Contemporary novel

Author's name: Robert Egleston Publisher: Dar Al-Mada for Publishing and Distribution Year of publication: 2017 Literary classification: Literary studies - Intellectual About the book: The contemporary novel, a very short introduction by Robert Egleston... Critics, cultural studies theorists, and thinkers of the history of ideas agree that the novel is one of the most important cultural innovations that came after the European Enlightenment. Much has been written about the art of the novel from the eighteenth century to the present day. I would like in this introduction to highlight some indicators that have stuck in my mind as observations accumulated over time until the accumulation reached a point where I saw it necessary to comment on some details related to the novel within its general framework, from a purely personal perspective, with a focus on the contemporary novel in particular. I would like to emphasize that I am not discussing the major themes related to the function and nature of the novelistic art and its genres — those themes I have written about in some detail in my introduction to my translated book (The Development of the Modern Novel) published by Dar Al-Mada in 2016; rather, I will emphasize here some overlooked details that are often marginalized and not given much attention by some readers and writers of the novel.