What defines a modern short story is much more than a question of
length. Despite the efforts of early pioneers like Edgar Allan Poe,
the genre was originally synonymous with the anecdote or tale and
seen more as entertainment than art. However it has become far more
than that, and this Very Short Introduction considers afresh the
form's ongoing innovations in plot construction, capacity for
psychological insight, and ability to offer intensely concentrated
perceptions. This book charts the rise of the short story from its
original appearance in magazines and newspapers, largely in the
United States and Great Britain. For much of the nineteenth
century, tales were written for the press, and the form's history
is marked by engagement with popular fiction. From the later
nineteenth century, the short story earned a reputation for its
skillful use of plot design and character study distinct from the
novel. After the First World War it found outlets in high-brow
publications, and single-author collections, as well as
anthologies, were regularly published. Exploring the form's
techniques and themes, Andrew Kahn considers the continuity and
variation in key structures and techniques such as the beginning,
the creation of voice, the ironic turn or plot twist, and how
writers manage endings. Throughout he draws on examples from an
international and flourishing corpus of work, with close analysis
of classic and lesser-known stories by American, Canadian, Irish,
Australian, Russian, and French masters such as James Baldwin,
Grace Paley, Alice Munro, Elizabeth Taylor, William Trevor, Helen
Garner, Chekhov, and Guy de Maupassant. Very Short Introductions:
Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short
Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds
of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books
are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our
expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and
enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly
readable.
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