Decline and Fall of the Short Novel? Vicissitudes of a Genre in the Modern German Narrative

Abstract

In the discussion of the Benjaminian theses on the death of the narrator, has generally been set aside the evidence that the German essayist did not devote his attention to popular literature (Volksliteratur), but to authors (Leskov, Keller, Hebel, Conrad) who rework traditional narrative art—anonymous and collective. Analysis of the short fiction of these authors show that in them is already evident the crisis of the narrative that Benjamin associates with the outbreak of the First World War. A revision of Benjamin’s theses requires a study of the evolution of the short novel (Novelle), a genre to which most of the models invoked by Benjamin as prototypes of traditional narration belong, and to which the German philosopher does not grant specific attention. The article analyses Benjamin's proposals in relation to the theories of Adorno and Kracauer and proposes a different interpretation of the evolution of the Novelle.