A continuator, in

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

, is a writer who creates a new work based on someone else's prior text, such as a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

or novel fragment. The new work may complete the older work (as with the numerous continuations of

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

's unfinished novel ''

Sanditon ''Sanditon'' (1817) is an unfinished novel by the English writer Jane Austen. In January 1817, Austen began work on a new novel she called ''The Brothers'', later titled ''Sanditon'', and completed eleven chapters before stopping work in mid- ...

''), or may try to serve as a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term " ...

to the older work (such as

Alexandra Ripley Alexandra Ripley ( Braid; January 8, 1934 – January 10, 2004) was an American writer best known as the author of '' Scarlett'' (1991), written as a sequel to '' Gone with the Wind''. Her first novel was ''Who's the Lady in the President's Bed ...

's '' Scarlett'', an authorized continuation of

Margaret Mitchell Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (November 8, 1900 – August 16, 1949) was an American novelist and journalist. Mitchell wrote only one novel, published during her lifetime, the American Civil War-era novel '' Gone with the Wind'', for which she wo ...

's ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind may also refer to: Music * ''Gone with the Wind'' ...

''). This phenomenon differs from those authors who, because they share a common culture, use characters or themes from a common cultural stock.

History

The development of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an classical literature out of the common stock of oral tradition proved conducive to reworkings, revisions, and

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

s. Numerous writers of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

's golden age revived and reworked stories of the

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...

and

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, although they were not strictly continuators as, for the most part, they did not invent or even extrapolate much from the received stories, choosing to alter the tone and treatment rather than the stories.

Latin literature Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literature ...

, on the other hand, may be regarded as systematic continuators of Greek models. The pinnacle of

Augustan literature Augustan literature (sometimes referred to misleadingly as Georgian literature) is a style of British literature produced during the reigns of Queen Anne, King George I, and George II in the first half of the 18th century and ending in the 17 ...

, the ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...

'', is essentially a continuation of the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...

'': not only in that it follows a minor character from his imagined origins in

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

to his founding of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, but in that it continues a historical ethos. This move, by connecting the Roman empire both culturally and pseudo-historically to the Homeric myth, is commonly viewed as a move by

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

to legitimize the Roman empire. For instance, the epic opens with a summary of the progress of Aeneas and his progeny (in

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

's translation): :Arms, and the man I sing, who, forc'd by fate, :And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate, :Expel'd and exil'd, left the Trojan shore. :Long labors, both by sea and land, he bore, :And in the doubtful war, before he won :The Latian realm, and built the destin'd town; :His banish'd gods restor'd to rites divine, :And settled sure succession in his line, :From whence the race of Alban fathers come, :And the long glories of majestic Rome.

W. A. Camps William Anthony Camps (28 December 1910 – 17 January 1997) was a British classical scholar, and also served as Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge from 1970 to 1981. He was known as Tony Camps. He entered Pembroke College in 1928 and bec ...

expresses this common analysis of Virgil when he writes, "There is more than one reminder in the poem that its hero Aeneas is ancestor of Octavian through the supposed descent of the Julii .e., Octavian's familythrough Aeneas' son Julius." Like their medieval predecessors,

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

authors drew inspiration from earlier writers. More significantly, the spread of printing, slow increase in literacy, and the development of capitalism conspired to shape a modern concept of text and authorship. In this context, one sees "continuators" in the modern sense: authors either inspired or hired to complete or continue a predecessor's concept. This habit was most noticeable in the most commercialized spheres of literature.

Elizabethan drama English Renaissance theatre, also known as Renaissance English theatre and Elizabethan theatre, refers to the theatre of England between 1558 and 1642. This is the style of the plays of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson ...

, for example, is full of examples. As an instance of completion, Francis Godolphin Waldron completed ', a late unfinished play by

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

. As an instance of sequel-writing, John Fletcher's ''The Tamer Tamed'' continues and lampoons Shakespeare's ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken ...

''. Controversial literature was amenable to such continuations, as evidenced most especially by the

Martin Marprelate Martin Marprelate (sometimes printed as Martin Mar-prelate and Marre–Martin) was the name used by the anonymous author or authors of the seven Marprelate tracts that circulated illegally in England in the years 1588 and 1589. Their principal f ...

affair;

Philip Sidney Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philip ...

's ''

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

'' was continued by

Anna Weamys Anna Weamys, sometimes referred to as Anne Weamys ( fl. 1651) was an English author. Weamys has been identified as the author of ''A Continuation of Sir Philip Sydney's Arcadia'' (1651), which appeared under the name "Mistress A. W." Little i ...

Notes

#{{note, 1Camps, W. A. ''An Introduction to Virgil's Aeneid'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969, 1–2.

Sources

*Boitani, Piero (1989). ''The European Tragedy of Troilus''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. *Boyle, A. J., ed (1988). ''The Imperial Muse: Ramus Essays on Roman literature of the Empire to Juvenal through Ovid''. Berwick, Australia: Aureal Publications. *Braunmuller, A. R. (1990) "The Arts of the Dramatist." ''Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Drama''. A.R. Braunmuller and Daniel Hattaway, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 53–92. *Cairns, Francis (1989). ''Virgil's Augustan Epic''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. *Chambers, E. K. (1923). ''The Elizabethan Stage''. 4 vol. Oxford: Clarendon Press. *Clark, Sandra (1994). ''The Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher: Sexual Themes and Dramatic Representation''. New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf. *Greg, W. W. (1905). ''Ben Jonson's The Sad Shepherd, with Francis Waldron's Continuation''. Materialien zur Kunde des älteren englischen dramasche. Louvain: A. Uystpruyst. *Knutson, Roslyn (2001). ''Playing Companies and Commerce in Shakespeare's Time''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. *Smith, Alden (1997). ''Poetic Allusion and Poetic Embrace in Ovid and Vergil''. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press. *Weamys, Anna (1994). ''A Continuation of Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia''. *Patrick Cullen Colborn, ed. Women Writers in English, 1350–1850. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Fan fiction Narrative forms pt:Continuador

History

See also

Notes

Sources