Short Fictional Forms and the Rise of the Tale

This chapter discusses some of the short fictional forms that persisted in as well as alongside the novel. These short fictional forms include chapbook and bluebook abridgements, religious tracts, and what would come to be called—by the end of the period covered here—the tale. Together, these forms highlight the dynamic field of writing that comprised the years that span the novel's rise and canonization. As it appeared in stand-alone collections, magazines, and literary annuals, the tale pushed the novel to consolidate its boundaries even as it developed its own mix of features to challenge the novel on its established ground. In the end, however, the novel won out in its generic competition with half-told and mangled tales.