Cultural Specificity of the European Novel on the Periphery: Sophie von La Roche and Pietro Chiari

The article explores the eighteenth-century novels of Germany and Italy defined as the countries of European periphery, as cultural and stylistic phenomenon. The study focuses on the difference in perception and reflection of English and French novelistic tradition, expressed in the novelistic tropes, clichés and plots, which were adapted by German and Italian authors from English and French novels. The objective of the research is to highlight the specificity of the novel of European periphery as cultural phenomenon, distinct and distant from the headline stylistic and cultural trends. The new themes and ideological points risen by German and Italian authors, who acted as the outsiders of the mainstream European literature, are also investigated. The research revolves around the study of one of the first German psychological novels, “Geschichte des Fräuleins von Sternheim” (“The History of Lady Sophia Sternheim”) (1771) by Sophie von La Roche, and Pietro Chiari’s “La Filosofessa Italiana” (“The Italian Philosophess”) (1753), the first attempt in the genre of Italian novel, both investigated as brought in the context of the fundamental monuments of European literature of the 18th century.