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{{About|the literary form|other uses|Novella (disambiguation)}}

{{Literature}}

A '''novella''' is a [[Writing|written]], [[fiction]]al, [[prose]] [[narrative]] normally longer than a [[short story]] but shorter than a [[novel]]. The [[English language|English]] word "''novella''{{-"}} derives from the [[Italian language|Italian]] word "''novella''{{-"}}, feminine of "''novello'el]], yet more complicated ones than a [[short story]]. The conflicts also have more time to develop than in short stories. They have endings that are located at the brink of change.{{Citation needed|date=August 2013}} Unlike [[novels]], they are usually not divided into chapters, and are often intended to be read at a single sitting, as the [[short story]], although white space is often used to divide the sections. They maintain, therefore, a single effect.<ref name="bf1">{{Cite book|last=Kercheval|first=Jesse Lee|title=Building Fiction|publisher=Story Press|location=Cincinnati, Ohio|year=1997|chapter=Short shorts, novellas, novel-in-stories|isbn=1-884910-28-9}}</ref> [[Warren Cariou]] wrote:

<blockquote>The novella is generally not as formally experimental as the long story and the novel can be, and it usually lacks the subplots, the multiple points of view, and the generic adaptability that are common in the novel. It is most often concerned with personal and emotional development rather than with the larger social sphere. The novella generally retains something of the unity of impression that is a hallmark of the short story, but it also contains more highly developed characterization and more luxuriant description.<ref>''Encyclopedia of literature in Canada.'' Edited by William H. New. University of Toronto, 2000. Page 835.</ref></blockquote>

==History==
The novella as a literary [[genre]] began developing in the early [[Renaissance]] literary work of the [[Italian people|Italians]] and the [[France|French]]. Principally, by [[Giovanni Boccaccio]] (1313–1375), author of ''[[The Decameron]]'' (1353)—one hundred novelle told by ten people, seven women and three men, fleeing the [[Black Death]] by escaping from [[Florence]] to the Fiesole hills, in 1348; and by the French [[Queen regnant|Queen]], [[Marguerite de Navarre]] (1492–1549), [aka Marguerite de Valois, et. alii.], author of ''[[Heptameron|Heptaméron]]'' (1559)—seventy-two original French tales (modeled after the structure of ''The Decameron'').

Not until the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth centuries did [[writer]]s fashion the novella into a literary genre structured by precepts and rules. Contemporaneously, the [[Germany|Germans]] were the most active writers of the ''Novelle'' (German: "Novelle"; plural: "Novellen"). For the German writer, a novella is a fictional narrative of indeterminate length—a few pages to hundreds—restricted to a single, suspenseful event, situation, or conflict leading to an unexpected turning point (''Wendepunkt''), provoking a [[logical]] but surprising end; ''Novellen'' tend to contain a concrete symbol, which is the [[narrative|narration's]] steady point. They are still famous now.

===Notable examples===

Famous English language novellas include:
* [[Ayn Rand]]'s ''[[Anthem (novella)|Anthem]]''
* [[J. L. Carr]]'s ''[[A Month in the Country (novel)|A Month in the Country]]''
* [[John W. Campbell]]'s ''[[Who Goes There?]]''
* [[Jack London]]'s ''[[The Call of the Wild]]''
* [[John Steinbeck]]'s ''[[Of Mice and Men]]''
* [[George Orwell]]'s ''[[Animal Farm]]''
* [[Anthony Burgess]]'s ''[[A Clockwork Orange]]''
* [[Isaac Asimov]]'s ''[[Nightfall (Asimov short story and novel)|Nightfall]]''
* [[Herman Melville]]'s ''[[Billy Budd, Sailor]]''
* [[Truman Capote]]'s ''[[Breakfast at Tiffany's (novella)|Breakfast at Tiffany's]]''
* [[Ernest Hemingway]]'s ''[[The Old Man and the Sea]]''
* [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s ''[[The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde]]''
* [[Charles Dickens]]' ''[[A Christmas Carol]]''
* [[H. G. Wells]]' ''[[The Time Machine]]''
* [[Philip Roth]]'s ''[[Goodbye, Columbus]]''
* [[Joseph Conrad]]'s ''[[Heart of Darkness]]''
* [[Thornton Wilder]]'s ''[[The Bridge of San Luis Rey]]''
* [[Jack Kerouac]]'s ''[[The Subterraneans]]''
* [[Thomas Pynchon]]'s ''[[The Crying of Lot 49]]''
* [[Joyce Carol Oates]]'s ''[[Black Water (novella)|Black Water]]''
* [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption]]''
* [[Joseph Conrad]]'s ''[[The Secret Sharer]]''
* [[Patrick Leigh Fermor]]'s ''[[Patrick_Leigh_Fermor#Books|The Violins of Saint-Jacques]]''
* [[Clive Barker]]'s ''[[The Hellbound Heart]]''
* [[Ira Levin]]'s ''[[The Stepford Wives]]''
* [[John Steinbeck]]'s ''[[The Pearl (novel)|The Pearl]]''
* [[Carson McCullers]]'s ''[[The Ballad of the Sad Cafe]]''

