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1 Of Sketches, Tales, and Stories: Theoretical Reflections on the Genre of the Short Story

  • Lydia G. Fash
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Handbook of the American Short Story
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Handbook of the American Short Story

Abstract

Before the “short story” existed, U.S. writers thought about and composed sketches and tales. These two forms, one more visual and less plot-driven and the other often mythic and fantastical, helped describe a United States that was growing quickly in size and cultural ambition. Sketches supplied calm reflection and travel descriptions, and romantic tales told of the wonderful history of the self-consciously young nation. Sketches and tales remained wildly popular until the massive trauma of the Civil War shifted short fiction towards realist and naturalist depictions - and eventually towards a new genre called the short story. By the final quarter of the nineteenth century, a “short story” meant not a narrative which happened to be modest in length but a genre term with recognizable characteristics including tightly controlled atmosphere and action and, for the western humorists, much droll absurdity. Although the formal unities of limiting the story time to a short window (often a single day) and striving for a single mood still influence the genre today, the twentieth century - and its two great world wars - moved authors towards the modernist and postmodern belief that no rules could adequately explain the world or literature. Instead, authors sought their own versions of truth through spare prose, twist endings, and moments of revelation. While the elements of the contemporary short story are thus variable, writers still seek the form out as a way to forge an uninterrupted connection with readers who can sit and read an entire short story despite living in a busy and fragmented world. This chapter traces the development of this history, highlighting the words of notable U.S. short story writers who have reflected on what the genre means and how it works.

Abstract

Before the “short story” existed, U.S. writers thought about and composed sketches and tales. These two forms, one more visual and less plot-driven and the other often mythic and fantastical, helped describe a United States that was growing quickly in size and cultural ambition. Sketches supplied calm reflection and travel descriptions, and romantic tales told of the wonderful history of the self-consciously young nation. Sketches and tales remained wildly popular until the massive trauma of the Civil War shifted short fiction towards realist and naturalist depictions - and eventually towards a new genre called the short story. By the final quarter of the nineteenth century, a “short story” meant not a narrative which happened to be modest in length but a genre term with recognizable characteristics including tightly controlled atmosphere and action and, for the western humorists, much droll absurdity. Although the formal unities of limiting the story time to a short window (often a single day) and striving for a single mood still influence the genre today, the twentieth century - and its two great world wars - moved authors towards the modernist and postmodern belief that no rules could adequately explain the world or literature. Instead, authors sought their own versions of truth through spare prose, twist endings, and moments of revelation. While the elements of the contemporary short story are thus variable, writers still seek the form out as a way to forge an uninterrupted connection with readers who can sit and read an entire short story despite living in a busy and fragmented world. This chapter traces the development of this history, highlighting the words of notable U.S. short story writers who have reflected on what the genre means and how it works.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Editors’ Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. 0 Introduction: The American Short Story – Past and Present 1
  5. Part I: Systematic Questions
  6. 1 Of Sketches, Tales, and Stories: Theoretical Reflections on the Genre of the Short Story 19
  7. 2 Canon Formation and the American Short Story 39
  8. 3 Current Approaches to the American Short Story 55
  9. 4 Textual Materiality, Magazine Culture, and the American Short Story 73
  10. Part II: Close Readings
  11. 5 Washington Irving (1783–1859) 103
  12. 6 Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) 119
  13. 7 Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) 133
  14. 8 Herman Melville (1819–1891) 153
  15. 9 Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens, 1835–1910) 171
  16. 10 Charles W. Chesnutt (1858–1932) 197
  17. 11 Kate Chopin (1850–1904) 209
  18. 12 Henry James (1843–1916) 227
  19. 13 Jack London (1876–1916) 249
  20. 14 Zitkala-Ša (1876–1938) 269
  21. 15 Sherwood Anderson (1876–1941) 289
  22. 16 Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) 305
  23. 17 Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) 319
  24. 18 William Faulkner (1897–1962) 343
  25. 19 Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964) 361
  26. 20 James Baldwin (1924–1987) 385
  27. 21 Shirley Jackson (1916–1965) 403
  28. 22 Bernard Malamud (1914–1986) 425
  29. 23 Grace Paley (1922–2007) 445
  30. 24 Donald Barthelme (1931–1989) 461
  31. 25 Tim O’Brien (1946–) 477
  32. 26 Raymond Carver (1938–1988) 493
  33. 27 Alice Walker (1944–) 513
  34. 28 Leslie Marmon Silko (1948–) 533
  35. 29 Sandra Cisneros (1954–) 555
  36. 30 Louise Erdrich (1954–) 573
  37. 31 Lydia Davis (1947–) 593
  38. 32 George Saunders (1958–) 613
  39. 33 Junot Díaz (1968–) 627
  40. 34 Yiyun Li (1972–) 643
  41. 35 N.K. Jemisin (1972–) 661
  42. Index of Names 683
  43. Index of Subjects 691
  44. List of Contributors 699
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110587647-002

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Editors’ Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. 0 Introduction: The American Short Story – Past and Present 1
  5. Part I: Systematic Questions
  6. 1 Of Sketches, Tales, and Stories: Theoretical Reflections on the Genre of the Short Story 19
  7. 2 Canon Formation and the American Short Story 39
  8. 3 Current Approaches to the American Short Story 55
  9. 4 Textual Materiality, Magazine Culture, and the American Short Story 73
  10. Part II: Close Readings
  11. 5 Washington Irving (1783–1859) 103
  12. 6 Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) 119
  13. 7 Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) 133
  14. 8 Herman Melville (1819–1891) 153
  15. 9 Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens, 1835–1910) 171
  16. 10 Charles W. Chesnutt (1858–1932) 197
  17. 11 Kate Chopin (1850–1904) 209
  18. 12 Henry James (1843–1916) 227
  19. 13 Jack London (1876–1916) 249
  20. 14 Zitkala-Ša (1876–1938) 269
  21. 15 Sherwood Anderson (1876–1941) 289
  22. 16 Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) 305
  23. 17 Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) 319
  24. 18 William Faulkner (1897–1962) 343
  25. 19 Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964) 361
  26. 20 James Baldwin (1924–1987) 385
  27. 21 Shirley Jackson (1916–1965) 403
  28. 22 Bernard Malamud (1914–1986) 425
  29. 23 Grace Paley (1922–2007) 445
  30. 24 Donald Barthelme (1931–1989) 461
  31. 25 Tim O’Brien (1946–) 477
  32. 26 Raymond Carver (1938–1988) 493
  33. 27 Alice Walker (1944–) 513
  34. 28 Leslie Marmon Silko (1948–) 533
  35. 29 Sandra Cisneros (1954–) 555
  36. 30 Louise Erdrich (1954–) 573
  37. 31 Lydia Davis (1947–) 593
  38. 32 George Saunders (1958–) 613
  39. 33 Junot Díaz (1968–) 627
  40. 34 Yiyun Li (1972–) 643
  41. 35 N.K. Jemisin (1972–) 661
  42. Index of Names 683
  43. Index of Subjects 691
  44. List of Contributors 699
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Heruntergeladen am 25.1.2026 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110587647-002/html
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