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runningstitch t1_j7twt1d wrote

Reply to comment by Prometheus357 in Why do some books blank out arbitrary place names? by PangeanPrawn

It's also more common in older novels, so I wonder if it is a vestige of the novel working itself out as a distinct art form. Early experiments with the novel played around with ways to suggest this all really happened - epistolary novels are an example of this as is the framing of both Frankenstein and The Scarlet Letter (found this old box of papers in the attic of the custom house, you'll never believe what they said!).

Today we see new forms of storytelling emerging, and you see folks experimenting to find what works. I'm thinking about how the Lizzie Bennet Diaries mimics a blogger talking directly to the camera, while later episodes and projects begin to have the camera "accidentally" catch & post moments.

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creaturecomforts13 t1_j7v4tw0 wrote

Yes! It was explained to me when I studied "the novel" as part of my English Lit degree. When the novel first emerged, they were seen as frivolous because they were fictional (and also because they were popular with women). A lot of authors tried to get around that by framing them as epistolary, retellings of stories they heard from a friend of a friend of a... or cautionary tales.

It's one of my favourite little known facts!

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runningstitch t1_j7v8lcc wrote

The newly literate female reader is also why so many early novels are moralistic in nature. Richardson couldn't help but jump at the chance to warn women against... well, having a thought of their own.

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Complex_Dragonfly_59 t1_j7vjom2 wrote

Absolutely! Interestingly, there are many female novelists prior to Richardson (Eliza Haywood is perhaps the best known example ) who wrote much racier, less “moral” work, which was very popular with readers of all genders. Richardson is reacting to an already well-established genre of “romances.”

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Caleb_Trask19 t1_j7vyxui wrote

This is true of Dangerous Liaisons which I’m reading now.

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Electrical_Jaguar596 t1_j7y1x3h wrote

I just read The Color Purple, which is epistolary and also redacts a person’s name like this. I wonder if Alice Walker was deliberately mimicking early novels (maybe as a statement about the newness of the black voice in literature?).

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ytman t1_j7v8x38 wrote

Hah. So House of Leaves is basically the logical conclusion of the Scarlet Letter?

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runningstitch t1_j7vbrxo wrote

Ok, now I need to read House of Leaves.

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ytman t1_j7vc73f wrote

Its wild. A manuscript of a indepth analysis of movie no one has seen or heard of is found by some guy who assembles it together and intersperse journal like entries of their life throughout footnotes. Oh and the manuscript was written by a blind man.

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AnAquaticOwl t1_j7vly57 wrote

Technically the manuscript was dictated by a blind man. And the guy writing the footnotes gradually goes insane as the narrative goes on

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sneakzilla t1_j7vks8u wrote

One of my favorite reading experiences. Worth experiencing for sure!

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