ABSTRACT
Thefirstpicturethatspringstomindatthementionofthepicaresqueisthatof somepoorwretchtrudgingalonglanesandbyways,usingallhiswitstoensure hisownsurvival.Itmaybetruethatthegodsoftragedyarethirsty,butitis certainlyafactthatthevagabondsofthepicaresqueworldarehungry.Itisone ofthecharacteristicfeaturesofthis'epicofhunger' 1whichfirstcameinto existenceinsixteenth-centurySpain.Theterm,whichrecurswithtroubling obstinacyinliterarycriticismatthefirstmentionofacharactersettingoutonan excursion,orattheslightesthintofmovementupthesocialladder,hasbecome hackneyed.SomuchsothattheAmericannovelistHerveyAllen(1899-1949) suggestedjokinglyfiftyyearsagothateverynovelwouldendupbeing picaresqueifitsprotagonistwerenotbornseriouslyhandicapped.2Agreathost ofnamesloomsupatthethoughtofthepicaresque:Defoe,Fielding,Smollett, Scott,Thackeray,Dickens,Hardy,Orwell,nottomentionsuchAmerican authorsasTwain,SaulBellowandJohnBarth,amongmanyothers.Whileit hasnotbeenentirelyemptiedofmeaning,thelabelremainsvagueindeed, lessdescriptivethanlaudative,doubtlessbeingheardinassociationwith picturesque.MarcusCunliffe'sperfectlydefendablecommentonSaulBellow, forexample,isatellingillustrationofthis:'AugieMarchisindeedapicaresque novel,totheextentthatitshero,ayoungmanfromChicago,hasnoparticular moralscruplesandawidecuriosityabouthumannature.' 3Thetermhasfounda widevarietyofapplications,fromAfricanAmericanliteratureinrelationto runawayslavenarratives,toChinesenovels.Andyet,ifthetermisgivencloser examination,itsdefinitionseemstoembraceacertainnumberofprecise features.Howcanweaccountforthisdividebetweentherelativeprecision whendefiningthepicaresqueandtheratherlooseapplicationoftheterm? Mighttherebearelationbetweenthepicaresqueasamode,genreorstructure, andthetermusedasaclicheincriticaldiscourse?Theclichemayindeedreveal apatterninnarrativediscourseaswellasbringingtolightthewayliterary genresfunctiondynamically.Inastudyofnovelsandtravelnarratives frequentlyadornedwiththeepithet'picaresque',itisfittingthatweshould attempttoevaluatehowpertinenttheadjectiveis,particularlyinrelationtothe eighteenth-centurynovel.Suchacomplexsubject,however,requiresmorethan alittlecaution.Weshouldbeginatthebeginning,headingsouthtotheIberian Peninsula.
