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Here is a curious problem.
We all know what an epistolary novel is but what would one call a novel composed of fictitious documents other than letters? Dracula is an example that comes to mind which, other than some letters is mostly typescripts of meetings (supposedly done from early recording equipment) and other types of documents. Another is The Handmaid"s tale which purports to be transcripts from a tape recorded diary followed by a final chapter of analysis supposedly written by a historian in a much later period. Another example is Burgess' Man of Nazareth which presents itself as a translation of an archaeologically discovered ancient document (a technique I imagine is quite common in historical novels, thought I don't read those much).
There must be some term to describe the genre that would encompass all of these books (including epistolary novels). But neither I nor Mme. Malkhos can think of one off hand. Documentary novel seems possible, but a google search suggests that that is more often used to describe books that are not fictional but nevertheless have something like a plot, like Paul Thoreaux's books or Devil in the White City (which was on a potentially interesting topic but so dreadfully written neither of us could finish it).
We all know what an epistolary novel is but what would one call a novel composed of fictitious documents other than letters? Dracula is an example that comes to mind which, other than some letters is mostly typescripts of meetings (supposedly done from early recording equipment) and other types of documents. Another is The Handmaid"s tale which purports to be transcripts from a tape recorded diary followed by a final chapter of analysis supposedly written by a historian in a much later period. Another example is Burgess' Man of Nazareth which presents itself as a translation of an archaeologically discovered ancient document (a technique I imagine is quite common in historical novels, thought I don't read those much).
There must be some term to describe the genre that would encompass all of these books (including epistolary novels). But neither I nor Mme. Malkhos can think of one off hand. Documentary novel seems possible, but a google search suggests that that is more often used to describe books that are not fictional but nevertheless have something like a plot, like Paul Thoreaux's books or Devil in the White City (which was on a potentially interesting topic but so dreadfully written neither of us could finish it).
