The Novelle has always invited theoretical definition, as demonstrated by the important statements on its form and function by Goethe, Heyse, et al., reproduced in an appendix to this book. But Roger Paulin's purpose is to relate such theoretical discussion to the tradition whence the Novelle sprang, to examples of the genre written outside Germany (by such as Poe as Turgenev), and to the wider context of German literature in the nineteenth century. In short, he regards the Novelle both in terms of literary context and of individual practice, rather than as an abstract concept.

The Novelle has always invited theoretical definition, as demonstrated by the important statements on its form and function by Goethe, Heyse, et al., reproduced in an appendix to this book. But Roger Paulin's purpose is to relate such theoretical discussion to the tradition whence the Novelle sprang, to examples of the genre written outside Germany (by such as Poe as Turgenev), and to the wider context of German literature in the nineteenth century. In short, he regards the Novelle both in terms of literary context and of individual practice, rather than as an abstract concept.