SHORT STORY

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Assignment

Farooq Ali Khan

Development
of Short Story
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 Various Definitions of Short Story

I. Edgar Allan Poe:

A short story is a prose narrative requiring from half an hour to two hours for its perusal

II. Somerset Maugham:

A short story is a prose fiction including words from 1600 to 20000

III. Graham Balfour:

There are so far as I know, three ways, and three ways only, of writing a story. You may take a plot
and fit characters to it, or you may take a character and choose incidents and situations to develop it,
or lastly you must bear with me while I try to make this clear, you may take a certain atmosphere, and
get actions and persons to realize it.

IV. Sir Hugh Walpole:

A short story should be a story, a record of things happening, full of incident and accident, swift
movement, unexpected development, leading through suspense to a climax and a satisfying
denouement.

V. H. G. Wells:

The jolly art of making something very bright and moving; it may be horrible or pathetic or funny or
profoundly illuminating, having only this essential, that it should take from fifteen to fifty minutes to
read aloud.

VI. Free Online Dictionary:

A short story is a short piece of prose fiction, having few characters and aiming at unity of effect.

Short Story and Other Genres of Prose Fiction:

It is evident that a short story is the most elusive form of prose fiction in terms of classification.
However, a short story can be differentiated from novella and novel with major distinctive literary
characteristics.
The first distinctive literary characteristic of short story which makes it different from novella and
novel is brevity and conciseness. A short story may include words ranging from 800 to 2000, whereas
a novella may include pages ranging from 100 to 200 and a novel may include words ranging from
60000 to 70000. While brevity is specified as the most obvious characteristics of a short story it must
also be remembered that the evolution of a short story into a definite type is also associated with the
development of some fairly well-marked literary characteristics of organism.
The second distinctive literary feature of a short story compared to novella and novel in terms of
composition is the singleness of subject, which must be developed adequately and effectively
developed with in the prescribed limits similar to any other form of art where subject is always
bounded up with the treatment. It must also be remembered that a short story must not be necessarily
confined to a single incident or moment.
The third fundamental feature of short story in terms of composition is unity, which may head unity of
motive, unity of purpose, unity of action, and in addition, unity of impression. It may be laid down as
a rule for a short story to which there can be no exception. A short story must contain only one
informing idea and it must be worked out towards its logical ends with absolute singleness of aim and
directness of method. It is this essential kind of unity which will be found in every really good short
story. In the case of a novel because of so many elements woven into the texture, it may be difficult to
find any central organizing principle. While at times analysis may reveal two or more distinct axles of
interests. In a short story the developing idea must be perfectly clear and the interest coming out of it
must never be complicated under any other considerations. Hence, singleness of aim and singleness of
effect are the two great canons by which we have to try the value of a short story as a piece of art.
Thus, short story writing being a challenging task compared to novel because of the attainment of this
unity, the perfection of workmanship in it, and the complete adaptation of means to an end gives
peculiar aesthetic pleasure to a thoughtful reader.
The fourth important feature of a short story which makes it different from novella or novel is
character delineation. It is a matter of common experience that one has to live with men and women
for some time under different circumstances and relationships to know them. This principle of actual
life is true for the character delineation in a novel. However, in a short story we meet with characters
for a few circumstances and relationships and the attentions is always focused on a particular aspect
of the character, which ultimately results in a strong impression unlike that of a novella or novel. The
short story can not deal with the evolution of characters like novel. The characters of a novel are often
four dimensional, whereas the characters of a short story are always, one or two or at most three
dimensional. This evidence is strengthened by the fact that some of the characters of drama and novel
have achieved timeless fame, which has never been the case with characters of a short story.
The fifth important distinctive feature of a short story compared to novella or novel is almost always
the presence of simple plot. In novella or novel, a writer possesses space on the canvas for the usage
of a compound plot unlike a short story where the brevity only allows normally a simple plot to its
writer. It is also a well known fact that in novella or novella a writer can juxtapose many incidents or
moments whereas its not the case in short story writing.
Finally, in regard to the nature of the germinal idea, again generalization is equally out of question.
Provided that the elementary conditions which have been stated are fulfilled, a story may deal with
any kind of motive and material. A short story can include an unlimited range of themes. As always a
method must ultimately depend upon matter and purpose. A story may contain little or no dialogue, or
it may be nearly all dialogues. And while in the great majority of cases the amount of description
introduced must me small occasionally. Local color is an essential feature of a short story like any
other form of true art and details can be rightly estimated with respect to the total design.

