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  • 8/12/2019 Davis, Lennard - Factual Fictions - Chap 2

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    F A C T U A L F I C T I O N S

    T h e O r i g i n s o f t h e E n g l i s h N o v e l

    L E N N A R D J D A V I S

    P ENNUniversity of Pennsylva nia Press

    Philadelphia

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    4 F R A M E , C O N T E X T , P R E S T R U C T U R E

    ki rk .Journal of the Plague Year, too , wa s a n a c c ount o f a r e a l e ve n tba se d to some e x te n t on a c tua l r e c ords a nd a c c ounts . I n v ie w ofD e f o e ' s c o m m i t m e n t t o p s e u d o j o u r n a l i s m , Roxana m u s t h a v e b e e nr e c e i v e d b y t h e r e a d e r s h i p w i t h a m b i v a l e n c e .I t wa s th is a mbiva le n t reactionanu n c e r t a i n t y a s t o t h e f a c t u a lo r f ic t iona l r e a l i ty o f theworkthat I a m m a i n t a i n i n g w a s o n e o ft h e m a j o r c o m p o n e n t s i n t h e p h e n o m e n o l o g y o f r e a d i n g d u r i n g t h ee a r l y e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y a n d w h i c h w a s l a r g e l y a b s e n t w h e n C e r v a n t e s w r o t e . T h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f a t h e o r y o f t h e n o v e l w h i c h d e a l ta de qu a te ly wi th the c onfus ion be tw e e n the f a c tua l a nd f ic tiona l ro leof na r r a t ive wa s one o f the c e n t r a l c onc e rns o f e a r ly nove l i s t s , a s wew i l l s e e . T h e e l a b o r a t e d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e f ra m e a n d t h e c o n c o m i ta n t use o f a u thor ia l d isa vowa l c r e a te d a mode of l i te r a ry c r e a t iona nd f a br ic a t ion whic h i s obse ss ive ly bound up wi th spe c u la t ions onthe c a p a c i ty o f na r r a t ive to c a r ry a pure ly f a c tua l o r pure ly f ic t ionalm e s s a g e . T h e i m p o r t a n c e o f t h e p r e s t r u c t u r e i s t o c r e a t e t h e b o u n d a r ie s whic h de f ine , t r a ns form, a nd loc a te the p lo t e le me nts o f thenove l , a nd in so do ing to sha rp ly d i f f e r e n t ia te the e a r ly nove l f romt h e t y p e s o f w r i t i n g t h a t p r e c e d e d i t .

    C H A P T E R I I

    T h e R o m a n c eL i m i n a l i t y a n d I n f l u e n c e

    F D O N Q U I X O T E ' S q u e s t le a d s u s d o w n t h e w r o n g r o a d ,d o w n t h e u n f r a m e d w a y , i n w h i c h d i r e c t i o n s h o u l d w e t u r n ?

    M o s t t h e o r i e s o f t h e n o v e l , w h e t h e r e v o l u t i o n a r y , o s m o t i c , o r c o n v e r g e n t , h a v e c a s t g l a n c e s , h o w e v e r v a r i e d , t o t h e romancepart i c u l a r l y t h e F r e n c h h e r o i c r o m a n c e o f t h e s e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y .T he rom a nc e se e m s a log ic a l p la c e to s ta r t if one i s in te n t on f ind in gl i m i n a l * o r o r i g i n a t i n g m o m e n t s . S i n c e r o m a n c e s p r e c e d e d n o v e l sa s t h e d o m i n a n t l o n g i s h n a r r a t i o n s i n p r o s e , t h e y m u s t , s o t h ea rgume nt goe s , be r e la te d to nove ls whic h a r e the mse lve s long ishna r r a t ions in p rose . Suc h r e a son ing ha s le d to books whic h d isc uss

    the nove l in the E l iz a be tha n pe r iod , o r a s f a r ba c k a s the M iddleAge s , o r e ve n c la ss ic a l Gre e c e a nd Rome.' I n d e e d , a n y w o r k i nprose o f a de c e n t le ng th w i th a s ing le he ro f a l l s p r e y to the de f in i t ionof nov e l . For the t im e be ing , I w i l l r e s i s t the te mpta t ion to de f inethe nove l a p r io r i a nd s imply be g in to obse rve wha t the nove l i sno t .

    Ra the r , I w i l l a rgue tha t the roma nc e i s no t use fu l ly se e n a sa fo re be a r o f , a r e la t ive o f , o r a n in f lue nc e on the nove l . The c le a rf a c t in the de v e lop me nt o f na r r a t ive du r in g th is pe r iod i s tha t th e rew a s a p r o f o u n d r u p t u r e , a d is c u r s i v e c h a s m b e t w e e n t h e s e t w of o r m s . W e c a n p e r h a p s l e a r n m o r e a b o u t t h e n a t u r e o f l it e r a r y* Liminal is being used here to indicate the idea ofathreshold, the verging onto a newgenre. Liminality, then, would be that state of being that is on the threshold.

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    2 6 T H E R O M A N C E : L I M I N A L I T Y A N D I N F L U E N C E

    change by focusing on dif fe rence ra ther than s imila r i ty . At leas t ,i t i s possible in this way to t rea t the idea of a pure ly l i te ra ryin f lue nc e som e wha t wa r i l y .On e m igh t be g in w i th t he a s sum pt ion t ha t i t is im poss ib l e t oknow inst inc t ive ly the s imil i tude of one l i te ra ry form to another ,

    pa r t i c u l a r ly whe n one ' s j udgm e n t i s be ing m a de so m a ny c e n tu r i e sa f te r the event . One needs to quest ion every te rm in the def ini t ionof the nove l as a longis h, f ic t ional nar ra t iv e in prose . 2 Why doe sthe precursor have to be f ic t iona l? Why in prose? Why long? Beyon d this , the formal and cul tura l charac te r is t ics of the rom ancem us t be c ons ide r e d t o s e e whe the r t he r e i s a ny v i r tua l c o r r e spondence be tween i t and the la te r nove l . Do nove l and romance sharesimila r func t ions formally and cul tura l ly? Do they address s imila raudiences? Are the ir ideologica l goa ls a l ike?

