Genre-aanduidingen in de titels van het Nederlandse proza van de negentiende eeuw, of waarom een roman geen roman mocht heten

Samenvatting

In the nineteenth century readers had a clear picture of content, source and – increasingly – the form of a ‘roman’: a happy-ending love story was at the core of the work; the work was based on (the often mistrusted) free invention and certain artistic demands had to be fullfilled. When a work did not meet these requirements, designations as ‘verhaal’, ‘novelle’ or ‘tafereel’ were used. When, at the end of the nineteenth century, a love story was no longer required, the concept of ‘fiction’ became current, and the artistic demands were unleashed, the genre designation ‘roman’ could be used freely, but these developments made it superfluous as well.