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Thepicaresque novel (Spanish:picaresca, frompícaro, for 'rogue' or 'rascal') is a genre ofprose fiction. It depicts theadventures of a roguish but appealing hero, usually of lowsocial class, who lives by his wits in a corrupt society.[1] Picaresque novels typically adopt the form of "an episodicprosenarrative"[2] with arealistic style. There are often some elements ofcomedy andsatire.
The picaresque genre began with the Spanish novelLazarillo de Tormes[3] (1554), which was published anonymously during theSpanish Golden Age because of itsanticlerical content. Literary works fromImperial Rome published during the 1st–2nd century AD, such asSatyricon[3] byPetronius andThe Golden Ass byApuleius had a relevant influence on the picaresque genre and are considered predecessors. Other notable early Spanish contributors to the genre includedMateo Alemán'sGuzmán de Alfarache (1599–1604) andFrancisco de Quevedo'sEl Buscón (1626). Some other ancient influences of the picaresque genre include Roman playwrights such asPlautus andTerence.The Golden Ass by Apuleius nevertheless remains, according to various scholars such as F. W. Chandler, A. Marasso, T. Somerville and T. Bodenmüller, the primary antecedent influence for the picaresque genre.[4] Subsequently, following the example of Spanish writers, the genre flourished throughout Europe for more than 200 years and it continues to have an influence on modern literature and fiction.
According to the traditional view of Thrall and Hibbard (first published in 1936), seven qualities distinguish the picaresque novel or narrative form, all or some of which an author may employ for effect:[5]
In the English-speaking world, the term "picaresque" is often used loosely to refer to novels that contain some elements of this genre; e.g. an episodic recounting of adventures on the road.[6] The term is also sometimes used to describe works which only contain some of the genre's elements, such asMiguel de Cervantes'Don Quixote (1605 and 1615), orCharles Dickens'The Pickwick Papers (1836–1837).
The wordpícaro first starts to appear in Spain with the current meaning in 1545, though at the time it had no association with literature.[7] The wordpícaro does not appear inLazarillo de Tormes (1554), thenovella credited by modern scholars with founding the genre. The expressionpicaresque novel was coined in 1810.[8][9] Whether it has any validity at all as a generic label in the Spanish sixteenth and seventeenth centuries—Cervantes certainly used "picaresque" with a different meaning than it has today—has been called into question. There is unresolved debate within Hispanic studies about what the term means, or meant, and which works were, or should be, so called. The only work clearly called "picaresque" by its contemporaries wasMateo Alemán'sGuzmán de Alfarache (1599–1604), which they considered "El libro del pícaro" (English: "The Book of the Pícaro").[10]
While elements of literature byGeoffrey Chaucer andGiovanni Boccaccio have a picaresque feel and may have contributed to the style,[11] the modern picaresque begins withLazarillo de Tormes,[12] which was published anonymously in 1554 inBurgos,Medina del Campo, andAlcalá de Henares in Spain, and also inAntwerp, which at the time was under Spanish rule as a major city in theSpanish Netherlands. It is variously considered either the first picaresque novel or at least the antecedent of the genre.
The protagonist, Lázaro, lives by his wits in an effort to survive and succeed in an impoverished country full of hypocrisy. As apícaro character, he is an alienated outsider, whose ability to expose and ridicule individuals compromised within society gives him a revolutionary stance.[13] Lázaro states that the motivation for his writing is to communicate his experiences of overcoming deception, hypocrisy, and falsehood (engaño).[14]
The character type draws on elements ofcharacterization already present inRoman literature, especiallyPetronius'Satyricon. Lázaro shares some of the traits of the central figure ofEncolpius, a former gladiator,[15][16] though it is unlikely that the author had access to Petronius' work.[17] From the comedies ofPlautus,Lazarillo borrows the figure of the parasite and the supple slave. Other traits are taken fromApuleius'The Golden Ass.[15]The Golden Ass andSatyricon are rare surviving samples of the "Milesian tale", a popular genre in the classical world, and were revived and widely read in Renaissance Europe.
The principal episodes ofLazarillo are based on Arabic folktales that were well known to the Moorish inhabitants of Spain. The Arabic influence may account for the negative portrayal of priests and other church officials inLazarillo.[18]Arabic literature, which was read widely in Spain in the time ofAl-Andalus and possessed a literary tradition with similar themes, is thus another possible influence on the picaresque style.Al-Hamadhani (d.1008) of Hamadhan (Iran) is credited with inventing the literary genre ofmaqāmāt in which a wandering vagabond makes his living on the gifts his listeners give him following his extemporaneous displays of rhetoric, erudition, or verse, often done with atrickster's touch.[19] Ibn al-Astarkuwi or al-Ashtarkuni (d.1134) also wrote in the genremaqāmāt, comparable to later European picaresque.[20]
The curious presence of Russianloanwords in the text of theLazarillo also suggests the influence of medieval Slavic tales of tricksters, thieves, itinerant prostitutes, and brigands, who were common figures in the impoverished areas bordering on Germany to the west. When diplomatic ties to Germany and Spain were established under the emperorCharles V, these tales began to be read in Italian translations in theIberian Peninsula.[21]
As narrator of his own adventures, Lázaro seeks to portray himself as the victim of both his ancestry and his circumstance. This means of appealing to the compassion of the reader would be directly challenged by later picaresque novels such asGuzmán de Alfarache (1599/1604) andEl Buscón (composed in the first decade of the 17th century and first published in 1626) because the idea ofdeterminism used to cast thepícaro as a victim clashed with theCatholic Revival doctrine offree will.[22]
An early example isMateo Alemán'sGuzmán de Alfarache (1599), characterized by religiosity. Guzmán de Alfarache is a fictional character who lived in the city ofSan Juan de Aznalfarache, inSeville, Spain.
