Murasaki Shikibu (978~1021 AD) 紫 式部, “The Tale of Genji 源氏物語, 1008 AD was a “Japanese” language novel (the first novel in the World), and the topic of an earlier blog post.
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731), “Robinson Crusoe”, 1719 which was the earliest novel in the “English” language.
Here I present: Miguel Cervantes, “Don Quixote”, 1605 which was the first novel in a “Western” language (Spanish). The concept of the “novel” is the topic of this blog post.
Arthur Koestler, “The Act of Creation”, 1964 was the topic of an earlier blog post; and, the above diagram is from the book by Arthur Koestler. The diagram is entitled “Stages of Objectivity & Subjectivity’. It is a scale concept of:
-5 Chemistry.
-4 Biochemistry.
-3 Biology.
-2 Medicine.
-1 Psychology.
0. Anthropology.
+1 History.
+2 Biography.
+3 Novel.
+4 Epic.
+5 Lyric.
The lower three items: “Novel”, “Epic” & “Lyric” can be poetry. “Epic & Lyric” are always verse, and not prose writing. “A verse novel is a type of narrative poetry in which a novel-length narrative is told through the medium of poetry rather than prose. Either simple or complex stanzaic verse-forms may be used, but there will usually be a large cast, multiple voices, dialogue, narration, description, and action in a novelistic manner.”
“An epic is a long, often book-length, narrative in verse form that retells the heroic journey of a single person or a group of persons. Elements that typically distinguish epics include superhuman deeds, fabulous adventures, highly stylized language, and a blending of lyrical and dramatic traditions.
“Epic poems are poems on a grand scale, but they are still poems nonetheless. Verse novels, on the other hand (whether they are written as one long poem or a collection of shorter poems) must combine poetry with story.
Here I presented the fact that: Miguel Cervantes, “Don Quixote”, 1605 was the first novel in a “Western” language (Spanish). This blog post presented “novel” versus “epic/lyric”; as, story versus poetry. Arthur Koestler, “The Act of Creation“, 1964 discussed the historical development of the novel versus epic writing.
“Beowulf”, and Homer’s, “The Odyssey” are classics of “epic poem” traditional writing before the first novel “The Tale of Genji”, 1008 AD.