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 Historical Development of Short Story

1. Development of Short Story in Antiquity:

The most ancient form of tales can be traced to the Egyptian civilization in 2000 B.C. In the Bible the
accounts of Cain and Abel, the Prodigal Son, Ruth, Judith, Susannah are all short stories. These stories
are excellent short tales but they do not fulfill the requirements of our modern short story because
they are not constructed on one single impression and are in reality parts of possible longer stories.
The Greeks did very little writing in prose in the era of their decadence and showed little instinct to
use the concise and unified form of the short story. The most worth mentioning fable of Greek era is
of the Greek slave Aesop. The Romans also followed the foot steps of their predecessors and did little
work in the shorter narratives. The Roman writers Ovid and Lucius Apuleius retold the stories of the
Greeks and wrote oriental stories of magical transformations. The epics written by Roman writers
especially Ovid were slow in movement and presented a list of loosely organized stories arranged
about some character like Ulysses or Aeneas. The myths of Greece and Rome were not bound up by
facts, and opened a wonderland where writers were free to roam.
The Indian short story collection, the Panchatantra is written in 4th century A.D. The major oriental
collection of nondidactic and nonmoralistic tales in this era is undoubtedly the Arabian Nights. In this
collection, a frame tale is employed every night for 1001 nights. Scheherazade successfully prevents
her husband, the sultan from killing her by telling him interesting tales from various cultures.

2. Development of Short Story in the Middle Ages:

In Western Europe stories in all their variety flourished during the Middle Ages. Romances, in prose
or verse, many about knights in King Arthurs court, flourished in France. The English poet Geoffrey
Chaucer (1340-1400) and the Italian poet Giovanni Boccaccio preserved and refined the best the
Middle Ages had to offer in the various genres of story. They retold (in prose or verse) fables, beast
epics, exempla (didactic religious tales), romances, fabliaux (vulgar tales of amorous or coarse
adventure) and legends. Like the Arabian Nights, Chaucers Canterbury Tales (1385-1400) and
Boccaccios Decameron (1349-1351) incorporates the frame tale as a setting for other stories. Among
Chaucers most enjoyable tales are The Millers Tale, a fabliau, and The Nuns Priests Tale, a
mock heroic epic. The Knights Tale is a superb representative of the romance. Boccaccios tale of a
man who sacrifices his falcon for the woman he loves displays all the formal perfection of the modern
short story.

3. Development of Short Story in the Renaissance:

After Boccaccio, the short, realistic narrative in prose, known as the novella, flourished as a form of
art in Italy during the Renaissance. In France the influence of Boccaccio was seen in Les Cent
Nouvelles Nouvelles written by an anonymous writer in 1460 in the shape of burlesque prose tales.
Marguerite De Navarre wrote Heptameron in 1549, which are based on decorous love stories. The
stories written in prose from the time of famous prose writer Thomas Mallory up to the Renaissance
were in reality confused and dull romances and novels rather than short story

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4. Development of Short Story in 17th Century:

In the 17th century Cervantes gave the world its first great novel, Don Quixote. Cervantes was careless
in his work and did not write short stories but tales that are fairly brief. In 1614 Cervantes published
his Novelas Ejemplares, and these are short stories more or less as we understand in term today. Also
in France, in the 17th century, Jean De La Fontaine produced fables in verse that rivaled Aesops.
Spain added to the story a high sense of chivalry and a richness of character the Greek romance and
the Italian novella did not possess. France followed his composition and lack of beauty in form.
Scarron and Le Sage, the two French fiction writers of this period, contributed little or nothing to the
advancement of story telling. Cervantes The Liberal Lover is as near as this period came to producing
a real short story. The story telling of 17th century was largely shaped by the popularity of the drama.
Addison and Steele in the Spectator developed some real characters of the fiction type and told some
good stories, but even their best, like Theodosius and Constantia, fall far short of developing all the
dramatic possibilities, and lack the focusing of interest. Some of Lambs Essays of Elia, especially the
Dream Children, introduces a delicate fancy and an essayists clearness of thought and statement into
the story. At the close of this century German romanticism began to seep into English thought and
prepare the way for things new in literary thought and treatment.

5. Development of Short Story in the 18th Century:

In 18th century the short story was being developed and established in Britain, partly as a result of the
popularity of the oriental tale but more so as a result of the popularity of the Gothic novel. Such was
the appetite for the then new kind of horror story and the literature of terror that by 18th century a
large number of short Gothic stories had been published, as well as the numerous novels. By the end
of the 18th century, the German Novelle had become established both as a term and as a genre of
fiction. In 1772 Denis Diderot, the encyclopededist, wrote Ceci nest pas un conte, which was
published in 1784. He anticipated by two centuries some recent theory of narratology, reception
theory and reader response theory. He introduced in to the story a listener, a character whose role is
more or less that of the reader.