    Th e roma nce seems so ut te r ly unl ike the nove l as to be unre la ted. This be l ie f does not imply tha t romances and nove ls a reherme tica l ly sea led in isola ted com par tm ents , forever divergent .N o dou b t r e a de r s a nd wr i t e r s we r e e xposed t o bo th f o rm s , a nde c hoe s o f one f o r m m ig h t ha ve r e bounde d o ff t he o the r . H owe v e r ,because a modern reader might , for example , read both Newsweeka nd Ulysses does not mean tha t we a re dea l ing with homo logou snar ra t ive forms. There a re no easy answers to the quest ion of whichforms a re ac tua l ly par t of the same discourse as the nove l , but thequest ion of inf luence needs to be t rea ted war i ly . The or igin of themotion pic ture could not have been t rea ted as cava l ie r ly as tha t ofthe nove l has been. While the proximity of the his tor ica l event ofc inema adds to the complexi ty of the problem, one could not havef la t ly s ta ted tha t the c inem a was descend ed f rom drama , phot ogr a phy , o r t he novelnor could i t be said tha t c inema is made u pof a l i t t le bi t of each. The added complexi ty of the invent ion andpa t e n t ing o f t he t e c hno logy in t e r c e de s be twe e n que s t i on a nd a n swer here in a unique way, but the point is tha t a casua l ly uncriticalanswer , such as has been hypothesized for the nove l ' s or igin , wouldnever be tole ra ted. Genres a re t roublesome c rea tures and needmuch more than bir th ce r t i f ica tes to c lea r up quest ions about missing p r oge n i to r s a nd p r ob l e m a t i c o r ig in s .

    T H E R O M A N C E : L I M I N A L I T Y A N D I N F L U E N C E 7T h e first thing we should reca l l about romance is tha t i t was

    a form which began with a backward glance by assoc ia t ing i tse l fwith a c lass ica l t radi t ion. Th e te rm roma nce is def ined by theOxford English Dictionary as der ived f rom, or repres ent in g, the oldR om a n tongue , de sc e nde d f r om L a t in . A l so c om pose d in , u s ing ,e tc . , a vernacula r tongue of La t in or igin . * In this sense , the romance was assoc ia ted, a t leas t l inguis t ica l ly , wi th Rome. This backwa r d g l a nc e wa s a c knowle dge d a nd c on t inue d th r ou gh suc h wr i t e r sas D'Urfe, S c ude r y , a n d La C a lp r e ne de who sa w in r om a nc e am y th i c ge ne a logy a nd filiation tha t led direc t ly back to the Greeksby wa y o f t he R om a ns a nd the m e d ie va l ba r ds . The we igh t o f t hepast lay heavi ly on these par t icula r works not only in an ideologica lsense but in a s t ruc tura l one as wel l . Mile, d e Scudery wr i tes inthe pre face to Ibrahim (1641) of her debt to the Greeks , he r f i r s tmas te rs , and says tha t she bases her theory of wr i t in g on the Gree kmod el for the epic wh ich she ca l ls famous roma nces of ant i qui ty . 3Because of the tendency of romance wr i te r s to see themse lves asim i t a t i ng t he Gr e e ks , t he y be ga n the i r wor ks in medias res, hadprotagonis ts who were mil i ta ry heroes , pre fe rably who had l ivedin the dis tant past , were a lways noble , whose mil i ta ry and chaste lyamatory t r iumphs se rved to upl i f t and uphold the soc ie ty of whichthe y we r e t he h ighe s t r e p r e se n t a t i ve s . 4 T he f unc t ion o f suc h w or kswa s , a c c o r d ing t o No r th r op F r ye , t o c e l e b r a t e ar i s t oc r a ti c r u l e ,idea l ize power , t radi t ion, and s tabi l i ty . 5

    T he read ers for these romance s , as is c lea r , were pr im ar i lywea l thy and a r is tocra t ic . O ne w ould hav e had to have a good d ea lo f t im e a nd m on e y to bu y a nd r e a d t h i r t y vo lum e s o f Clelie. Atypica l f ront ispiece to a romance might indica te the projec ted audience for these wo rks . W e see a gro up of a r is tocra ts in a l l the ire legance l is tening to the s tory read by a s ingle , sea ted reader whose* It is also important to point out here that the French word romancan be translated aseither romance or novel aconfusing inconveniencegivenour interestindistinguishingthe two. The wordnouvelleorbistoiretends to be used in the latter half oftheseventeenthcentury to distinguish a shorter, simpler type of narrative. Histoire,of course, can meaneither story orhistoryanotherlinguistic inconvenience that leads us to wonder if thesecrossovers might reflectsomekind of uncertainty inthegrand categories of fiction, histo ry,and journalism in France as well as England.

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    28 T H E R O M A N C E : L I M I N A L I T Y A N D I N F L U E N C E T H E R O M A N C E : L I M I N A L I T Y A N D I N F L U E N C E 2 9ba c k i s tu rne d to the v ie we r ( se e Figure 2.1).6 T h e p i c t u r e i s i n te r e s t in g no t on ly fo r i t s i l lus t r a t ion o f soc ia l c la ss a nd se t t in g (onenote s the jux ta pos i t ion o f Gre c ia n a r c h i te c tu re a nd pa s to ra l bu troya l ga rde ns) , bu t be c a use i t e mbodie s v isua l ly the e sse nc e o froma nc e r e a d ing . The so l i ta ry r e a de r ( a nd he re one r e c a l l s Ce r va n te s ' ope n ing sa lu ta t ion to the id le r e a de r o r , a s Hu e t pu ts i t ,t h e honnetes paresseux ), wi th he r ba c k to the obse rve r i s se a le d o f fin he r wor ld o f f a n ta sy . Roma nc e i s the c on t r a ry o f the o rd ina rywor ld , ma king poss ib le the ide a l iz e d v is ion . Ye t , e ve n se a le d o f f ,the r e a de r s t i l l f a c e s the a sse mble d l i s te ne r s who c on te x tua l iz e theso l i ta ry qua l i ty o f r e a d ing by p rov id ing the c la ss ne xus tha t r a t i f ie sthe e l i te v is ion o f the roma nc e .

