San Antonio College Library

The contributors challenge and refine the traditional view of the 18th century novel's origins and purposes, showing that the novel is defined primarily by the new ideological and cultural functions it serves in the emerging world of print culture.

This guide explores the dominant methodologies, theories and debates surrounding the emergence of the novel during the 18th-century. Covering key criticism on authors such as Defoe, Fielding, Richardson and Austen, the emphasis is on how critical work is interrelated, allowing readers to discern trends in the critical conversation.

Discusses Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, Tobias Smollett, Laurence Sterne, Oliver Goldsmith, Henry MacKenzie, Frances Burney, Samuel Johnson, William Beckford, Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliffe, Matthew Gregory Lewis, Robert Bage, Mary Wollstonecraft, Maria Edgeworth, Jane Austen, William Godwin, and Thomas Holcroft.