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New Novel Article

antinovel summary

Learn about the characteristics of antinovel, also its notable writers

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see New Novel.

antinovel, Type of avant-garde novel that departs from traditional novelistic conventions by ignoring such elements as plot, dialogue, and human interest. Seeking to overcome readers’ habits and challenge their expectations, antinovelists deliberately avoid any intrusion of authorial personality, preferences, or values. Though the term was coined by Jean-Paul Sartre in 1948, the approach is at least as old as the works of the 18th-century writer Laurence Sterne. Writers of such works include Nathalie Sarraute, Claude Simon, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Uwe Johnson, and Rayner Heppenstall.