Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Heroic novel
(814 words)

1. Definition

Alongside the picaresque novel, the heroic romance, also called the courtly-historical novel, the courtly Baroque novel, or the heroic-galant novel, is historically the most important form of the European novel of the Baroque period, with centers in France and Germany. These were often very lengthy works, which were assigned to the high style within the early modern three-style system (Poetics). For subject matter, the heroic romances usually draw on historical sources, not rarely from an…

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Kraft, Stephan, “Heroic novel”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 03 October 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_020888>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20180915



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