    I f the we igh t o f the pa s t hung he a v i ly on the roma nc e , c e r ta inthe or ie s a nd c onve n t ions o f roma nc e -wr i t ing on ly a dde d to tha twe igh t . Be c a use the roma nc e wa s a fo rm whic h la c ke d a c la ss ic a lbody of ru le s (Ar is to t le ne ve r de sc r ibe d roma nc e ) , muc h a c t iv i tywa s de vo te d to de ve lop ing the or ie s a nd spe c u la t ions a bout the na tu re o f th is fo rm dur ing the se ve n te e n th c e n tury in Fra nc e . Be c a usei t wa s c ons ide re d a n ine xc usa b le v ic e in the ne oc la ss ic a l wor ldto be wi thou t Gre c o-Roma n mode ls , the ru le s o f the e p ic we rea dopte d whole sa le to the roma nc e , a s we ha ve se e n .7 In a dd i t ionto the se ru le s , the roma nc e r s a dde d or c od i f ie d a the ory o f wr i t ingtha t a mounte d to a se t o f ru le s fo r wr i t ing roma nc e s , a nd the ye xpl ic a te d the se in the i r p r e fa c e s . The f i r s t r u le ma y be c a l le d tha tofvraisemblanceo r r e s e m b l a n c e . Mile. Sc ude ry e nunc ia te d th is ru lein her preface to Ibrahim:

    . . . to give a more true resemblance to things, I have made thefoundations of my work historical, my principal personages such asare marked out in the true history for illustrious persons, and thebattles effective. This is the way doubtless, whereby one may arriveat one's end; for when as falsehood and truth are confounded by adextrous hand, wit hath much ado to disentangle them, and is noteasily carried to destroy that which pleaseth it.T h e r u leof vraisemblance de m a nd s tha t thoug h the work i s a f ic t iona lone , the a c tua l founda t ions fo r the work shou ld be t rue a nd thec ha ra c te r s shou ld c onform to h is to r ic a l r e a l i ty , though the i r e xp lo i t s FIGURE 2.1

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    m a y be m a de up . As S c ude r y wr o t e i n Artamene (1649-1653):The hero you are about to see is not one of those imaginary heroeswho are nothing but the beautiful dream of a solitary man who hasnever been in the essence of things. He is an actual hero, but oneof the most illustrious whose memory has been preserved byhis tory.9

    There is a grea t emphasis placed on te l l ing the s tory in a quasi-his tor ica l way so as to a r r ive a t a kind of nar ra t ion which car r iessome of the author i ty of his tory but none of the fac tua l i ty . We a rein a grey a rea of ver i ty wh ich one wr i t e r ca l led tha t his tor ica l wayof poe t ic iz ing or poe t ica l way of his tor ic iz ing, or displaying in thefe igned seeming, unfe igned adventures and ac t ions . 1 0 This bi t ofdouble - ta lk ac tua l ly re f lec ts the massive confusion tha t was beginning as wr i te r s a t tempted to c rea te a discourse tha t could bear theweight of ver i ty . I t i s c lea r tha t here the his tor ic iz ing comes insecond to the poe t ic iz ing. La Ca lprene de implied as muc h w henhe wrote tha t his wr i t ings were 'unassa i lable his tor ica l ly as long asno t c on t r a d i c t e d by h i s to r y .

    Th i s t he o r y o f vraisemblance, i t i s impor tant to note , is ha rdlya theory of formal rea l ism , and is s imply a way of saying th a t forac t ions to appear c redible they cannot be tota l ly invented. Thepure ly f ic t iona l had not a t ta ined a t th is point any legi t imacy andwas genera l ly seen as nothing more than mere l ies . Char les Sorelin D e la conna issance des bons livres (1671) expressed his scorn forpu r e ly i nv e n te d w or ks i n a d i s c us s ion c om pa r ing t he pu r e ly fict iona l with the quasi-his tor ica l :

    Is it not like comparing a monkey with a man? What satisfactioncan we hope from a tale that being purely fictional gives us noassurance at all that the events that it reports accord with the lawsof sovereign prud ence . . . because that which is imaginary andcontrived for pleasure has absolutely no force indiscourse.12

    I am int eres ted b y the fact tha t Sorel f inds th e idea of a pu re fictionra th er biza r re . On e might conjec tu re tha t the normal s ta te of a f fa ir sfor wr i te r s was to wr i te someth ing tha t was ne i ther f irmly o ne or

    T H E R O M A N C E : L I M I N A L I T Y A N D I N F L U E N C E 31the other . The s ta te of ambiva lence I have been suggest ing seemsto have const i tuted a kind of norm in readin g nar ra t ive , and nar ra t ive as such seems to have been indif fe rent in some way to theextrem es of fac t and f ic t ion, p re fe r r ing to res t in the grey a reabe twe e n . Th i s d i s t i nc t i on ho ld s t r ue f o r Eng l ish p r ose na r r a t i ve s ,as wil l be seen. Mile, de Scu dery fol lows this l ine of reasoningwh en she charac te r izes her work as mor e than a fable bu t not ahis to ry, and i t i s eno ugh th a t he wh o wrot e i t a l l ies the work tovraisemblance wi th ou t a lwa ys l i nk ing i t t ot ru th . ,? Scudery's no t ionof his tory is heavi ly inf luenced by tha t of the Greeks, but she a lsor e c ogn iz e s t ha t suc h h i s to r i a ns t he m se lve s ha ve p r ob l e m a t i c c on c e p tua l i z a t i ons o f h i s to r y . S he no t e s t ha t He r odo tus m e n t ions h i s tor ica l events tha t Xenophon does not and vice versa , tha t theycon tradi c t each oth er , and so she has dec ide d to fol low some timesone and so metim es the other accord ing to who is mo re or lessapp ropr ia te to my design . . . [ and severa l t imes fol lowing th e irexample] . I say tha t which ne i ther of them has sa id , because , a f te ra l l , I am invent ing a fable and not wr i t ing a history.' 4 The r e a r esevera l th ings one might note about th is se r ies of s ta tements . F ir s t ,Scu dery ne ver denies tha t she is wr i t ing f ic t ion. She begins w iththe unde r s t a nd ing t ha t he r wor k i s fablenot h i s to r y . Thus , i nt e r m s o f t he p r e s t r uc tu r e o f t he wor k , t he doc um e n t she p r e se n t sis not f ram ed in any sense of the wor d. S he is not c rea t ing afabr ica t ion when she says tha t her hero is real-^-since the ac tua lpe r son C yr us d id i n f a c t l i ve , e ve n t hough S c ude r y i nve n t s m uc hof his l i fe and thoughts . The main func t ion of the his tor ica l under pin nin g is to def ic t iona l ize the work to an acceptable thresho ldo f c re d ib i l i t y . S e c o nd , Scudery's model for historicity is itself ahighly f ic t iona l ized one based on the ec lec t ic and eccentr ic methodso f He r o do tu s , Xe n opho n , Thu c yd i de s , a nd o the r c l as s ic a l h i s to r ians . I t was not unt i l Bayle's in s i s t e nc e on doc um e n ta t i on a nd theuse of pr imary sources in the la t te r par t of the seventeenth centurytha t French his tor ians could be sa id to be s t r ic t ly fac tua l in the irw r i t i n g s . ' 5 With such models , Scudery fee ls f ree s imply to f i l l ina l l the blank spaces le ft by wha t the his tor i ans did not say. T hi rd ,