French examples of the novella include [[Voltaire]]'s ''[[Candide]]'', [[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry|Saint-Exupery]]'s "[[The Little Prince]]", and [[Colette]]'s ''[[Chéri (novel)|Cheri]]'' among others.<!--sufficient notable examples.-->

==Versus novel==
:''See the article [[novel]] for the historical generic debate.''
:''See the article [[Length of a novel]] for comparative word counts.''

This etymological distinction avoids confusion of the [[literature]]s and the forms, with the novel being the more important, established fictional form. The [[Austria]]n writer [[Stefan Zweig]]'s (1881–1942) ''[[The Royal Game|Die Schachnovelle]]'' (1942) (literally, "The Chess Novella", but translated in 1944 as ''The Royal Game'') is an example of a title naming its genre.

Commonly, longer novellas are referred to as novels; ''[[Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde]]'' and ''[[Heart of Darkness]]'' are sometimes called novels, as are many [[science fiction]] works such as ''[[The War of the Worlds (novel)|The War of the Worlds]]'' and ''[[Armageddon 2419 A.D.]]'' Less often, longer works are referred to as novellas. The subjectivity of the parameters of the novella genre is indicative of its shifting and diverse nature as an art form. In her 2010 ''[[Open Letters Monthly]]'' series, "A Year With Short Novels," Ingrid Norton criticizes the tendency to make clear demarcations based purely on a book's length:

<blockquote>Google "novels" and "length" and you will find tables of word counts, separating out novels from novellas, even from the esoteric and still shorter "novelette" — as though prose works were dog show contestants, needing to be entered into proper categories. But when it comes to writing, any distinctions that begin with an objective and external quality like size are bound to be misleading. The delicate, gem-like jigsaw of [[Thornton Wilder]]'s ''The Bridge of San Luis Ray'' {{sic}} could not be more unlike the feverishly cunning philosophical monologue of [[Albert Camus]]' ''The Fall'', but both novels are about the same length.<ref>"[http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/the-sweetness-of-short-novels/ The Sweetness of Short Novels]" by [http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/author/norton/ Ingrid Norton], Open Letters Monthly February 2010</ref></blockquote>

[[Stephen King]], in his introduction to ''[[Different Seasons]]'', a collection of four novellas, has called the novella "an ill-defined and disreputable literary banana republic";<ref>King, Stephen. ''Different Seasons''. Viking Adult, 1982. ISBN 978-0-670-27266-2</ref> King notes the difficulties of selling a novella in the commercial publishing world, since it does not fit the typical length requirements of either magazine or book publishers. Despite these problems, however, the novella's length provides unique advantages; in the introduction to a novella anthology titled ''Sailing to Byzantium'', [[Robert Silverberg]] writes:

<blockquote>[The novella] is one of the richest and most rewarding of literary forms...it allows for more extended development of theme and character than does the short story, without making the elaborate structural demands of the full-length book. Thus it provides an intense, detailed exploration of its subject, providing to some degree both the concentrated focus of the short story and the broad scope of the novel.<ref>Silverberg, Robert. ''Sailing to Byzantium''. New York: ibooks, inc., 2000. ISBN 0-7861-9905-9</ref></blockquote>

In his essay "Briefly, the case for the novella", Canadian author George Fetherling (who wrote the novella ''Tales of Two Cities'') said that to reduce the novella to nothing more than a short novel is like "saying a [[pony]] is a baby horse."<ref>Fetherling, George. [http://www.sevenoaksmag.com/commentary/94_comm1.html ''Briefly, the case for the novella''].</ref>

