ABSTRACT
The word ‘picaresque’ seems to have shared the same fate as other literary, critical and descriptive terms such as conceit, irony, satire, naturalism, classicism and romanticism, in that attempts at precise definition have produced more confusion than understanding. The picaresque is a literary phenomenon, a work of fiction which is concerned with the habits and lives of rogues. It is obvious that a great deal of confusion exists both in locating the Spanish origins of the picaresque and in defining the extent to which the term is applicable to fiction outside Spain. This chapter attempts to define a ‘picaresque myth’, that is, a story, plot, or ‘situation’ which can be seen working in certain nineteenth- and twentieth-century works. If revitalized and properly understood, the term ‘picaresque’ can be of some use as a literary-critical category in the general domain of the critical idiom.