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    Sc ude ry p la c e s he r c ha ra c te r s in the d is ta n t pa s t be c a use tha t i swhe re the re i s the g re a te s t room for inve n t ion . One shou ld no tc hoose a c e n tu ry so d is ta n t tha t a lmo s t no th ing in pa r t ic u la r i skno wn a bou t i t , nor so c lose tha t a ll tha t ha s ha pp e ne d i s too we l l -known; e nough to suppose e ve n ts tha t a n h is to r ia n c ou ld ha ve l ike lybe e n ignora n t o f a nd shou ld no t e ve n ha ve told. ' 6 So the c la ss ic a lpa s t c a n be sa id to be the ide a l p la c e to se t the a c t ion o f a roma nc e .I ron ic a l ly , to se t a work in the p re se n t o r r e c e n t pa s t would beinvraisemblable s i n c e , g i v e n t h e a s s u m p t i o n s o f t h e r o m a n c e w r i t e r s ,i t would be unre a l i s t ic to suppose tha t a he ro o f the p re se n t wouldh a v e b e e n u n k n o w n o r t h a t h i s o r h e r e v e r y d e e d s h o u l d h a v er e m a i n e d u n r e c o r d e d e x c e p t b y t h e r o m a n c e r s .

    O b v i o u s l y , t h i s v a r i e t y o f vraisemblance is to ta l ly un l ike ther e a l i s m o f D e f o e , R i c h a r d s o n , o r F i e l d i n g . T h e r o m a n c e r s d e f i n e dthe i r ve r i s imi l i tude a s l imi te d to the jus t p la c e me nt o f p ro ta gonis t sin the d im pa s t o f c la ss ic a l historyafter w h i c h , w i t h i n t h e l i m i t sof p la us ib i l i ty , th e p ro ta gon is t c ou ld go o f f w in n ing he a r t s a nds l a y i n g e n e m i e s i n t h e m o s t u n r e a l i s t i c o f w a y s . T h e a u t h o r ' s c o m m i t m e n t w a s t o p s e u d o h i s to r i c a l a c c u r a c y , b u t n o t t o a c c u r a c y o fa c t i o n , t h o u g h t , a n d s o o n .

    T h e o t h e r c e n t r a l r u l e o f romancethat of bienseanceaddsf u r t h e r t o t h e d i s t a n c e b e t w e e n n o v e l s a n d r o m a n c e s . T h e d e m a n dfo r bienseance,o r d e c o r u m , i s o n e t h a t i n s i s ts n o v u l g a r m a n n e r s b ed e p i c t e d i n t h e n a r r a t i v e , t h a t v i r t u e a l w a y s b e r e w a r d e d , a n d t h a tin ge ne ra l the more s a nd c us toms of the pe r iod in whic h the s to ryt a k e s p l a c e b e c h a n g e d a n d a d a p t e d t o t h e c u r r e n t c o n v e n t i o n s o fgood ma nne r s . I n the c a se o f s to r ie s se t in Rome , Pe r s ia , o r Gre e c e ,th is would me a n tha t va r ious fo rms of e xc e ss , pa r t ic u la r ly se xua lo n e s , c o u l d n o t b e a l l o w e d t o a p p e a r i n r o m a n c e . '7 T h o u g h t h eru le s o f vraisemblance a n d bienseancese e m a t f i r st to opp ose e a c hotheron the one ha nd a de m a nd fo r h is to r ic a l founda t ions a ndon the o the r fo r a h is to r ic a l mora l censorshipin re a l i ty the y goh a n d i n h a n d w i t h i n t h e l i m i t s o f t h e r o m a n c e . Vraisemblancere a l lyimpl ie s no t h is to r ic a l f ide l i ty o r r e a l i sm, bu t a c tua l ly wha t onemi ght c a l l mo ra l ve r i s imi l i tude ; tha t is to sa y , a n a u th or shou ld

    T H E R O M A N C E : L I M I N A L I T Y A N D I N F L U E N C Ede pic t the w or ld n o t a s i t i s ( o r wa s) bu t a s i t shou ld ha ve b e e n .T h u s avraisemblable d e p i c t i o n o f C y r u s w o u l d h a v e h i m b e h a v e t h ew a y a c h a s t e , i d e a l r o m a n c e h e r o s h o u l d , w h e t h e r o r n o t h e e v e rd id so .

    In Fra nc e , the wr i te r s who f e l t c ons t r ic te d by thevraisemblance/bienseancer u l e w r o t e w o r k s c a l l e d , a m o n g o t h e r t h i n g s , nouvelles.F o r e x a m p l e , D o n n e a u d e V i s e w r o t e i n 1669:

    I have no doubt that some unbelievable things will be found in myNouvelles; but the reader will please notice that I am not a poet inthis work, but an histor ian. The poet must stick to vraisemblance,and correct truth that is not believable . The histor ian, on the contrary, must write nothing that is not true; and provided that he issure of telling the truth, he need not have a concern forvraisemblance.'T h e t h e o r e t i c a l d i f fe r e n c e b e t w e e n t h i s n e w p o i n t o f v i e w a n d t h a to f t h e o l d e r r o m a n c e r ' s i s v e r y i m p o r t a n t . T h e w r i t e r of nouvellessa w h imse l f a s p r im a r i ly a n h is to r ia n a nd no t a poe t . W h i le th ep o e t w a s b o u n d t ovraisemblance, the h is to r ia n wa s bound to f a c ts ,a nd so vraisemblance wa s se e n no t a s a te c hn ique o f r e a l i sm bu t a sa c e nsor ing de v ic e whic h s ta nds in oppos i t ion to f a c tua l i ty a ndt r u t h f u l n e s s . T h e r o m a n c e r ' s v i e w o f t h e w o r l d i s t h u s b a s e d o nthe e f f a c ing o f the o f f e nd ing o r nonc onforming f a c t o r e ve n t a ndt h e c r e a t i o n o f t h e i d e a l , t h e p a r a d i g m a t i c , t h e t r a d i t i o n a l . T h ewr i te r o f nove ls , on the o the r ha nd , se e s na r r a t ive a s more o r ie n te dto the spe c i f ic , the pa r t ic u la r , the e c c e n t r ic , the f a c tua l . I n th iss e n s e , w e m u s t s a y t h a t t h e f o r m o f r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n t h e r o m a n c ewa s qua l i ta t ive ly d i f f e r e n t f rom tha t o f the nove l , a nd a s suc h c a nha rd ly be sa id to be homologous .

