INTRODUCTION
Prose fiction is a product of man’s imagination and literary creativity which took several centuries to develop to its present form. It started with the traditional story-telling, the epic through romance which is the first fictitious narrative in prose. The French romance influenced European writings for centuries as it brought to “… the English Novel the gift of sustained and complex form and architectonic beauty”(Ezeigbo 2). Apart from the contributions of the likes of Geoffrey Chaucer, Malory, Boccaccio and others who initiated and continued the tradition of fictional narrative either in verse or in prose, other influences flamed the embers of the narrative form to the present genre of prose fiction, especially the novel which is the most popular type.
The evolution of prose fiction required cheap carrier media. Unlike verse, prose can hardly be remembered with precision. Oral traditions had helped prose narrators with stock narrative patterns as employed in fairy tales with or without complex plot structures. However, these stories were not as long as prose fiction which needed a medium that would enable the storyteller tell the story correctly. It is important for us to draw a distinction between the narratives in oral traditions and the prose fiction. The oral narrative is rendered orally in a particular community. The Prose fiction we are discussing in this material, on the other hand, is expected to be read beyond the immediate environment of the author because they are written and printed so could be circulated to many places. Below are some of the factors that aided the rise and development of the new genre.
Availability of Paper
Before the 1450s volumes of verse epics were presented in parchment and their owners recited them on festive occasions. The parchment was too expensive to be used for stories that one would read for leisure but was prestigious. Consequently, only libraries and a few wealthy individuals could afford them. Later, in the course of the 14th and 15th centuries, prose legends became fashionable among the female urban elite who needed to read these books again and again for inspirational purposes so the need for mass production arose.
Fortunately, paper was introduced as a carrier medium and this accelerated the development of prose fiction because paper made the production of cheap books possible. Consequently, one could then buy a book exclusively for one’s private diversion to be read as many times as possible. This created an avenue for production of books in large quantity as the existence of paper in different formats and sizes aided the production of books which someone could carry about or kept to be read at ease privately at home or in public without the support of a table. It became fashionable as part of the early modern reading culture for people to read novels in coffee houses or on journeys. The reader who immerses him- or herself in the noveland wishes to stay undisturbed or to be disturbed only with a look at his or herreading is here an early modern precursor of the modern commuter reading a novel or putting on head phones with the intention to stay private in the public.
Literacy/The Reading Class
Literacy spread among the urban populations of Europe due to a number of factors: Women of wealthier households had learned to read in the 14th and 15th centuries and had become consumers of prose fiction. The Protestant Reformation enkindled propaganda and press wars that lasted into the 18th century so people followed the events by reading the articles. Consequently broadsheets and newspapers became the new media of public information. The early modern customers even learnt to read and write through these publications and writing skills spread among apprentices and women of the middle classes.
The personal letter became a favourite medium of communication among 17th-century men and women. Popular titles sold more as people bought them not necessarily because of the subject matter but “…because they were the books everyone had heard of, or books of an eternal value to be chosen if one was not too sure about one’s abilities to judge. The prefaces exploited these insecurities praising the solid value of the old and well known titles” (Woods et al 456).
Prose fiction became in this situation the medium of open secrets, rumours, private and public gossip, a private, unscientific and irrelevant reading matter, yet one of public relevance as one could openly see that the book one was reading had reached the public as part of a larger edition.
Whether in 11th-century Japan or 15th-century Europe, prose fiction tended to have developed intimate reading situations. Individualistic fashions, personal views, intimate feelings, secret anxieties, “conduct” and “gallantry” spread with novels and people wanted to be part of this new culture. Love became the typical field of experience that prose fiction explored. The reader is invited to personally identify with the novel’s characters and a large number of this reading public was more noticeable in the towns and cities where the literacy level has increased considerably.
Circulating Libraries
The establishment of circulating libraries in Britain in the 18th century also contributed to the development of prose fiction. Subscription rate was cheap and affordable and they stocked wide varieties of prose fiction. It is difficult for one to buy all the published works, so many people patronized the library. Also, some tradesmen, housewives, farmers, shopkeepers who could not afford to buy the books were opportuned to borrow them from the libraries thereby increasing the demand for prose fiction.
