Aspects of the Ancient Romance and its Heritage

Abstract

It is probably fair to say that today in most Western European countries novels from the bulk of all published non-technical literature. As a narrative art form the novel has supplanted, if not eradicated the formal verse epic of extended length, and is now accepted with reasonable tolerance and grace at all levels of society, although intermittent rumbles of disapproval may still be heard, for example Collingwood's assertion that the novel "has all but disappeared except as an amusement for the semiliterate." However, the fact that novels are read as part of the curriculum in schools and universities suggests that this view is not widely held. Also, many critical works have been and continue to be written about the novel – its form, structure, narrative techniques, aims and history. Hence to the person who assumes that all the main literary genres of Europe are basically inherited from the ancients, it comes as something of a surprise to discover that the few ancient literary productions which may in the widest sense of the word be called novels at no stage closely resembled or attained the status of the modern novel. That the ancients never developed the romance (this is the more correct term for the ancient novel) beyond a rudimentary stage is often acknowledged, seldom explained, and yet sound reasons may be advanced to account for the failure of the ancient romance to emerge as a distinct and accepted form, written to satisfy popular demand.