The Novel Sequence

Bentley

Abstract

This chapter examines the novel sequence. The novel sequence has been an important part of British and Irish literary output in the period since 1940, with examples in all the major genres and modes of fiction. The post-Second World War period represents a revival of the novel sequence as a particularly appropriate literary form to assimilate the processes of historical duration. It is, however, nothing new, and most of its practitioners in the post-war period can be linked to specific precursors. In addition, the Victorian three-decker novel and the serialization of fiction in the literary magazines has had an influence on what we now recognize as the novel sequence. In fact, the idea of individual novels being part of a sequence goes back to the origins of the form in the eighteenth century.

Citation

Bentley. (2016). The Novel Sequence. In P. Boxall, & B. Cheyette (Eds.), The Oxford History of the Novel in English, Volume 7: British and Irish Fiction Since 1940 (258--271). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198749394.003.0017

• Publication Date: 2016-02
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 20, 2023
• Pages: 258--271
• Series Title: The Oxford History of the Novel in English
• Book Title: The Oxford History of the Novel in English, Volume 7: British and Irish Fiction Since 1940
• ISBN: 9780191869754
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198749394.003.0017
• Keywords: literary criticism, prose fiction, Britain, genre fiction, literary fiction, feminist fiction, class, gender, sexuality, the novel, authors, post-war culture
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/book/6633/chapter-abstract/150654905?redirectedFrom=fulltext