FactGrid:Prose fiction data model

All properties for publications

• all FactGrid properties for publications (Q77484)

• bibliographical core data (Q100931)
• contexts of other publications (genre, stemma etc.) (Q100932)
• language and content (Q77485)
• financial details on an edition (Q100933)
• fiction and dubious histories (Q221312)

Physical description

Google Books ID (525) — to link directly to a Google Books Digitisation

1. MDZ ID (526) — to link BSB (Bavarian State Library) digitisations on the MDZ-identifier
2. answer on (65) — to state the text that triggered this reply ([[Property:
3. answered with (205) — the reply that answers the present item ([[Property:
4. autopsy by (411) — to state those who saw a document or object
5. begin of composition (39) — use this property if a document has been written over a longer period of time
6. co-author (511) — an author who contributed to a work
7. collation (543) — to state the individual parts of a book from title page and preface to index
8. commissioned by (273) — for the person or institution who commissioned a work
9. composer (539) — the author of a piece of music
10. contribution (553) — to state specific contributions (e.g. introduction) to a compound work
11. contributor (410) — to name those who contributed to a work ([[Property:
12. date as stated (96) — Qualifier for P106 and P222
13. date of artefact (536) — e.g. to state the date of the manuscript copy (different from the date that may be given in the text)
14. date of composition (412) — use if a text for instance was composed far earlier than the copy extant
15. date of disputation (392) — Date in the public dissertation
16. date of publication according to imprint (222) — The standard date as taken from a title page. Use P96 if you know the exact day, week, or month of the publication
17. dedicatee (391) — the person who is being offered the dedication
18. digest in English (75) — use this to give a short digest of the text in English
19. digest in German (72) — use this to give a short digest of the text in German
20. edited by (176) — to state the editor(s) of a publication ([[Property:
21. events mentioned (532) — to refer to Items that have a P2-event statement
22. exlibris (413) — state whose Exlibris is found in a book
23. formed a set with (409) — to name objects that originally belonged together
24. genre (568) — to note a wider tradition of works in which similar sujets are treated with the same techniques
25. i.e. (110) — property to use as a qualifier, e.g. if an authorship is stated under a pseudonym.
26. installment of (441) — to name for instance the periodical of which this is an individual number
27. institution signing responsible (66) — e.g. a company behind a letter
28. institutions mentioned (232) — state institutions mentioned in a document
29. inter-textual allusions (574) — to state implicit references to other texts; use P116 for other texts that are actually mentioned
30. listed in (124) — to refer to bibliographies and catalogues that noted the object (especially useful on lost items)
31. online transcript (69) — state the URL of an online transcript of a document
32. opponent of the disputation (390) — Role in the early modern dissertation process
33. original to this (114) — to state the original in a group of versions of the same
34. page layout (481) — see the items for this property for possible answers.
35. part of the collection (123) — to state a collection to which an item belongs or belonged. (See also P323 to state the next higher level of archival integration)
36. place as (strangely) stated (111) — for the exact spelling and name of a place name. Can be combined with a qualifying P110 and P113 statement
37. places of action (566) — property to be used especially on novels and plays
38. preceding in stemma (233) — use conservatively to connect to preceding in genealogy or development
39. preface by (179) — to state the author of the preface to a publication
40. presented at (237) — the event at which a paper or play was presented
41. presented by (264) — someone who presents e.g. a speech, not necessary the author
42. presiding the disputation (388) — to name the professor presiding the (early modern) dissertation
43. printed by (207) — to name the company that printed a publication
44. prospective audience (573) — to note specific audiences addressed
45. protagonists who also appear in other works (567) — to name people who appear in different works (novels, plays, paintings)
46. published by (206) — the company or person publishing the item
47. published in (64) — refers to publication ([[Property:
48. publisher as misleadingly stated (544) — e.g. Pierre Marteau, Cologne
49. publishes (254) — state documents published in a book ([[Property:
50. publishing interval (292) — the publishing interval of a periodical
51. quality / occupation of the central protagonists (569) — property especially for novels and plays
52. quality of author identification (561) — use on documents and publications to state the reliability or apparent deficits of the statements given on the object
53. quality of date information (563) — use on documents and publications to state the reliability or apparent deficits of the statements given on the object
54. quality of place identification (562) — use on documents and publications to state the reliability or apparent deficits of the statements given on the object
55. quality of publisher identification (564) — use on documents and publications to state the reliability or apparent deficits of the statements given on the object
56. quoting (306) — to state text(s) that are quoted by the object in question
57. reception promises (literal) (570) — to state the literal promises of why one should read the text, see the play
58. reception promises (standardised) (571) — in addition to P570 a statement of language equivalents
59. recording, online information (541) — website on a recording of a piece of music
60. respondent of the disputation (389) — role in the early modern dissertation process
61. reviewing (308) — to list reviews in a journal etc. ([[Property:
62. self-statement on historicity / fictionality (565) — use especially on novels and dubious histories of the early modern period to note the integration into the fields of histories and romances
63. sets ordered (542) — to state the number of copies ordered in a subscription
64. subscribers (275) — to state people who subscribed e.g. on a book publication (complete lists should be rather generated and linked)
65. sujet (576) — to classify the plot of works of art and fictional texts
66. technical realisation (518) — to state who did the technical work in a project
67. text opening, transcript (70) — to quote the opening of a text (that has no title)
68. things mentioned (256) — use widely for everything mentioned except people
69. title (11) — to state the title of a document
70. topic (243) — the central object of a work
71. transcribed by (68) — to name those who transcribed a text (on FactGrid)
72. translation into German (71) — state translations of a text into German
73. type of publication (144) — classification in a typology: whether a publication is a monograph, periodical, article in a periodical etc.
74. type of title focus (572) — For example, a person, an event, a moral can be in the foreground. If there is more than one information, add successively under P499 qualifiers
75. type of work (standardised) (121) — Use this property to organise works according to types of production