6. Development of Short Story in the 19th century:

The short story as it is known today is a development of the 19th century, when popular and
literary magazines began increasingly to publish short stories that often reflected the dominant
literary modes of the day. In the early 19th century, Romanticism shaped the short fictions of
Heinrich Von Kleist and E.T.A Hoffmann, in Germany; Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel
Hawthorne, in the United States; and Nikolay Gogol, in Russia. Realism took hold in France
in the 1830s, followed at the end of the century by naturalism, in which human interactions
are viewed as scientifically predictable. Other stylistic influences on the 19 th century short
story included symbolism and regionalism.

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a. Development of Short Story in the United States in the 19th Century:
Until the 19th century, the primary focus in most stories had been on the what happened element.
Now writers began to concentrate on the motivations that propelled characters into conflict. At the
same time, attention was directed to techniques of economic storytelling: artful structuring of events,
exclusion of extraneous material, strict control and focusing point of view, and selection of precisely
appropriate diction. Edgar Allan Poe was the first writer to so define the short story, in his review
(1842) of Hawthornes Twice-Told Tales (1837). Poe proved his artistic theory in several of his own
tales. In The Cask of Amontillado, he manipulated setting, character, and dialogue to lead the reader
inexorably to the emotional state most appropriate for the perfect murder. Hawthornes stories, on the
other hand, seriously probed characters and the moral significance of events, leaving their physical
reality ambiguous. In Young Goodman Brown, the dark meetings in the woods of the townspeople of
Salem occurred less certainly that did the spiritual changes in Brown himself.
In his preface to the definitive edition of his works, Henry James, one of the masters of the short story
form, whose theories of fiction influenced need generations of storytellers emphasized the role of a
central intelligence in shaping and filtering a storys materials. Thus in his ghost story, The Jolly
Corner, James used the narrator to convey a sense of immediacy and of psychological realism. In A
Bundle of Letters, he experimented with point of view presenting the story through a series of letters
written by six people living in a French pension.

b. Development of Short Story in Germany in the 19th Century:

The German Novelle flourished in 19th century in Germany in the hands of different writers including
Hoffmann, Kleist, and Theodore Storm, author of the classic romance of childhood Immense (1852).
The Novelle focuses on a single unusual or striking event on a character or group of characters to
whom the event occurs, and on a surprising conclusion that is propelled by a significant turning point.

c. Development of Short Story in Russia in the 19th Century:

Mikhail Lermontovs concerns with character study in the exquisite cycle of stories A Hero of Our
Time (1840; trans. 1886) in contrast with Ivan Turgenevs A Sportsman Sketches (1852), a cycle in
which a huntsmans visits to various rural locales is used to paint a convincing picture of Russian life.
Gogol influenced later development of the short story when he mixed dream and reality in The
Overcoat: an insignificant clerk is crushed by the theft of his new overcoat, but returns from death as
a ghost to seek justice. Gogols influence can be seen in Fyodor Dostoyevskys fantastic story The
Crocodile, in which a civil servant, although swallowed by a crocodile, continues from within the
monsters belly to develop principles of economy. A different strain in Russian fiction is represented
by the realistic stories of Leo Tolstoy. The Death of Ivan Ilych, analyses a mans thoughts and
emotions as he gradually realizes he is dying; at the same time it criticizes the shallowness of Ivans
family and friends, who refuse to face the reality of his death. The master of ironic detachment in
Russian stories was Anton Chekhov. For Chekhov character rather than plot was important. In The
Heartache, a hack driver tries to convey to his passengers his sorrow at the death of his son, but no

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one will listen except his horse. In Vanya a boy writes to his grandfather asking to be rescued from a
hard life, but the letter is posted without being properly addressed or stamped.

d. Development of Short Story in France in the 19th century:

During the 19th century in France, Honor De Balzac and Gustave Glaubert, better known for their
novels, wrote several justly admired short stories. Prosper Mrime, on the other hand, concentrated
his talent on short fiction. Despite the controlled, detached style of his masterpieces (Colomba,
Carmen, and The Etruscan Vase), they manage to express fierce passion. Fanciful stories such as
Father Gauchers Elixir and the other tales collected in Letters de mon Moulin (1869; Letters from
My Mill, 1900) won much popularity for Alphonse Daudet, who also produced many Realistic and
Naturalistic stories. The greatest of the Naturalistic short story writers in France, however, was Guy
de Maupassant. His 300 stories demonstrate mastery of the economy and balance necessary to the
perfectly crafted, formal short story. Taken together, his stories paint a detailed picture of French life
towards the end of the century.