==Versus novelette==
Dictionaries define '''novelette''' similarly to ''novella''; sometimes identically,<ref>
[[American Heritage Dictionary]] (4th ed.): [http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/novella novella (2)], [http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/novelette novelette];
[[Merriam-Webster]] Online Dictionary: [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/novelette novelette];
</ref> sometimes with a disparaging sense of being trivial or sentimental.<ref>
[[Collins Dictionary]]: [http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/novella novella (2)], [http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/novelette novelette (2)];
[[Macmillan Dictionary]] (US ed.): [http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/novella novella], [http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/novelette novelette];
[[Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary]] (UK ed.): [http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/novella novella], [http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/novella novelette]; novelette];
[[Concise Oxford English Dictionary]]: [http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/novella?view=uk novella], [http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/novelette?view=uk novelette];
[[Webster's New World Dictionary]]: [http://websters.yourdictionary.com/novella novella], [http://websters.yourdictionary.com/novelette novelette];
</ref> Some [[literary award]]s have separate "novella" and "novelette" categories, with a distinction based on [[word count]], "novelette" being shorter.<ref name="nebularules"/><ref name="wsfs"/> <ref name="sjarules"/>

==Awards word counts==
{{seealso|Length of a novel}}
Some [[literary awards]] include a "best novella" award and sometimes a separate "best novelette" award, separately from "best short story" or "best novel". The distinction between these categories may be entirely by [[word count]].

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Award !! Genre !! Organisation !! Minimum !! Maximum !! Ref
|-
| [[Nebula Award for Best Novelette]] || [[science fiction]] or [[fantasy]] || [[Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America]] || 7,500 || 17,499 || <ref name="nebularules">{{cite web |url=http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards/rules/ |publisher=Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Awards |title=Nebula Rules}}</ref>
|-
| [[Nebula Award for Best Novella]] || science fiction or fantasy || Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America || 17,500 || 39,999 || <ref name="nebularules"/>
|-
| [[Hugo Award for Best Novelette]] || science fiction or fantasy || World Science Fiction Society || 7,500 || 17,500 || <ref name="wsfs">{{cite web|url=http://www.wsfs.org/bm/const-2009.pdf#page=5|title=Constitution|year=2009|publisher=World Science Fiction Society|pages=sec 3.3.2, 3.3.3|accessdate=20 January 2013}}</ref>
|-
| [[Hugo Award for Best Novella]] || science fiction or fantasy || World Science Fiction Society || 17,500 || 40,000 || <ref name="wsfs"/>
|-
| [[RITA Award]] for best novella || [[romantic fiction|romance]] || [[Romance Writers of America]] || 20,000 || 40,000 || <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=532|title=RITA Awards : RITA Category Descriptions and Judging Guidelines|work=myRWA|publisher=Romance Writers of America|accessdate=20 January 2013}}</ref>
|-
| [[British Fantasy Award]] for Novella || fantasy || [[British Fantasy Society]] || 15,000 || 40,000 || <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britishfantasysociety.co.uk/the-british-fantasy-awards-constitution-ii/|title=The British Fantasy Awards Constitution|publisher=British Fantasy Society|accessdate=20 January 2013}}</ref>
|-
| Paris Literary Prize || literary fiction || [[Shakespeare and Company (bookstore)|Shakespeare and Company]] || 17,000 || 35,000 || <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.parisliteraryprize.org/eligibility-conditions.htm|title=Eligibility and conditions|work=Paris Literary Prize|accessdate=20 January 2013}}</ref>
|-
| Black Orchid Novella Award || [[mystery fiction|mystery]] || [[Nero Wolfe]] Society || 15,000 || 20,000 || <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nerowolfe.org/htm/neroaward/black_orchid_award/BO_award_proc.htm|title=Black Orchid Novella Award Guidelines, Procedures, and FAQs|publisher=Wolfe Pack|accessdate=20 January 2013}}</ref>
|-
| [[Shirley Jackson Award]] for best novelette || psychological [[suspense]], [[Horror fiction|horror]], or [[dark fantasy]] || || 7,500 || 17,499 || <ref name="sjarules">{{cite web|url=http://www.shirleyjacksonawards.org/sja_rules.php|title=Award Rules|publisher=Shirley Jackson Awards|accessdate=20 January 2013}}</ref>
|-
| Shirley Jackson Award for best novella || psychological suspense, horror, or dark fantasy || || 17,500 || 39,999 || <ref name="sjarules"/>
|}

==See also==
{{portal|Novels}}
* [[List of novellas]]
* [[Light novel]]
* [[Chain novel]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==

Fassler, Joe. [http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/04/the-return-of-the-novella-the-original-longread/256290/ "The Return of the Novella, the Original #Longread,"] ''The Atlantic.''

{{Wiktionary|novella}}

{{Fiction writing}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2010}}

[[Category:Novellas| ]]
[[Category:Fiction forms]]

[[ru:Повесть]]

Revision as of 16:44, 7 January 2014

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