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Picaresque fiction

LC control no.gf2014026479
Thesaurus/term listlcgft
Genre/Form termPicaresque fiction
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Variant(s)Picaresques (Fiction)
See alsoFiction
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Maqāmāt
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Scope noteFiction that consists of episodic narratives that describe the adventures of a resourceful rogue.
Found inOxford dictionary of the Renaissance, via Oxford reference online, Nov. 3, 2012 (picaresque: A literary genre in sixteenth and seventeenth-century Spain; the picaresque novel was an episodic first-person narrative that related the adventures (often criminal or sexual) of a shrewd rogue (pícaro) of humble origin; in this respect it was an antidote to the romance of chivalry, which celebrated the high ideals of aristocratic heroes)
Oxford companion to English literature, via Oxford reference online, Nov. 3, 2012 (picaresque: form of novel featuring roguish antiheroes or 'tricksters' that first appeared in 16th century Spain and flourished in 18th and 19th century English literature; nowadays the term is commonly, and loosely, applied to episodic novels ... that describe the adventures of a lively and resourceful hero on a journey)
Kennedy, X.J. The Longman dictionary of literary terms, c2006 (Picaresque. A narrative, usually a novel told in the first-person voice, that presents the life and adventures of a likable rogue (picaro, in Spanish) who is at odds with respectable society. Loosely plotted, with adventures unfolding in discrete episodes, the picaresque is part adventure story, part satire, and part realism; the picaresque tends more toward light and low comedy than toward bitter satire)
GSAFD, 2000 (Picaresque literature. Use for episodic accounts of the adventures of an engagingly roguish hero; the adventures are often used to satirize the society of the day)