Picaresque Continuities: Transformation of Genre

by Robert S. Stone

In proposing the unification of the bibliographical genres known as the picaresque novel and the Bildungsroman, this book examines the adoption of the Spanish picaresque by authors in Germany, France, Mexico and Brazil, at moments when colonial conditions made fertile ground for upwardly mobile heroes. These were very popular works in their day, not only, it is argued, because of their wit, but because they addressed issues that affected the daily lives of readers, to whom they advocated new ethical codes in rapidly changing worlds.

200 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1998