Leisure
Prose Fiction was no longer a predominantly aristocratic entertainment around 1700 in England. However printed books gained the power to reach readers of almost all classes, the reading habits differed as more people irrespective of class tried “to follow fashions” by reading more books. In France, their works taught new, on the surface freer, gallant exchange between the sexes as the essence of life at the French court. Aristocratic and bourgeois customers sought distinctly French authors to offer the authentic style of conversations in the 1660s.
Within this period in England, literature became the primary preoccupation of women. They participated fully in learning and reading because ”they have more spare time on their hands, and led a more sedentary life…” (Joseph Addison Guardian 1713. No 155 qouted in Obstfield). Women of the aristocratic and middle classes were left on their own most of the times because “most men led full and busy lives and were hardly at home for most of the day, weeks or even months depending on their profession” (Ezeigbo 5).As the women did not participate in their husbands’ leisure activities, they spent their time in reading voraciously for their own leisure. In addition, the affluent families had nannies, valets and servants who did all the household chores so the ladies and their daughters had time to read as many novels as possible.
The women of the lower class were not left out. After the industrial revolution, these women had more time for leisure because they now had access to factory-made goods like soaps, bread, cloth and other household goods which were previously produced manually by them. They therefore spent their leisure in reading literature to entertain themselves and since prose fiction is easier and simpler to read than poetry and drama, more novels and short stories were produced to cater for the interest of this reading public.
Shift in Reading Taste
In the medieval period, most literate people in Britain read the Bible and other devotional works at their leisure. The industrial revolution brought with it economic and social transformation as well as increase in secular interests and people combined their religious inclinations with secular tastes. Consequently more people devoted their leisure to reading literature instead of religious books and the writers continued with innovations as time went on to meet the changing tastes of the reading public. Readers of fiction were made to experience another life in an intimate privacy of fiction. Topical issues became the subject matter of fiction. For instance, Charles Dickens led the audience into contemporary British workhouses as his novels presented firsthand accounts of child labour and crime became a personal reality with Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment (Barnet et al 98).
The exploration of the individual’s perception eventually revolutionized the very modes of writing fiction. The potentially isolated hero that stood at the centre of romantic fictions since the Middle Ages gave way to the early novel(la) that placed the story itself at the centre: it was driven by plot, by incident and accident, rather than being the story of a single largerthan- life figure. However, the individual reappeared with characters like Robinson Crusoe, Moll Flanders, Pamela, and Clarissa that reintroduced the old romantic focus on the individual as the centre of what was to become the modern novel.
Other countries of the world produced their own fiction to reflect their socio-political issues and some longed for national literatures with novels as the “essential production that could link the present with the past” (Obstfeld 23). Africans were not left out as Chinua Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart as a reaction to his perceived wrong portraiture of Africans in earlier novels by foreigners.
The search for one’s personal style stood at the centre of the competition among authors, now that novelists had become publicly celebrated minds and contemporary novelists are stepping into new awareness, winning prestigious prizes and awards. They belong to various associations like the world association of writers P.E.N. Some of the authors are renowned both in their countries and abroad while the ‘exiled author’, who is celebrated by the international audience but is persecuted at home has become a common feature in contemporary times. The author that is seen as a keeper of his or her nation’s conscience is a new cultural icon of the age of globalization.
The thematic preoccupation of the 20thand 21st-century novelists have expanded to include personal anxieties, daydreams, magic, crime, class stratification, political/military confrontations and hallucinatory experiences and more. The term “Kafkaesque” has joined the term “Orwellian” in common parlance to refer not only to aspects of literature, but is used in the world to refer to situations similar to the ones portrayed by the novelist in their works. In all these, the writers strive to meet the reading taste of their readers.
