trace its development through the 20th century.

explain ways in which the novella differs from short fiction and novels.

offer a broad perspective on the novella's rich diversity.

develop an appreciation for the form and awareness of the array of novellas studied.

offer critical insight into the form's techniques, elements, and cultural contexts.

EVALUATION:

5 Quizzes (3 points each)             15

5 Tests (5 points each)                25

4 Short Papers: (10 points each)    40

Participation (postings)                20

BOOKS ON RESERVE AT THE LIBRARY:

Springer, Mary D. Forms of the Modern Novella. 1975

David H. Richter. Forms of the Novella. 1988.

A. Robert Lee. Modern American Novella.  1989.

David Lodge. The Art of Fiction. 1992.

 The novella is an ill-defined and disreputable literary banana republic. Stephen King