    O n e c o u l d s a y t h a t w r i t e r sofnouvellesi n F r a n c e s a w t h e m s e l v e sa s e mba rk ing on a n e n t i r e ly ne w form of wr i t ing in the la s t qua r te ro f t h e s e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y .'9 T h e w o r d nouvelle a t th i s t ime se rve da s a s ign i f ie r o f th is rup t ure . Th e r e i s , a s usua l , a p rob le m int e r m i n o l o g y h e r e : t h e w o r d nouvelle doe s no t s imply t r a ns la te a s

    novel s inc e aroman c ou ld be a nove l a s we l l . Eng l i sh Showa l te r ,f o r e x a m p l e , m a i n t a i n s t h a t t h e romans, t h e nouvelles t h ebistoires,th ememoires, w h e t h e r historique galantes o r veritable we re v i r tua l ly

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    i nd i s t i ngu i sha b l e f r om e a c h o the r . 20 How eve r , i t i s remark abletha t though the content of the nove ls themse lves may have dif fe redl i t t le f rom romances , the prestruc tures of these works make ra thers t r ong d i s t i nc t i ons be twe e n nove l s a nd r om a nc e s . F o r e xa m ple ,J e a n Regnould de Segra is wr i tes inLes Nouvelles Frangoises(1656):. . . we have tried to recount things as they are and not as theyshould be: moreover it seems to me the difference between theromance and the novel is that the romance writes these things asbienseancerequires and in the m anner of the poet, wh ereas the novelmust partake more of history and strives more to give images ofthings as we ordinarily see them than as our imagination mightpicture them.21Segra is re inforces the ea r l ie r s ta tement of Vise , and one has a senseo f a c onse nsus a m ong the se ne w w r i t e r s wh ic h be c om e s a p pa r e n tin ce r ta in repea te d and re inforced p hrases tha t seem to add up toa consen sua l , col lec t ive manifes to aga inst the romance . Inde ed, t hevery exis tence of theantiromance as a form, as early as Don Quixotein Spa in and Le BergerExtravagant (1628)b y Sorel in France shouldindica te tha t many readers and wr i te r s were ac t ive ly sounding thedea t h kne l l for the roman ce as a form. In France , the works ofF u r e t i e r e , S c a r r on , S ub l igny , a nd o the r s i n t he m id - c e n tu r y a c t i ve ly rode t he w a ve o f a n t i r om a n c e s e n t im e n t , a s d id m a n y writersi n Eng la nd .

    Ano the r im p or t a n t d i s c r im ina n t be tw e e n ge n r e s i s t ha t t henove l takes place in a more recent t ime se t t ing than the dis tant pasto f t he r om a nc e . On e s tudy po in t s ou t t ha t a ft e r 1660, wr i te r s beganto se t the ir s tor ies in more and more recent epochs so tha t a round1670 works genera l ly were placed dur ing the I ta l ian wars; by 1690in the epoch of Louis XII I and the Fronde ; and a f te r 1670 onebegan to see ac t ion in the immedia te past . 22 As we have seen, thethe o r y o f r om a nc e de m a nds t he d i s t a n t s e t t i ng , bu t t he wor d nou-velle ( to be discussed fur the r in ch apte r 3) poin ts to a kind of re -centness or famil ia r i ty . Char les Sore l in 1664d i s t i ngu i she d be twe e nthe two f o r m s s a y ing t ha t nove l s r e c oun t t h ings r e c en t ly oc c u r r e d ,otherwise there would be no reason for ca l l ing them novels. 23 T h i s

    T H E R O M A N C E : L IM I N A L I T Y A N D I N F L U E N C E 35emphasis on recentness is one of the charac te r is t ics of the nove lwh ich ten ds mo re towar d a repo r t on the wor ld as i t i s than are f lec t ion on the way things were .

    P e r ha ps we c a n s a y t ha t one o f t he p r im a r y d i s t i nc t i ons be twe en roma nce and nove l is tha t rom ances ins is t on the ac tua lexis tence of the ir protagonis ts in his tory while admit t ing tha t the irs tory is invented, whi le nove ls asse r t tha t the ir s tor ies a re fac tua l ,a l though in rea l i ty the ir protagonis ts have no his tor ica l exis tence .Because nove l is ts den y tha t the y a re c rea t in g an i l lus ion, they a ref requent ly forced into the posi t ion of c la iming tha t they a re onlye d i to r t o som e f ound doc um e n t . T h i s a c t o f a u tho r i a l d i s a vowa lhe lps es tabl ish the r im of the prestruc ture which makes the nove la f ramed nar ra t iv e , as oppo sed to the roma nce . Mile, de S c ude r y ,aware of th is convent ion of the nove l , mocks the reader who wil lnot accept her pseudohis to r ica l romanc e , saying: I f th is reasondoes not ful ly sa t isfy the sc rupulous, they have only to imaginet o pu t t he i r m inds a t restthat my work is taken f rom an oldGr e e k m a n usc r ip t i n t he Va t i c a n Librarybut one so prec ious andrare tha t i t has never been pr inted and never wil l be . 24 W h a tS c ude r y u se s a s a joke , howe ve r , be c om e s ove r t he ne x t hun d r e dyears the ins is tent convent ion of the nove l . I saac Claude , for examp le , wr i t es in his pre face to a nove l , He re is a t rue s tory[histoire]tha t I g ive you u nd er the guise of a nov e l . An d by 1731, the AbbeTe r r a s s on c ou ld r e wr i t e t he j oke o f S c ude r y ' s w i tho u t t he p r e t e nseof humor in his t i t le page ofSethoswh ich read His tory of l ife takenf rom pr iva te memoirs of anc ient Egypt t ransla ted f rom a Greekm a n u s c r i p t . 2 5 And in the same year , Abbe Prevost wrote of hisnove l Cleveland tha t i t was not f ic t iona l :