Printing Press
The invention of printing immediately created a new market of comparatively cheap entertainment and knowledge – the market of chapbooks. The chapbooks presented a more elegant production which the 17th and 18thcentury authors propagated as the belleslettres. Later, it became the wider sphere in which the modern ensemble of “literary genres” of poetry and fiction gained greater cohesion in late 18th century. The belle lettres later gave way to the separation of the genres. The statistics of the genres printed showed that prose fiction was the highest. For instance, “The press output and the money made with fiction have risen disproportionately since the 18th century” (Barnet 132).
Literary Journals/Criticism
The reviewing of fiction changed the situation for the fictional work in the course of the 18th century. It created a public discussion about what people were actually reading in novels. It had at the same moment the potential to divide the market into a sphere to be discussed and a low production critics would only hint at. The subcultures of trivial fiction and of genres to be sold under the counter with pornography as its most influential field followed the arrival of literary criticism in the 1740s and 1750s. Literary criticism published in newspaper and literary journals helped to popularize or bring down works and this in turn influenced the circulation of such works.
Constructive criticism has not left the world of fiction since its introduction from the earliest times. In Britain, literary criticism was evident in new entertaining journals like The Spectator and The Tartler at the beginning of the 18th century. Other literary journals emerged in the middle of the century with the offer of new, scientific reviews of art and fiction. By the 1780s, critical public reception constituted a new marketing platform for fiction, and authors and publishers recognized it as such. One could write to satisfy the old market or one could address the authors of secondary criticism and gain an audience through their discussions. Later, prose fiction was introduced in the curricula of school and university education and this further boosted the production of prose fiction aided by the availability of the printing press. By the end of the 18th century, the public perception of the place of a particular novel was no longer supplied simply by social status and fashionable geographical provenance, but by critical media attention.
Colonial Influence (for African novel)
The African prose fiction emerged after the colonization of the continent. Colonial masters brought their education and many Africans became literate. They began to read what the foreigners wrote about Africa in the works they published which they felt presented the African in a very derogatory light. Consequently, these early educated Africans sought to correct the lopsided portraiture of the African by writing their own works in which they presented what they claim is the true picture of the African societies before the advent of colonialism. In addition the devastating effects of colonialism on Africa were also presented in those early works. Some of such works include CamaraLaye’sAfrican Child, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and FerdnandOyono’sThe Old Man and The Medal.
CONCLUSION
Prose fiction as a vibrant literary genre in its present form evolved over the centuries. It unfolds in a complex interaction between authors, their publishers, the reading public, literary criticism, and its inclusion in the curricula of schools. The latter provided through their branches of academic criticism many of the topics, the modes of discussion and to a good extent the experts themselves who teach and discuss literature in schools and in the media. Modern marketing of fiction reflects this complex interaction with awareness of the specific reverberations a new title must find in order to reach a wider audience.
In this article, we have discussed the factors that contributed to the development of prose fiction. It is clear that the age, culture and other socio-political issues are reflected in prose fiction. Good authors are celebrated with awards and prices and criticism can make or mar a prose fictional work. Authorstherefore strive for excellence through the improvement of their individual styles. This assures the acceptability and popularity of their works.
какие вопросы можно задать на расклад
таро на отношения читать молитву на продажу и торговлю гадание на частях тела
к чему сниться кровь чужая из носа молитвы для
кошек на здоровье
расчет дополнительного дохода гостиницы подработка счетчиком ревизором есть подработка для подростков работа не выходя из дома для подростков 14 лет
ақ қарым-қатынастар тарады, қарым-қатынас серігіне қол
тигізу: қол алысу, құшақтау, сүю легкая степень аутизма у взрослых, степени аутизма у детей банкетные залы астана на 150 человек, банкетные залы астана левый берег стол для компьютера, компьютерный стол зета
африкадағы ең терең көл, африкадағы ең ірі өзен қазанғап тілепбергенұлы, дәулеткерей шығайұлы за любовь скачать ремикс, давай топить за любовь speed
up скачать қазақстан республикасының саяси
жүйесі, қазақстан республикасының саяси
жүйесі 1991-2022
қазына көтерген бала әңгімесі кім туралы, қаныштың ұстазы кім кім
көп табады берілген сөздер, тұрақты тіркестер
мысалдар мағынасымен алимент мөлшерін азайту туралы талап арыз, алимент ондиру туралы арыз алаш-орда участники, алаш-орда кратко
последствия заказчика после приворота узнать судьбу по руке,
гадание по руке на ближайшее будущее сонник мышь поймать рукой
расклад крест стихий таро уэйта гороскоп дракон весы мужчина
Hi, after reading this amazing post i am as well cheerful to share my
knowledge here with friends.
