What does picaresque mean in literature?
picaresque novel, early form of novel, usually a first-person narrative, relating the adventures of a rogue or lowborn adventurer (Spanish pícaro) as he drifts from place to place and from one social milieu to another in his effort to survive.
Who coined the term picaresque?
The word pícaro first starts to appear in Spain with the current meaning in 1545, though at the time it had no association with literature. The only work clearly called “picaresque” by its contemporaries was Mateo Alemán’s Guzmán de Alfarache (1599), which to them was the Libro del pícaro (The Book of the Pícaro).
Is Don Quixote picaresque?
Don Quixote is considered the first modern European novel and a stellar example of the picaresque novel. “Picaresque” derives from the Spanish word “picaresca,” which comes from “picaro” (“rogue” or “rascal”).
How do you use picaresque in a sentence?
His square face was confident, his foxy mustache was picaresque. The artist’s picaresque burin had made Robespierre as hideous as possible. Then there were some of the writers of the picaresque novels. But the narratives also look backward to an older type, the picaresque.
Is the Odyssey a picaresque?
My own novel, Busy Monsters, has two direct ancestors I can name, both of which contain elements of the picaresque among the manifold traits that constitute their genius: The Odyssey and Don Quixote. I filched from them openly, as I filched from these five immortal picaresque novels: 1.
What are the characteristics features of the picaresque novel?
But most picaresque novels incorporate several defining characteristics: satire, comedy, sarcasm, acerbic social criticism; first-person narration with an autobiographical ease of telling; an outsider protagonist-seeker on an episodic and often pointless quest for renewal or justice.
Why is Don Quixote picaresque?
Don Quixote is considered the first modern European novel and a stellar example of the picaresque novel. Usually satirical, a picaresque novel follows the exploits of a hero, usually low born, who must survive by his wits as he travels about on various (usually unlooked-for) adventures.
How do you pronounce picaresque novel?
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What does ‘picaresque’ mean?
Picaresque is a literary term referring to a first-person novel, recounting the adventures of a low-born adventurer as he moves from place to place in order to survive. The “hero” is usually a cynical and amoral rascal. The word is Spanish and dates back to 1810, from picaresco meaning “roguish.”
What are the chief features of picaresque novel?
A picaresque narrative is usually written in first person as an autobiographical account.
What does picaresque novel mean?
A picaresque novel is kind of narrative fiction made up of the adventures of a wily hero or heroine. The genre gets its name from the Spanish word picaro, or “rogue.”