    The history of M. Cleveland came to me from a good source. Ireceived it from his son. . . . He had read my memoires, and thatwas the strongest reason that he brought it to me to speak of hisfather. . . . He permitted me to take a copy of his manuscript, andhaving brough t it to France on my return , I made it one of the mostimportan t occupations of my spare time in order to give it the formunder which it is able to appear today. 26

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    Af te r 1710 the r e wa s a ge ne ra l te n de n c y fo r Fre nc h nove l i s t st o c l a i m t h a t t h e i r w o r k s w e r e t r u e .2 7 T h e i n s i s t e n c e t h a t t h e i rw o r k s w e r e t r u e t e n d e d t o s e p a r a t e a n d d r a w g e n e r i c l i n e s b e t w e e nthe roma nc e r s a nd the nove l i s t s , e spe c ia l ly in the minds o f thel a t t e r . W h i l e r o m a n c e w a s p r e s e n t e d a s u n f r a m e d i n v e n t i o nfounde d on qua s i -h is to r ic a l ma te r ia l , the nove l wa s p re se n te d a sa n a m b i g u o u s forma factual f ic tion wh ich denie d its f ic tionalitya n d p r o d u c e d i n it s re a d e r s a c h a r a c te r i s t i c u n c e r t a i n t y o r a m b i v a l e n c e a s t o w h e t h e r t h e y w e r e r e a d i n g s o m e t h i n g t r u e o r f a l s e .

    T h i s a m b i v a l e n c e o r c o n f u s i o n c e r t a i n l y m a r k e d t h e r e a c t i o n so f m a n y F r e n c h r e a d e r s . Bayle in h is Dictionary no te d tha t i t wa sbe c a u se o f th is c onfus ion be twe e n f ac t a nd f ic t ion in na r r a t ive onedoe s no t da re be l ie ve tha t whi c h i s a t ba se be l ie v a b le . Ba y le goe son to sa y tha t one ha s no o the r wa y of d isc e rn ing be tw e e n f ic t iona n d t r u e f a c t s e x c e p t b y k n o w i n g f r o m o t h e r b o o k s w h e t h e r t h a tw h i c h i s n a r r a t e d i s t r u e . 2 8 Ba yle se e ms to be e xpre ss ing a ge ne ra lc u l t u r a l problemhow to c r e a te a ve ra c ious na r r a t iv e whe n thev e r y c o n d i t i o n s o f n a r r a t i v e w e r e p u t i n t o j e o p a r d y . T h e h e l p l e s s ne ss o f Ba y le ' s solutionto look in a no the r bookis f o u n d e d o nta u to l ogy , s inc e f a ke d h is to r ie s te nd to de s t r oy a ny c r e d ib i l i ty p r in tma y ha ve ha d in the f ir st p la c e ( se e c ha p te r 9 ) . Sorelm a k e s p r e c i s e l ythe sa me po in t : . . . the f e igne d a c t ion whic h one in t rod uc e s [ in toth e work] a long wi th the t rue one s wi l l c a use the o the r s to besuspe c te d o f dup l ic i ty , ju s t a s whe n one f inds a f a l se pa r t in impor ta n t bus ine ss , a l l the r e s t i s pu t in doubt . 2 9 For th is r e a son ,S o r e l w a s o p p o s e d t o h a v i n g t h e u n e d u c a t e d r e a d n o v e l s s i n c e t h e ymight mis ta ke f ic t ion fo r h is to ry .

    W ha t se e me d to be s ign i f ic a n t fo r Fre nc h soc ie ty a t the e ndo f t h e s e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y w a s t h a t r e a d e r s w e r e e x p e r i e n c i n g c o n s ide ra b le d i f f ic u l ty a nd f rus t r a t ion in t ry ing to te l l whe the r then a r r a t i v e s t h a t t h e y w e r e r e a d i n g w e r e t r u e o r n o t . B a y l e n o t e s t h a tt h i s i n c o n v e n i e n c e g r o w s m o r e f r e q u e n t w i t h t h e a p p e a r a n c e o fles a m our s se c re t te s , l ' h i s to i r e se c re t te , a nd so he sugge s ts tha t

    the a u thor i t ie s a c tua l ly pa ss a la w r e qu i r ing wr i te r s to na r r a te e i th e rpu re h is to ry o r pure f ic t ion , o r tha t a t le a s t the y [ the se la ws] c a n

    T H E R O M A N C E : L I M I N A L I T Y A N D I N F L U E N C E 7se rve a s a hook to se pa ra te one f rom the o the r , t r u th f rom fa lse h o o d . 3 0 Ba yle ' s c a l l f o r a n in te rve n t ion by the s ta te in the a f f a i r sof f ic t ion fo re sha dows t he c e nsor sh ip o f nove ls dur ing the e ig h t e e n th c e n tury in Fra nc e , a s we l l a s the use o f the l ibe l la ws inE n g l a n d t o i n h i b i t w h a t c o u l d b e p r i n t e d . T h e d e s i r e e x p r e s s e d b yBa yle to ha ve the de f in i t ions o f f a c tua l a nd f ic t iona l n a r r a t ive sne a te ne d up a b i t wa s no t , i t would se e m, a typ ic a l o f the wishe sof the a ge . Bour sa u l t in h is in t roduc t ion to thePrincedeConde(1675)e nforc e s Ba y le ' s c a l l by wa rn ing in a dva nc e tha t he wi l l de a l t r u th fu l ly wi th the e ve n ts o f wa r de sc r ibe d in h is book bu t w i l l bei n v e n t i n g h i s s t o r y a t th o s e m o m e n t s w h e n h e d e s c r i b e s m a t t e r sof love.3 ' B our sa u l t ' s so lu t ion to the p rob le m is a programatic o n e ,a r t i f ic ia l ly la be l ing tha t pa r t o f the s to ry wh ic h i s t r ue a n d th a twhic h i s f a l se , ye t i t se rve s i t s purpose .

