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Picaresque -- Houdini or Huckleberry [1]
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Date: 2022-07-29
"pertaining to or dealing with rogues or knaves and their adventures," especially in literary productions, 1810, from Spanish picaresco "roguish," from picaro "rogue," a word of uncertain origin, possibly from picar "to pierce," from Vulgar Latin *piccare (see pike (n.1)). Originally in roman picaresque "rogue novel," the classic example being "Gil Blas."
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:[2]
A picaresque narrative is usually written in first person as an autobiographical account.
The main character is often of low character or social class. They get by with wits and rarely deign to hold a job.
There is little or no plot. The story is told in a series of loosely connected adventures or episodes.
There is little if any character development in the main character. Once a pícaro, always a pícaro. Their circumstances may change but these rarely result in a change of heart.
The pícaro's story is told with a plainness of language or realism.
Satire is sometimes a prominent element.
The behavior of a picaresque protagonist stops just short of criminality. Carefree or immoral rascality positions the picaresque hero as a sympathetic outsider, untouched by the false rules of society.
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.[3] The term is also sometimes used to describe works which only contain some of the genre's elements, such as Cervantes' Don Quixote, or Charles Dickens' Pickwick Papers.
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