комбинаторика задачи, как решать комбинаторные
задачи расписание автобусов экспресс, автовокзал сапар расписание ұжымдастыру саясатының салдары, ұжымдастыру қай жылы болды токтамыс семей, токтамыс_ ауылы
medicijnen zonder voorschrift in Rotterdam davur San Juan medicijnen te koop in Europa
жас кезеңдері презентация,
жасөспірімдердің психологиялық
ерекшеліктері презентация радиан арқылы
өрнектеу 600°, 135 210 радиан арқылы өрнектеңіз өсімдік бөліктерінің атауын жаз, жаңа өсімдік пайда болатын өсімдік бөлігі жауабы 54 автобус
астана где едет, маршрут 46 автобуса астана
comprimés pas de médecin Hersil Saint-Joseph Medikamente kaufen in Wien mit
Lieferung
Hi there every one, here every person is sharing these know-how, therefore it’s
good to read this web site, and I used to
visit this weblog everyday.
medicamentos disponible sin receta en Suiza Arena Albisola Marina médicaments
prix bon marché
Témoignages sur l’utilisation réussie du médicaments pylox Hörsching Bestel medicijnen zonder recept in Nederland
приснилось отдавать вещи во сне 27 июль знак зодиака, 27 июля знак зодиака
мужчина гексаграмма 50 нагайцева
к чему сниться большая грязная вода к чему снится розовый восход
farmacia en línea en España para el medicamentos
lek Roeselare farmaci con o senza prescrizione
medica
Acheter de la médicaments en ligne en toute sécurité
Marel Benelux Oudenburg Kauf von Medikamente ohne ärztliche Verschreibung
Some truly excellent posts on this web site, thanks for contribution.
Thank you for any other informative blog. Where else could I am getting
that kind of information written in such an ideal way?
I have a venture that I am just now operating on, and I have been on the
glance out for such information.
Simply wish to say your article is as surprising. The clearness in your post is just excellent and
i can assume you’re an expert on this subject.
Well with your permission let me to grab your feed to keep updated with forthcoming post.
Thanks a million and please continue the rewarding work.
Hi there to every one, the contents present at
this website are truly amazing for people knowledge, well, keep up the good work fellows.
Hi, i think that i noticed you visited my site so i
got here to return the choose?.I am attempting to to find issues to improve
my website!I guess its ok to use some of your ideas!!
I know this web site gives quality depending posts and additional stuff, is there any other web page which
gives such data in quality?
This paragraph will assist the internet users for creating new weblog or even a
weblog from start to end.
When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added”
checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get several emails with the same comment.
Is there any way you can remove people from that service?
Bless you!
Hi there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this website before but after reading through some of the post I realized it’s
new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely delighted I
found it and I’ll be bookmarking and checking back often!
Hi, I would like to subscribe for this web site to
obtain latest updates, therefore where can i do it please assist.
You could certainly see your enthusiasm in the work you write.
The sector hopes for even more passionate writers such
as you who are not afraid to say how they believe. Always follow your heart.
Attractive part of content. I simply stumbled upon your web
site and in accession capital to assert that I get actually loved account your blog posts.
Any way I will be subscribing on your feeds and even I success
you access constantly rapidly.
fantastic publish, very informative. I’m wondering why the other specialists of this sector do not realize this.