Francisco de Quevedo'sEl Buscón (1604 according to Francisco Rico; the exact date is uncertain, yet it was certainly a very early work) is considered the absolute masterpiece of the genre by A. A. Parker, because of hisbaroque style and the study of delinquent psychology. However, a different school of thought, led byFrancisco Rico, rejects Parker's view, contending instead that the protagonist is an unrealistic character and that—as the structure of the novel is radically different from previous works in the picaresque genre—Quevedo is using the form as a mere vehicle to show off his abilities with conceit and rhetoric (rather than to actually construct a satirical critique ofSpanish Golden Age society).[citation needed]
Miguel de Cervantes wrote several works "in the picaresque manner, notablyRinconete y Cortadillo (1613) andEl coloquio de los perros (1613; "Colloquy of the Dogs")". "Cervantes also incorporated elements of the picaresque into his greatest novel,Don Quixote (1605, 1615)",[23] the "single most important progenitor of the modern novel", thatM. H. Abrams has described as a "quasi-picaresque narrative".[24] Here the hero is not a rogue but a foolish knight.
In order to understand the historical context that led to the development of these paradigmatic picaresque novels in Spain during the 16th and 17th centuries, it is essential to take into consideration the circumstances surrounding the lives ofconversos, whose ancestors had been Jewish, and whoseNew Christian faith was subjected to close scrutiny and mistrust.[a]
The Spanish novels were read and imitated in other European countries where their influence can be found. In Germany,Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen wroteSimplicius Simplicissimus[25] (1669), considered the most important of non-Spanish picaresque novels. It describes the devastation caused by theThirty Years' War. Grimmelshausen's novel has been called an example of the Germanabenteuerroman (which literally means "adventure novel"). Anabenteuerroman is Germany's version of the picaresque novel; it is an "entertaining story of the adventures of the hero, but there is also often a serious aspect to the story."[26]
Alain-René Le Sage'sGil Blas (1715) is a classic example of the genre,[27] which in France had declined into an aristocratic adventure.[citation needed] In Britain, the first example is Thomas Nashe'sThe Unfortunate Traveller (1594) in which a court page, Jack Wilson, exposes the underclass life in a string of European cities through lively, often brutal descriptions.[28] The body ofTobias Smollett's work, andDaniel Defoe'sMoll Flanders (1722) are considered picaresque, but they lack the sense of religious redemption of delinquency that was very important in Spanish and German novels. The triumph of Moll Flanders is more economic than moral.[dubious –discuss] While the mores of the early 18th century wouldn't permit Moll to be a heroineper se, Defoe hardly disguises his admiration for her resilience and resourcefulness.[citation needed]
The autobiography ofBenvenuto Cellini, written inFlorence beginning in 1558, also has much in common with the picaresque.
The classic Chinese novelJourney to the West is considered to have considerable picaresque elements. Having been published in 1590, it is contemporary with much of the above—but is unlikely to have been directly influenced by the European genre.
Henry Fielding proved his mastery of the form inJoseph Andrews (1742),The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild, the Great (1743) andThe History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749), though Fielding attributed his style to an "imitation of the manner ofCervantes, author ofDon Quixote".[b]
William Makepeace Thackeray is the master of the 19th-century English picaresque. His best-known work,Vanity Fair: A Novel Without a Hero (1847–1848) — a title ironically derived fromJohn Bunyan's Puritan allegory of redemptionThe Pilgrim's Progress (1678) — follows the career of fortune-hunting adventuressBecky Sharp, her progress echoing the earlierMoll Flanders. His earlier novelThe Luck of Barry Lyndon (1844) recounts the rise and fall of an Irish arriviste conniving his way into the 18th-century English aristocracy.
The 1880 Romanian novellaIvan Turbincă tells the story of a kind, but hedonistic and scheming ex soldier who ends up tricking God, the Devil, and the Grim Reaper so that he can sneak into Heaven to party forever.
Aleko Konstantinov wrote the 1895 novelBay Ganyo about theeponymous Bulgarian rogue. The character conducts business of uneven honesty around Europe before returning home to get into politics and newspaper publishing. Bay Ganyo is a well-known stereotype in Bulgaria.
