Fernández-López, Marisa

The Birth of the Spanish Novel in the Wake of Its French, English, and American Models - 2002.


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During most of the 19th century, authors and publishers ignored the existence of juvenile readers. What was published in Spain was directed at younger readers, written with clearly didactic aims and following norms that were in decline in other countries. This publishing void was filled with serials and popular literature mostly of French and to a lesser extent English origin. When at the turn of the century narratives for adolescents started being published, there appeared translations from French and English but also original Spanish works modeled on French serials or American dime novels. For publishers, their success among young readers set the norm for what was to be the narrative form for young readers far into the 20th century.