You should proceed your writing. I’m sure, you’ve a huge readers’ base already!
I’m gone to say to my little brother, that he should also go to see this website on regular
basis to obtain updated from hottest gossip.
Oh my goodness! Amazing article dude! Thank
you, However I am experiencing problems with your RSS.
I don’t know why I cannot subscribe to it. Is there
anybody else having similar RSS problems? Anybody who knows the solution can you kindly respond?
Thanks!!
Thanks for ones marvelous posting! I seriously enjoyed reading it, you can be a great author.I will make certain to bookmark your blog and will come back at some point.
I want to encourage you to ultimately continue your great writing, have a
nice evening!
I’m not that much of a online reader to be honest but your blogs
really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your website to come back later on. Many thanks
magnificent issues altogether, you simply received a new reader.
What may you recommend about your submit that
you simply made a few days ago? Any positive?
Very good blog you have here but I was curious about
if you knew of any community forums that cover the same topics talked about in this article?
I’d really love to be a part of group where I can get advice from other
knowledgeable individuals that share the same interest.
If you have any recommendations, please let me know.
Cheers!
Hey there just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the images aren’t loading properly.
I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it
in two different internet browsers and both show
the same outcome.
I’m gone to inform my little brother, that he should also
pay a quick visit this blog on regular basis to
get updated from hottest gossip.
My spouse and I stumbled over here by a different web address and thought
I should check things out. I like what I see so now i’m
following you. Look forward to finding out about your web page
yet again.
My developer is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP.
I have always disliked the idea because
of the costs. But he’s tryiong none the less.
I’ve been using WordPress on various websites for about a year and am
worried about switching to another platform. I have heard very good things
about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import all my wordpress content
into it? Any kind of help would be really appreciated!
Great post. I was checking constantly this weblog and I’m impressed!
Very useful information specially the last part :
) I take care of such information a lot. I used to be looking
for this particular information for a very long time. Thank you and best of
luck.
Thanks in favor of sharing such a pleasant thinking, article is pleasant, thats why i have read it
entirely
Right now it appears like Expression Engine is the best blogging platform available right now.
(from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
Thank you for the good writeup. It in truth was once a enjoyment account
it. Glance complex to more brought agreeable from you!
However, how can we be in contact?
Clarifying intentions early on sets the stage for understanding and commitment.
Every weekend i used to visit this web site, as i wish for enjoyment, since this this site conations truly good funny stuff too.
Excellent pieces. Keep posting such kind of info on your blog.
Im really impressed by your site.
Hi there, You have done a fantastic job. I will certainly digg it and individually suggest to my friends.
I am confident they’ll be benefited from this
website.
Hi there, I read your blogs on a regular basis.
Your story-telling style is witty, keep up the good work!
Excellent, what a web site it is! This weblog presents
useful information to us, keep it up.
What’s up to all, how is everything, I think every one is getting more from this web page, and
your views are fastidious for new people.
Hmm is anyone else experiencing problems with the images on this blog loading?
I’m trying to figure out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Hey there, You have done an excellent job. I will certainly digg it and personally
recommend to my friends. I am confident they will be benefited from this site.
*LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM*
♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️
♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️
*NO MORE EXCUSES*
1. I don’t have money
2. I can’t talk to people
3. I don’t do stuff like this
4. I’m too Busy
Your excuses may be legit but they won’t improve your Life.
• *LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM is Fully Registered with CAC. WHICH IS COOPERATE AFFAIR COMMISSION( For those Who Think LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT is Not Registered)*
*LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM is a platform network that deal with investing of money just within 45mins you will get back your money double*
CONTACT:- +2349036369810
*LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM PACKAGE’S*
*N20,000====N40,000*
*N30, 000====N60,000*
*N50,000====N100,000*
*N100,000====N200,000*
*N200,000 ====N400,000*
*N400,000====N800,000*
*==============*
*I know you are skeptical about this because of the negative experience a lot of issues as regards scamming in the global world. I assure you 101% that you won’t lose your money this is because I know the risk of this profit oriented business and I know how to avoid them using my trading skills and signals to make only wins and no losses.*
*Are u a worker?*
♊ *Are u a student looking for your school fees? Are u a woman looking for money to pay your children school fees?*
♊ *Are u jobless and u need where u can make source of income?*
♊ *LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM is here for you! With a little amount u can earn and make more more source of income without any problems*
♊ *LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM is a platform network that deal with investing of money just within 45mins you will get back your money double*
*Thank you for your time you can click on the link below to get started, please only serious minded People are expected to message the administrator.*..
