Novel sequence

The French term roman- fleuve (from French roman = " Roman" and fleuve = "river" ) refers to a sub- genre of the novel; He is since 1930 used ( Petit Robert ). The term roman- fleuve appears with the work of Jean -Christophe by Romain Rolland, the first true members of this genus.

Definition

When roman- fleuve is a very large-scale novel in several (often more than ten) volumes. These form a whole; it occurs repeatedly the same characters, the volumes can be read individually but also without any problems. The complete works portrayed in opulent form a society or an era, a central figure, a community or a (often middle-class ) family is central, which is shown against a historical background.

Heyday

His heyday of the roman- fleuve in France in the 1930s; as examples:

• Roger Martin du Gard, Les Thibault (Eng. The Thibault ) (1922 - 1940)
• Jules Romains, Les Hommes de bonne volonté (Eng. The good will ) (1932 - 1947)
• Georges Duhamel, Chronique of Pasquier (German Chapters of the Pasquier family) (1933 - 1945)
• Louis Aragon, Cycle du Monde Réel (Eng. The Real World ) ( 1933-1951 )
• Jacques Chardonne, Les Destinées sentimental (1934 - 1936)

Precursor

The Human Comedy of Balzac or Les Rougon - Macquart Zola can be considered forerunners of the roman- fleuve, as Marcel Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu (1908 - 1922) (Eng. In search of lost time ). It is in these works to novel cycles; at Rolland now enters the cyclical nature somewhat into the background, and from that time the term roman- fleuve common ( cf. Hess and others). Although the precursors are in the form of the roman- fleuve, but can be more appropriate than family sagas describe, as they show in contrast to the romans- fleuve the period between the world wars by the Company from an exclusively middle-class perspective.

To individual members of the genus

Les Hommes de bonne volonté by Jules Romains shows the company as opposed to the precursors of the roman- fleuve from extremely diverse viewpoints and in particular that of the unanimism, a philosophical movement, to which the author confesses. The figures of this mighty work, with 27 volumes and 779 chapters, the largest of the genus novel in French literature of the 20th century, are completely different social backgrounds. How to dive: a priest, a teacher, a worker, a deputy, a marquis and even great personalities of contemporary history, as Clemenceau, Jaurès, Joffre or Briand.

Also a wide variety of perspectives, though less clearly, to be found in Les Thibault by Roger Martin du Gard. Jacques, the brother of the main character Antoine Thibault, has a view of society that that of his brother and his family is diametrically opposed; He rejects the bourgeois order.

In a similar dichotomy of views one encounters in Duhamel's Chronique of Pasquier, where Ferdinand by professional failure lives on the street. This novel also shows quite a large variety of social milieus in the upper layer ( commercial, theater, science, ...).

Swell

• Hess, Rainer include: Scientific Literature dictionary for Romanists. 3rd edition Tübingen 1989
• Le Petit Robert, 1993 Edition

• Literary genre