The_picaresque_novel_(Spanish

1. The picaresque novel (Spanish: "picaresca", from "pícaro", for "rogue" or "rascal") is a popular sub-genre of prose fiction which is usually satirical and depicts in realistic and often humorous detail the adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who lives by his or her wits in a corrupt society.

2. As indicated by its name, this style of novel originated in Spain, where it was possibly influenced by Arabic literature (specifically the maqama genre, which also featured the episodic exploits of a rogue character), flourished in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and continues to influence modern literature.

3. While elements of Chaucer and Boccaccio have a picaresque feel, the modern picaresque begins with Lazarillo de Tormes, published anonymously in Antwerp and Spain in 1554 and variously considered either the first picaresque novel or at least an antecedent to the genre. The title character Lazarillo is a pícaro who must live by his wits in an impoverished country full of hypocrisy.

4. The classic Chinese novel Journey to the West is considered to have considerable picaresque elements. Being written in 1590, it is contemporary with much of the above - but is unlikely to have been directly influenced by the European genre.

5. Other novels with elements of the picaresque include the French Candide, the Canadian Solomon Gursky Was Here and the English The Luck of Barry Lyndon. An interesting variation on the tradition of the picaresque is The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan, a satirical view on early nineteenth century Persia, written by a British diplomat, James Morier.

6. Some modern novelists have used some picaresque techniques, as Gogol in Dead Souls (1842-52). Rudyard Kipling's Kim (1901) combined the influence of the picaresque novel with the then new spy novel.

7. Some characteristics:1. the life of a rogue2. loose characters—low social level3. little plot—episodic4. little character interest

8. 5. realistic methods and details6. satire7. The hero of the picaresque novel usually stops just short of being an actual criminal. He is carefree and amoral and avoid actual crime.