CONTACT NAME Mrs. ELIZABETH TINA
CONTACT:- 09036369810…..
*LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM*
♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️
♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️
*NO MORE EXCUSES*
1. I don’t have money
2. I can’t talk to people
3. I don’t do stuff like this
4. I’m too Busy
Your excuses may be legit but they won’t improve your Life.
• *LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM is Fully Registered with CAC. WHICH IS COOPERATE AFFAIR COMMISSION( For those Who Think LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT is Not Registered)*
*LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM is a platform network that deal with investing of money just within 45mins you will get back your money double*
CONTACT:- +2349036369810
*LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM PACKAGE’S*
*N20,000====N40,000*
*N30, 000====N60,000*
*N50,000====N100,000*
*N100,000====N200,000*
*N200,000 ====N400,000*
*N400,000====N800,000*
*==============*
*I know you are skeptical about this because of the negative experience a lot of issues as regards scamming in the global world. I assure you 101% that you won’t lose your money this is because I know the risk of this profit oriented business and I know how to avoid them using my trading skills and signals to make only wins and no losses.*
*Are u a worker?*
♊ *Are u a student looking for your school fees? Are u a woman looking for money to pay your children school fees?*
♊ *Are u jobless and u need where u can make source of income?*
♊ *LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM is here for you! With a little amount u can earn and make more more source of income without any problems*
♊ *LAVITA RICCA INVESTMENT PROGRAM is a platform network that deal with investing of money just within 45mins you will get back your money double*
*Thank you for your time you can click on the link below to get started, please only serious minded People are expected to message the administrator.*
CONTACT NAME Mrs. ELIZABETH TINA
CONTACT:- 09036369810
GOOD DAY SIR/MA
HAVE YOU HELD ABOUT RICH CONNECT TRUST INVESTMENT…?
RICH CONNECT TRUST INVESTMENT is a matrix system which give you DOUBLE of your CAPITAL back in ( 45 Minutes ) after Registrations
RICH CONNECT PACKAGES
N20,000——N40,000
N40,000——N80,000
N50,000——N100,000
N100,000—–N200,000
N150,000—–N350,000
N300,000—–N600,000
N200,000—–N400,000
N400,000—–N800,000
N500,000—–N1,000,000
NOTE: we credit your account after 45mins of Your Registeration
INTRODUCTION
RICH CONNECT TRUST Investment is a company duely registered under the Coporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria and certified fraud free to do business in Nigeria by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). This is a Nigerian network marketing company founded by Okafor Alex Monye with it’s Head Quarter’s. The company takes pride in the fact that it stands out amongst other network marketing companies. It has the best compensation plan, affordable and effective services, systems that keeps her customers coming back for more. When you join this company, you get more than their outstanding services.
07046246360
ITS SIMPLE HERE!!!!!!!
We trade with hard currency here like bit coin we make 3tripple of your donation and send you you two part and we benefit one part Example if you invest with 100k within 45mins we make profit of 300k then send 200k to you then profit 100k This is not mmm where they merge people to donate for each other
You pay directly to us and we credit you directly
Contact Mr. GOODLUCK TIMOTHY
07046246360
NOTE:- YOU GET CREDITED BACK IN LESS THAN 45 MINUTES.
CHAT US-UP IF INTEREST FILL YOUR FORM AND START EARNING
NOTE: You can finish reading this and decide not to take the necessary actions, but the next time you want to complain about not having money, just know that you are on your own problem.