Some notes on our specific properties for prose fiction and dubious histories

A number of properties are already used for straight texts:

Looking at title pages and plots

Early modern titles are, however, with their extended titles, prefaces and dedications ofter often quite explicit on a number of particular aspects. Use here:

1. Type of title focus (P572) — to state whether a title is selling a particular person's story or something quite different
2. Type of work (as stated) (P4) — to state a self-classification in the respective language
3. Type of work (standardised) (P121) — to state the self-classification in a statement for all languages on FactGrid
4. Prospective audience P573 — to state who is specifically addressed as readership
5. Reception promises (literal) (P570) — to mark the advertised reading gratification
6. Reception promises (standardised) (P571) — to mark the advertised reading gratification with a statement that will be valid in all the languages used on FactGrid
7. Dedicatee (P391) — to name the person(s) addressed in the dedication
8. Reported event (P19) — to name events portrayed in the text
9. Begin of events reported (P545) — to date the beginning of a historical narrative
10. End of events reported (P46) — to date the end of a historical narrative
11. Protagonists who also appear in other works (P567) — to name protagonists who also appear in other works of art and fiction
12. Persons mentioned (P33) — to state other persons mentioned in a text, for instance rivaling authors
13. Quality / occupation of the central protagonists (P569) — to state the social status of the protagonists
14. Genre (P568) — to state typical worlds of fictional texts
15. Sujet (P576) — to state common stories of fictional texts
16. Texts mentioned (P116) — to state open references to other texts
17. Inter-textual allusions (P574) — to state implicit references to other texts

Looking at responsibilities as stated or rejected

The early modern production of fiction (and dubious histories) was not only discredited by most contemporary scholars as baseless and scandalous if not dangerous with its power to delude and to incite lechery. It was also statistically marginal and published often with a deliberate irresponsibility designed to deserve the criticism. The following properties and statements give the basic options:

Quality of author identification Property:P561 Quality of place identification — Property:P562 Quality of publisher identification — Property:P564 Quality of date information — Property:P563

the following Items are prepared for the optional statements "transparently stated" — Item:Q221316 "obviously misleading statement" — Item:Q221317 "misleading but plausible statement" — Item:Q221318 "without statement" — Item:Q221319 "states where sold, instead of specifying the place of production" — Item:Q221320 "publisher hides behind partners" — Item:Q221321

The shrouding of responsibilities is symptomatic of the low prestige — this was not "literature", the realm of academic learning, with its high prestige. It is, at the same moment a result of the irresponsibility that made it attractive to enter this particular market: fictional histories spread fashions to the delight of the young elites and it opened branches of irresponsible interaction in the centre of the belles lettres, the realm where history gained an increasing public attention outside the limitations of of academic learning.

Placing romances and novels in the wider sphere of (scandalous) histories

The integration into the historical, apparent in practically all the contemporary book catalogues, came in two opposing directions — to the left and to the right of the following spectrum. Authors and publishers could either pretend to offer nothing but "romantic fictions", "feigned histories" — with publications that smelled of a concealed deeper truth. Keys were often published separately to trigger the scandalous exposures. The alternative came with titles that defended the historicity of the strangely unbelievable account. Both options depended on a centre of fictional titles that would be be read as such. Here the authors observed a tension between "high", "heroic" performances and "low" "satirical" sujets (not to be confused with the tensions between elegant books of the belles lettres and the cheap production of popular chap books).

A central production existed in the heart of this spectrum: The production of modern "novels" that would avoid the stereotypes of the heroic and the satirical genres. It is this the centre that propagated the term "novel" in English with its alternative of "intrigues" rather than "adventures":

items to be used on P565		Item:Q221324 Heroical Romances: Fénelon's Telemach (1699)
Q221322 Sold as romantic inventions, read as true histories of public affairs: Manley's New Atalantis (1709)	Q221323 Sold as romantic inventions, read as true histories of private affairs: Menantes' Satyrischer Roman (1706)	Q221325 Classics of the novel from the Arabian Nights to M. de La Fayette's Princesse de Clèves (1678)	Q221327 Sold as true private history, risking to be read as romantic invention: Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719)	Q221323 Sold as true public history, risking to be read as romantic invention: La Guerre d'Espagne (1707)
		Q221326 Satirical Romances: Cervantes' Don Quixote (1605)

Developments towards the modern market of "literary" works and artistic achievements versus "low" belles lettres

The options did not really disappear; they live on in the spheres of genre-driven "popular fictions" with their broad range from sex and pornography to crime, fantasy and espionage in highest political spheres. The irresponsibility of the entire sphere disappeared, however, in the light of the critical appraisal which secondary discourses began to offer to a new "high" field of works of new "literary merits". The critical discourses whicch pushed fiction, plays and poetry into the sphere of serious "literature" focused on a new tension between reality and art and demanded a singular and provocative perspective which only true artists could offer. The ensuing debates made it profitable for fiction to be published as fiction — with a short title and the words "a novel", that would automatically call for a critical appraisal of authorial effort to transform reality into a work of art — so the fundamental descandalisation. The new scandal would be one within the sphere of "great literary works" and "finest works of art", so the strategic move that ended the previous debates of fiction in the middle of the historical production. "National literatures" emerged to form national debates; a "low" and "trivial" production would continue the success of the early modern market and serve as the backdrop against which true literature would have to show its merits.

This is more a development to be shown in a wider context of secondary debates discovering early modern prose fiction as an interesting object to discuss — between the 1750s and the 1850s.