Study On Ian Watt’s Theory Of Novel

Ian Watt put forward his own theory of novel in response to the new criticism of text supremacy and the tendency to separate the text from the external world.This paper mainly studies on Ian Watt’s theory of novel from four aspects: the ideological origin and theoretical framework of Ian Watt’s theory of novel;the realistic novel view of Ian Watt;the individualistic novel view of Ian Watt;the value and reflection of Ian Watt’s theory of novel.Ian Watt’s theory of novel was formed under the influence of new criticism.Through the research of the ideological background and social context of the 18 th century novels,Ian Watt connected the rise of the novel with social economy,philosophy and religion,and defined the concept of the novel.In his opinion,“realism” is the key feature to distinguish novel form from previous fiction,and the novel form is the literary form that most fully reflects“individualism”.In explaining the “realism” feature of the novel,Ian Watt discussed it from two aspects: form and content.From the perspective of the form of the novel,Ian Watt named the narrative method which embodies the detailed life view of the novel “formal realism”;In terms of content,Ian Watt thought that the novel is a kind of real world that the author highly imitates real life and weaves,and thus put forward the critical term of “pseudo-realism”,which reminds the readers to distinguish fiction and reality correctly.According to Ian Watt,“individualism” and “realism” are inseparable.Therefore,In explaining the “individualism”feature of the novel,Ian Watt regarded personal experience as the most authoritative referee of reality.Through the germination of individualism in the Renaissance,the motif of individualism in the novels of the 18 th century,and the mythical phenomenon of modern individualism in the 19 th and 20 th century,Ian Watt showed that the novel,as the main form of the interpretation of individualism,has evolved from the initial rise to the continuous mythologization,in which the acceptance history of the characters in the novels reflects the problem of the extreme development of individualism.Ian Watt’s theory of novel not only responds to the text centralism of British and American new criticism,but also opens up the critical path of the novel,deepens the critical terms of the novel,improves the critical depth ofthe novel,and plays an important role in the history of British and American novel criticism.