As a relatively recent literary genre, the origin and parameters of the novel are yet to be specifically defined. This essay uses characteristics of early novels to attempt a definition for the novel based on its marks of realism and fictionality. Referencing the novelistic theories of Georg Lukács, Ian Watt,...
Thought to be one of the earliest novels written by an enslaved woman, The Bondwoman’s Narrative (c. 1853-61) has had many literary critics point to the various intertextual allusions that author, Hannah Crafts, incorporated in the novel. Scholarship has largely focused on how Crafts borrowed characters and passages directly from...