fragmentary novel

{{Short description|Type of literary work}}

A fragmentary novel is a novel made of fragments, vignettes, segments, documents or chapters that can be read in isolation and/or as part of the greater whole of the book. These novels typically lack a traditional plot or set of characters and often are the product of a cultural crisis.{{Cite journal|last=Wood|first=Carl|date=1973|title=IN OUR TIME: Hemingway's Fragmentary Novel|jstor=43342874|journal=Neuphilologische Mitteilungen|volume=74|issue=4|pages=716–726}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2016/nov/03/fragmented-stories-can-be-fulfilling-reading-anne-carson|title=Refreshing breaks: how fragmented stories can be fulfilling reading|last=Power|first=Chris|date=2016-11-03|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-04-14}}{{Cite web|url=http://fractiousfiction.com/rise_of_the_fragmented_novel.html|title=The Rise of the Fragmented Novel|last=Gioia|first=Ted|website=fractiousfiction.com|access-date=2018-04-14}}{{Cite news|url=http://cognitive-edge.com/concept-papers/narrative-patterning-alternate-history-and-fragmented-narrative/|title=Narrative Patterning : Alternate History and Fragmented Narrative – Cognitive Edge|work=Cognitive Edge|access-date=2018-04-14|language=en-US}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2cM1CMJAxNwC&dq=fragmented+narrative+commentary&pg=PA123|title=Ulysses, Capitalism and Colonialism: Reading Joyce After the Cold War|last=Booker|first=M. Keith|date=2000|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313312434|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=http://gristjournal.com/shattered-novel-rules-fragmented-fiction-samantha-edmonds/|title=The Shattered Novel: Rules of Fragmented Fiction by Samantha Edmonds – Grist|date=2017-10-29|work=Grist|access-date=2018-04-14|language=en-US}}

The oldest fragmentary novels are part of the (proto)-picaresque novel tradition.{{Cite news|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/53090-what-s-a-picaresque-the-top-5-novels.html|title=What's a Picaresque? The Top 5 Novels|work=PublishersWeekly.com|access-date=2018-04-14|language=en}}{{Cite journal|last=Mancing|first=Howard|date=1979|title=The Picaresque Novel: A Protean Form|jstor=25111277|journal=College Literature|volume=6|issue=3|pages=182–204}} Some of these fragmented novels are also categorized as short story collections or epistolary novels. Some fragmentary novels are (posthumously) published unfinished novels or are partially lost novels.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/13/reading-jane-austens-final-unfinished-novel|title=Reading Jane Austen's Final, Unfinished Novel|last=Lane|first=Anthony|date=2017-03-06|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=2018-04-14|language=en|issn=0028-792X}}{{Cite journal|last=Laurence|first=Talairach-Vielmas|date=2014-06-02|title=Saverio Tomaiuolo, Victorian Unfinished Novels: The Imperfect Page|url=https://journals.openedition.org/miranda/5981|journal=Miranda |language=fr|issue=9|doi=10.4000/miranda.5981 |issn=2108-6559|doi-access=free}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137008176|title=Victorian Unfinished Novels – The Imperfect Page {{!}} S. Tomaiuolo {{!}} Palgrave Macmillan|work=SpringerLink |language=en}}