7. Development of Short Story in the 20th Century:

Since 1900. enormous numbers of short stories have been published annually, in almost every
language. Experiments in subject matter and narrative technique vie with displays of skill in the art of
telling traditional stories in a traditional manner, as in the work of the English writer Somerset
Maugham. A disciple of Maupassant, Maugham was one of the prolific and popular of all short story
writers, writing mostly about British colonials in the South Pacific. Many countries boast of at least
one great 20th century short story writer; for example Katherine Mansfield, the New Zealand author,
whose own style shows the influence of Chekhov, may be considered a formative influence on the
genre. Her obliquely perceptive stories of lifes ironies fostered several generations of imitators.

8. Development of Short Story in the United States in the 20th Century:

Nowhere else, however, has the form flourished so extravagantly and extensively as in the United
States? At the turn of the century, Mark Twain, O. Henry and the regionalists Stephen Crane and Willa
Cather played important roles in this development. Sherwood Anderson proved in his short story
Cycle Winesberg, Ohio (1919) that absence of plot could enhance portrayal of character. Many of
Ernest Hemingways short stories, economically written, as they are, seem full of insignificant detail;
the detail, however, is used to reveal subtle shifts in a characters psychological states. William
Faulkner probed the deep recesses of the human psyche while experimenting with fictional forms and
creating, in successive stories and novels, a mythic South. In The Evening Sun he dissected a black
womans fears while creating a believable world peopled with characters that evoke in the reader both
pity and sympathetic laughter.

Among the newer American story writers, those critically acclaimed since the 1940s, are two other
southerners: Eudora Welty, with her mixture of humor and pathos, and Flannery OConnor, with her
passionate moral concern. John Cheever and John Updike, noted for their dispassionate stories about

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the ironies of northern suburban life, were among the most polished short story writers to emerge after
World War II. Leaders of the avant-garde in various experiments with narrative format include Kurt
Vonnegut, Donald Barthelme, Joyce Carol Oates, and Ann Beattie.

9. Development of Short Story in Ireland in the 20th Century:

Some of the most compelling short stories in English are those of 20th century Irish writers. Foremost
among them is James Joyce, whose daring experiment with fictional form changed the course of
literature in the 20th century. His one book of short stories, Dubliners (1914), contains painfully
truthful representations of life in his native city. Blending symbolism with naturalism, these stories
achieved world acclaim as models of the form. Other Irish masters of the short story include Sean
OFaolain, Frank OConnor, and William Trevor.

10. Other Traditions related to the Development of Short Story in the 20th Century:
In the 20th century, short stories have been written in every European language and in the languages
of Asia, the Middle East, and the various nations and cultures of Africa. A list of the great
practitioners of the form would be extremely long. Among the most intriguing, however, is the Czech-
born Franz Kafka. The fantastic and the realistic are perfectly blended in the experimental, mythic
stories. His major themes are quintessential 20th century ones: human isolation, anxiety, and the
relationship between life and art.

The rich Yiddish tradition is still very much alive. Especially delightful are the tales of Eastern
European Jewryoften transplanted to contemporary American settingswritten by the Polish-born
Isaac Bashevis Singer, who translated much of his own work into English.

Authors from Sub-Saharan Africa, black and white, mingle wild fancy, stark realism, and often,
political commentary. Doris Lessing rose in what is now Zimbabwe is known for her African Stories
(1951). From South Africa come Eskia Mphahlele and Nadine Gordimer. The latters disturbing
stories of family and race relationships sum up the social and political tensions in her country.
Collections of her work include Selected Stories (1976) and Something Out There (1984).

Stories from Asia include both refinements on ancient traditions and fresh experiments with the
formal short story. English readers are perhaps most familiar with the works of Akutagawa
Ryunosukes Rashomon and Mishima Yokio Three Million Yen. Japanese and Rabindranath Tagore, an
India.

Critical attention is increasingly focused on the new writing of Latin America. The Argentinean Jorge
Luis Borges examines the conditions of human existence in a way that echoes Kafkas myths. His
literary influence like that of Kafka has been enormous. Writers such as Julio Cortazars Blow Up,
also from Argentina; Clarice Lispector, a Brazilian; and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, from Colombia,
have also won audiences beyond their nation borders.

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 Reference:

The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms, 4th edition, by J. A. Cuddon, Penguin Books,
1998

Indigo Dictionary of Literary Terms

A Background to English Literature, New Kitab Mahel Publication, Peshawer

An Introduction to the Study of Literature, by Hudson.

Free Online Dictionary, www.freeonlinedictionary.com

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