    At s ta ke wa s the c a pa b i l i ty o f na r r a t ive to c a r ry the burde nof f a c tua l i ty a nd r e l ia b i l i ty . Re a de r s we re c onf ron te d b y , in e f f e c t ,a s p e c i e s o f u n c e r t a i n t y o v e r t h e c o n v e n t i o n s o f n a r r a t i v e . O n ere su l t o f th is c onfus ion w a s tha t ne w de f in i t ions o f ge nr e s suc h a sh is to ry , journa l i s m, a nd f ic t ion w ould ha ve to be d ra wn . I t wa sBa yle h imse l f a t th i s t ime who wa s one o f the o r ig ina to r s in Fra nc eof the ide a tha t h is to ry would ha ve to c onf ine i t se l f to s t r ic t doc ume nta t ion , a nd so h is in te r e s t in the p rob le ms of f a c tua l a ndf ic t iona l na r r a t ive s in l i te r a tu re i s c ons ona n t w i th h is c on c e rn s fo rh i s t o r i c a l a c c u r a c y . E v e n A b b e P r e v o s t , w h o s e Cleveland, a s weha ve se e n , a t te m pte d to pa ss of f f ict ion a s f a c t , is no t e xe mp t f romthe ve ry c onfus ion he i s he lp ing to fos te r :

    One sees appearing these days many works that one does not knowin which rank to place them, and w hich have become problems fromthe f irst moment of their bir th. Is i t c lear ly decided, for example ,tha t The Turkish Spy th eMemoires ofRochefort, those of Pontis, e tc .must be ranked in the class of novels or in that of books of someauthority? 32P r e v o s t e x p r e s s e s t h e d i l e m m a f o r t h e readerintelligent, e d u c a t e d , o r notthat the re wa s no f ina l wa y of knowing whe the r apa r t ic u la r me moir , l i f e , o r h is to ry wa s t rue o r f a l se . Prevost's c o n -

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    fusion is not s t r ic t ly one of an inabi l i ty to say what const i tutestruthone is not speaking of epis temology herebut ra ther of aninabi l i ty to labe l discourse , to ident i fy genr e . I would n ot do ub ttha t th is problem is with us today to some degree , but wha t seemsapparent is tha t for the seventeenth and e ighteenth centur ies thei s sue wa s a ne w a nd po in t e d one . D i sc ou r se , du r ing t h i s pe r iod ,as I wi l l demonstra te , was shif t ing, rea r ranging i tse l f , and reac-com mo dat i ng the l ines of dif fe rence . Con sequ ent ly , o ld models andparadigms fa i led to apply, and Bayle as wel l as others were c lutching s t r a ws in t he w ind b y a sk ing fo r a pow e r t ha t wou ld de m a n dwri te r s c rea te only s tor ies of pure invent ion or , on the other hand,s tor ies only of pure fac t .

    In this conte xt , nove ls , wi th the ir f ramed prestru c ture s , w ereperce ived as dis t in c t ly unl ike the romances tha t preced ed th em .

    On e is as fa r as one can be f rom t he a i r of the rom ance in th esene w nove l s [rotnans] i s the way tha t Bay le put i t .3 3 Th e r e c u r r e n tc ode e m be d de d in t he nove l is t i c p r e s t r uc tu r e i s one o f r up tu r e w i ththe pa s t , w i th t he r om a nc e t r a d i t i on , w i th s to r i e s a bou t t he d i s t a n tpa s t . The wr i t e r s o f r om a nc e , howe ve r , a nd t he o r i s t s o f r om a nc el ike B i shop P i e r r e Da n ie l Hue t spe n t m uc h o f t he i r t im e t r y ing t oforge a conn ec t ion an d a legi t imacy be tw een t radi t iona l wr i t ing sa nd the r om a nc e f o r m s . Hu e t , i n h i s wor k Traiti de Vorigine desrotnans (1670), l inks the romance to Greek and Roman models aswel l as sho win g how these c lassica l forms passed thro ugh th e hand sof the Moors and pagans to a r r ive sa fe ly in Chr is t ian lands. 3 4 S uc ha dif fe rence in or ienta t ion, in under lying assumptions , and in re sul ts must point to the fac t tha t romance and nove l cannot be sa idto be par t of the same discourse .

    In a rguing for a sharp dis t inc t ion be tween romance and nove l ,I do not wish to imply tha t a l l l i te ra ture wil l then nea t ly fa l l one i ther s ide of these two poles . Some works wil l be easi ly def inedas roma nces , o t hers as nove ls , and others wil l res is t de f ini t ion. Th iss ta te of a f fa i r s should not surpr ise us s ince l i te ra ry s tudy is hardlya sc ience and, even within the sc ient i f ic community , taxonomyof ten fa i ls to f i t ce r ta in ambiguous organisms and e lementa ry par -

    T H E R O M A N C E : L I M I N A L I T Y A N D I N F L U E N C E 9tides. Works l ike those of Madame de Lafaye t te in La Princesse deMontpensier (1662) a n d La P rincesse de Cleves(1678) are great defiersof genre , usua l ly thrown up to the faces of l i te ra ry systematize rsin def iance of theory. These two nar ra t ives a re not as overblownand tenden t iou s as the heroic roman ces . Alth oug h the s tory is

    rom anti c , Ma dam e de Lafaye t te c la ims open ly to wr i t i ng f ic t ions,ye t these a re a lso ce r ta inly his tor ica l ly based. I f pressed for a def ini t ion of genre , I would a rgue for these works be ing nove ls , a l thou gh one could a lso say tha t her nove l was not a linea l descenda n t o f t he m id - se ve n te e n th c e n tu r y r om a nc e , bu t t he p r oduc t o fa parallel and sep arat e form of fiction, as on e wr ite r has pu t it. 3 5C ha r l e s Sorel in 1664 l is ted thePrincesse de Montpensier as a novela long with the works of Segra is , Scar ron, Boisrober t , Cervantes ,and Voiture , and I see no reason to deny his percept ion. 3 6 Sore l ' sc r i te r ia seem to have been tha t the events recounted had recent lyhap pen ed, tha t the who le s tory is ra ther shor t , and tha t the s tor iesa re t rue to some par t icula r human exper ience .

