History of the Short Story
If you’re reading this blog then you probably have some experience with the short story. You either read them, or maybe you have even written a few yourself. Heck, maybe you even love short stories and do nothing but read and write them! I am one of those people who love the short story, and there’s nothing better than sitting down with a literary magazine and losing yourself in a few good stories.
But have you ever really thought about the history of the short story? Where did it come from? When was it the most popular? These aren’t required questions to enjoy the literary form, but it does add a little depth to know what you are reading (or writing) didn’t just suddenly appear – there’s an evolutionary process that brought us this wonderful gem.
Once upon a time…
Long before computers, books, the printing press and probably even the English language, cavemen used to sit around their fires and tell their families of the long, hard hunt they just returned from. Or perhaps they told stories that were passed down to them by their elders, and these stories helped to explain the forces of nature or the movement of the moon and sun across the sky.
As silly as the above paragraph sounds, it’s probably true to one degree or another. According to this article on Wikipedia, the short story has its roots in the oral story-telling tradition. The stories were probably not always fictional, maybe just mere anecdotes of a day’s hunt, a fight with another clan or a heroic act by some tribal elder.
The "modern" short story rises in popularity
During the 19th century, the short story as we know it, appeared on the world literary stage. There is no "ah ha" moment where a writer decided to make short fiction into a literary form. Rather, it was a product of the evolutionary process that started with the oral traditions of the cavemen that turned the short story into what it is today. While it is debatable on just who wrote the first "modern" short story, there are several writers credited with taking the form to new levels. Among those writers is Edgar Alan Poe, Herman Melville, and Anton Chekov (source).
If the 19th century saw the birth of the modern short story, then it’s during the 20th century when the short story really became popular. Indeed, during the first half of the 20th century, it was possible for a writer to make a living writing short stories (a distant dream for most of us nowadays).
The short story today, and in the future
Over the past several decades, the short story has seen a drop in popularity, and is now condemned to literary magazines and collection anthologies that the mainstream reading public never give a second glance to. In other words, most consumers of short fiction today are those who also write short fiction.
Will the short story ever see a rise of popularity like it did during the early 20th century? I doubt it. However, there is hope. We live in a society where time is a valuable commodity and many just don’t have time to sit down and read a novel. The short story provides the perfect alternative. It can be read in one sitting and can be just as addictive as the novel can be.
A few final thoughts
This post by no means gives a complete history of the short story. I have merely skimmed over a few important points, but didn’t go into much detail. However, if this little post has tapped your curiosity to study the short story more, then I’m a happy blogger.
Related posts
- Is the short story dead?
- Read my guest post on LongShortStories: ‘Resurrecting the Short Story’
- Top 5 Reasons Why I Love Short Fiction
- Publishers reviving the short story in digital format
- Can Stephen King save the short story?
