The Invention of the Sequel: Expanding Prose Fiction in Early Modern Spain (Monografías, Series A)

This book proposes a new way of tracing the history of the Early Modern Spanish novel through the prism of literary continuation. It identifies and examines the Golden Age narratives that invented the sequel and the narrative genres that the sequel in turn invented. These genres include the Celestinesque, the sentimental, the picaresque, the pastoral and the chivalric novels. The Invention of the Sequel also defines the sequel's forms and functions, thus filling a major gap in literary theory in general and Peninsular literary studies in particular. Throughout we see that sequel develops first and foremost in Early Modern Spain, an unacknowledged and unexamined contribution to Western letters. Given this panoramic scope, this study serves as an introduction to the central narratives genres and texts of the era. These texts include Fernando de Rojas's 'Celestina', Diego de San Pedro's 'Cárcel de amor', 'Lazarillo de Tormes', the Diana, Jorge de Montemayor's 'Diana', Mateo Alemán's 'Guzmán de Alfarache' and Miguel de Cervantes' 'Don Quijote'.