本书是上海外语教育出版社“文学研习丛书”系列中的一本，引进自Bloomsbury出版社。分九个章节：小说与虚构，历史、体裁和文化，较短的虚构，现实主义、现代主义、后现代主义及以后，虚构作品分析、小说学习，版本、改变和翻译，虚构作品批评的不同路径，世界文学和虚构，内容非常丰富。本书标题看似老调，论述却富有新意；语言简单，而意义明晰、深厚。本书是外语文学批评和研究的一本很有分量的参考书。

Introduction to the Seventh Edition viii
1 Fiction and the Novel
The universality and the distinctiveness of fiction
Fiction, play, fantasy
Imaginary characters and real life
Prose
Narrative
Characters, action, plot
Novel, short story, novella
2 History, Genre, Culture
When was the novel born?
Ancestors and close relations
Novel and romance
Life and pattern
The "rise of the novel"
3 Shorter Fiction
The short story
The novella
4 Realism, Modernism, Postmodernism--and Beyond s
Realism
Modernism
Postmodernism
The electronic revolution
5 Analyzing Fiction
Prose fiction and formal analysis
Narrative technique
Character
Plot
Structure
Setting
Theme
Symbol and image
Speech and dialogue
6 Studying the Novel
Studying the novel in the digital age
Reading, responding, criticizing
How to take notes
Using critics
Using computers
Revision/review
Essays and examinations
7 Versions, Adaptations, Translations
Versions
Adaptations
Translations
8 Critical Approaches to Fiction
Courses and approaches
Categorizing criticism
Narratology: Structuralist and rhetorical
The literary critical tradition
Textual approaches
Contextual approaches
Ideological approaches
9 World Literature and Fiction
World Literature
For whom does the novel speak today?
Fiction, truth, and (recent) history
Timeline of the Novel
Glossary of Terms
Bibliography
Index