antinovel

American  

[an-tee-nov-uhl, an-tahy-] / ˈæn tiˌnɒv əl, ˈæn taɪ- /

noun

1. a literary work in which the author rejects the use of traditional elements of novel structure, especially in regard to development of plot and character.

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antinovel British  

/ ˈæntɪˌnɒvəl /

noun

1. Also: anti-roman.   nouveau roman.  a type of prose fiction in which conventional or traditional novelistic elements are rejected

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Other Word Forms

• antinovelist noun

Etymology

Origin of antinovel

First recorded in 1955–60; anti- + novel ¹

Example Sentences

His antinovel resembles books that split commentary on a writer with more personal material — books like Julian Barnes’s novel “Flaubert’s Parrot” and Geoff Dyer’s quasi-biography of D.H.

From New York Times

“A historical antinovel: overwriting: a stockpot with bony prefixes to season a greasy literary field that has run out of meat.”

From New York Times