An antinovel is an experimental work of fiction that deliberately departs from the established conventions of the novel and establishes conventions of its own, typically through fragmented storytelling, non-chronological presentation of events, underdeveloped or unstable characters, unconventional syntax and vocabulary, and experimental formatting. The term entered modern literary discourse in 1948 when the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre coined anti-roman, although works with antinovel characteristics, such as Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy, predate the term by centuries; the form is most closely associated with the mid-twentieth-century French nouveau roman movement, and its defining self-reflective, anti-realistic gestures have, over time, themselves become conventions.
Facts
Place of OriginFrance; the term anti-roman was brought into modern literary discourse by French philosopher and critic Jean-Paul Sartre in his introduction to Nathalie Sarraute's 1948 work Portrait d'un inconnu. 1 Notable ExampleLaurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy is named as an example, a seemingly autobiographical novel that barely reaches the title character's birth thanks to numerous digressions and a rejection of linear chronology. 1 Defining TraitAny experimental work of fiction that avoids the familiar conventions of the novel and instead establishes its own conventions. 1 Connections
Associated With
Nouveau Roman, Movements Sartre coined anti-novel for this school in his preface to Sarraute's Portrait of a Man Unknown.
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: France, originated there.
Sources
1. Antinovel (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead paragraph
An antinovel is any experimental work of fiction that avoids the familiar conventions of the novel, and instead establishes its own conventions.
History section
One example is Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy, a seemingly autobiographical novel that barely makes it as far as the title character's birth thanks to numerous digressions and a rejection of linear chronology.
Origin of the term section
The term ("anti-roman" in French) was brought into modern literary discourse by the French philosopher and critic Jean-Paul Sartre in his introduction to Nathalie Sarraute's 1948 work Portrait d’un inconnu
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