In the English-speaking world, the term "picaresque" has referred more to aliterary technique or model than to the precise genre that the Spanish callpicaresco. The English-language term can simply refer to an episodic recounting of the adventures of ananti-hero on the road.[29]
Laurence Sterne'sThe Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1761–1767) andA Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy (1768) each have strong picaresque elements.Voltaire'ssatirical novelCandide (1759) contains elements of the picaresque. An interesting variation on the tradition of the picaresque isThe Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan (1824), a satirical view on early 19th-centuryPersia, written byJames Morier. Another novel on the same theme isA Rogue's Life (1857) byWilkie Collins.
Elements[clarification needed] of the picaresque novel are found inCharles Dickens'The Pickwick Papers (1836–37).[23]Nikolai Gogol occasionally used the technique, as inDead Souls (1842–52).[30]Mark Twain'sAdventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) also has some elements of the picaresque novel.[23]
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Kvachi Kvachantiradze is a novel byMikheil Javakhishvili published in 1924. This is, in brief, the story of a swindler, a GeorgianFelix Krull, or perhaps a cynicalDon Quixote, named Kvachi Kvachantiradze: womanizer, cheat, perpetrator of insurance fraud, bank-robber, associate of Rasputin, filmmaker, revolutionary, and pimp.
The Twelve Chairs (1928) and its sequel,The Little Golden Calf (1931), byIlya Ilf andYevgeni Petrov (together known asIlf and Petrov) became classics of 20th-centuryRussian satire and the basis fornumerous film adaptations.
Camilo José Cela'sThe Family of Pascual Duarte (1942),[31]Ralph Ellison'sInvisible Man (1952) andThe Adventures of Augie March bySaul Bellow (1953) were also among mid-twentieth-century picaresque literature.[32]John A. Lee'sShining with the Shiner (1944) tells amusing tales about New Zealand folk heroNed Slattery (1840–1927) surviving by his wits and beating the 'Protestant work ethic'. So too isThomas Mann'sConfessions of Felix Krull (1954), which like many novels emphasizes the theme of a charmingly roguish ascent in the social order.Under the Net (1954) byIris Murdoch,[c]Günter Grass'sThe Tin Drum (1959) is a German picaresque novel.John Barth'sThe Sot-Weed Factor (1960) is a picaresque novel that parodies thehistorical novel and usesblack humor by intentionally incorrectly usingliterary devices.[26]
Other examples from the 1960s and 1970s includeJerzy Kosinski'sThe Painted Bird (1965),Vladimir Voinovich'sThe Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin (1969), andArto Paasilinna'sThe Year of the Hare (1975).
Examples from the 1980s includeJohn Kennedy Toole's novelA Confederacy of Dunces, which was published in 1980, eleven years after the author's suicide, and won the 1981Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It follows the adventures of Ignatius J. Reilly, a well-educated but lazy and obese slob, as he attempts to find stable employment in New Orleans and meets many colorful characters along the way.
Later examples includeUmberto Eco'sBaudolino (2000),[33] andAravind Adiga'sThe White Tiger (Booker Prize 2008).[34]
William S. Burroughs was a devoted fan of picaresque novels, and gave a series of lectures involving the topic in 1979 atNaropa University in Colorado. He says it is impossible to separate theanti-hero from the picaresque novel, that most of these are funny, and they all have protagonists who are outsiders by their nature. His list of picaresque novels includes Petronius' novelSatyricon (54–68 AD),The Unfortunate Traveller (1594) by Thomas Nashe, bothMaiden Voyage (1943) andA Voice Through a Cloud (1950) byDenton Welch,Two Serious Ladies (1943) byJane Bowles,Death on Credit (1936) byLouis-Ferdinand Céline, and even himself.[35]
In contemporary Latin American literature, there areManuel Rojas'Hijo de ladrón (1951),Joaquín Edwards'El roto (1968),Elena Poniatowska'sHasta no verte Jesús mío (1969),Luis Zapata'sLas aventuras, desventuras y sueños de Adonis García, el vampiro de la colonia Roma (1978) andJosé Baroja'sUn hijo de perra (2017), among others.[36]
In 1987 anItaliancomedy film written and directed byMario Monicelli was released under the Italian titleI picari. It was co-produced with Spain, where it was released asLos alegres pícaros,[42] and internationally asThe Rogues. StarringVittorio Gassman,Nino Manfredi,Enrico Montesano,Giuliana De Sio andGiancarlo Giannini, the film is freely inspired by the Spanish novelsLazarillo de Tormes andGuzman de Alfarache.[43] TheDisney filmAladdin (1992) can be considered a picaresque story.[44]
The sixth episode of Season 1 of the Spanish fantasy television series,El ministerio del tiempo (English title:The Ministry of Time), entitled "Tiempo de pícaros" (Time of rascals) focuses on Lazarillo de Tormes as a young boy prior to his adventures in the genre-creating novel that bears his name. TheNetflix seriesInventing Anna (2022) has been called "somewhat anhedonic post-internet picaresque".[45]
Media related toPicaresque novel at Wikimedia Commons