    One of the reasons Madame de Lafaye t te ' s works were seenas nove ls despi te the i r roman tic conte nt is tha t they a re , the ir c la im sto fictionality not withstanding, f ramed nar ra t ives , a l though thef raming is of a dif fe rent t ype t han w e have seen thus fa r . I t i s t ruetha t Madame de Lafaye t te wrote in the pre face to La Princesse deMontpensier tha t she wa s m e r e ly p r e se n t ing a n a dve n tu r e i nve n te da t wil l and not mak ing any a t te mp t to foist f ic tion as fac t .37 Yetbecause her work passed for a roman a clef de p ic t i ng t he a m a to r yadv ent ure s of hersel f and her lover, its adm issi on of fictionalityse r ve d a c tua l l y t he oppos i t e pu r pose . 3 8 In a quasi-a l legor ica l w orkof this na ture , as for example in the case of Gulliver's Travels theaut ho r 's insist ence on the fictionality of the work is onl y a covertins t ruc t ion to the reader to regard the work as be ing ac tua l ly fac tua l .A roman a clefis by def ini t ion f ramed; a t the leve l of nar ra t iv e thecha racte rs may be fictional, b ut on the allegorical level the ir action smust conform to some kind of t ruth . Thus based on the c r i te r iaof brevi ty of length, recentness , and f raming, the works of Madamede Lafaye t te seem to f i t in to the schematics of the nove l .

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    4 0 T H E R O M A N C E : L I M I N A L I T Y A N D I N F L U E N C E

    On e c ou ld l i s t c e r ta i n c ha ra c te r i s t ic d i ff e r e nc e s be tw e e n th en o v e l a n d r o m a n c e :i. Th e rom a nc e i s se t in the d is ta n t , ide a l iz e d pa s t ; the nove l i s

    se t in a more r e c e n t , l e ss he ro ic , se t t ing .2 . The roma nc e i s ba se d on the e p ic ; the nove l i s mode le d onh i s t o r y a n d j o u r n a l i s m .3. T h e r o m a n c e i s u s u a l ly n o t s e t i n t h e c o u n t r y o f t h e a u t h o r b u tin a r e mote a nd e xo t ic loc a t ion ; the nove l te nds to be se t in theloc a le o f the a u thor , tha t i s , the nove l te nds to be a na t iona lfo rm of l i te r a tu re .

    4 . The roma nc e de p ic ts the l i f e o f the a r i s toc ra c y a nd i s de s igne dfor a n uppe r - c la ss r e a de r ; the nove l te nds to be more midd lec la ss in sc ope a nd i s ge a re d to a s l igh t ly le ss a r i s toc ra t ic r e a de r sh ip , a l though th is s ta te me nt i s le ss t rue in Fra nc e o f thes e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h a n i n E n g l a n d .3 9

    5 . R om a nc e s te nd to be long a nd e p isod ic ; nove ls a r e shor te r a ndm o r e c o m p a c t o f plot.6 . Roma nc e s va lue the p re se rva t ion o f v i r tue a nd c ha s t i ty ; nove ls

    te nd to foc us on i l le ga l do ings a nd fo rb idde n pa ss ions .7 . N ove ls o f the e igh te e n th c e n tury te nd to be wr i t te n in the f i r stpe r son o r in le t te r fo rm; roma nc e s a r e ne ve r wr i t te n in the sef o r m s .4 08 . Roma nc e s ma ke c le a r tha t the y a r e mix ing f a c t a nd f ic t ion toc re a te a n e sse n t ia l ly f ic t iona l p lo t ; nove ls te nd to de ny tha t the yare fictional.

    9 . Roma nc e s fo l low the ru le s o f bienseance a n d vraisemblance; n o v e l i s t s ope n ly r e je c t the se ru le s s inc e the y c la im to be wr i t ingh is to ry o r r e c ord ing l i f e a s i t i s .

    W hi le th is l i s t i s a rb i t r a ry a nd s impl i f ie d , c a n we no t sa y tha t ,ba se d on the rough c u t o f the se obse rva t ions , we a r e c onf ron t ingtwo r a the r d i f f e r e n t fo rms of narrativeforms wi th a n t i the t ic a ls t r u c t u r e s , r e a d e r s , p r e s t r u c t u r e s , c h a r a c t e r s , p l o t s, a n d t r a d i t i o n s ?E v e n a h u n d r e d y e a r s a f te r t h e d e m i s e o f t h e h e r o i c ro m a n c e , C l a r a

    T H E R O M A N C E : L I M I N A L I T Y A N D I N F L U E N C E 41R e e v e in E n g l a n d c o u l d w r i t e w i t h a u t h o r i t y t h a t n o w r i t i n g s a r em o r e d i f f e re n t t h a n t h e a n c i e n t r o m a n c e s a n d t h e m o d e r n novel. 4 '

    The prob le m tha t f a c e s us in d isc uss ing the o r ig in o f a ge nreis one o f in f lue nc e . I f we c onf ine our se lve s to l i te r a ry e v id e nc e o rl i t e r a r y p r e c u r s o r s , w e m u s t i n e v i t a b l y w i n d u p w i t h e v o l u t i o n a r ytheoriestheories whic h the n mus t r e ly on the to ta l i ta r ia n log ictha t the nove l i s e i the r descendedfrom roma nc e o r i s a de l ibe ra ter e vo l t against r o m a n c e . T h i s are-you-still-beating-your-wife c o n s t ruc t ion fo rb ids a ny de v ia t ion f rom a sha re d se t o f a ssu mp t ionsa b o u t t h e n a t u r e o f l i t e r a r y c h a n g e .4 2 In de e d , i t is d i f f ic u l t to s te e rc le a r o f th is k ind o f log ic a l ne c e ss i ty , a nd y e t i t i s the a i m of th isbook to t ry a nd a vo id the p rob le ms of in f lue nc e , o r a t le a s t tomi t iga te the mos t ou t r a ge ous one s , by r e f e r r ing que s t ions o f in f lu e nc e ba c k to a soc ia l , c u l tu ra l , a nd te c hnolog ic a l groundthat is,t o a m o r e m a t e r i a l b a s e . T h i s g o a l c a n h a r d l y b e c a l l e d u n i q u e .N e v e r t h e l e s s , o n e w o u l d h o p e t h a t s u c h a p r o j e c t m i g h t s h e d s o m el i g h t o n t h i s p h a s e o f c u l t u r a l d e v e l o p m e n t . W h i l e I h a v e a r g u e dh e r e t h a t t h e r e w a s a p r o f o u n d r u p t u r e b e t w e e n n o v e l a n d r o m a n c e ,I do no t th ink we c a n use fu l ly se e th is d isc on t inu i ty s imply a s ar e a c t i o n a g a i n s t r o m a n c e . R a t h e r , t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e c o m p l e x i t y o fth is sh i f t we a r e fo rc e d to move to a n e xp la na t ion ou ts ide the pure lyl i te r a ry , a s the fo l lowing c ha p te r s w i l l a t te m pt to do .