13. Genetic Narratology and the Novelistic Cycle across Versions

As an ambitious literary form, the novelistic cycle is often the product of careful design, even to the extent that the concept of the cycle in itself has an aesthetic value. Since the cycle often requires a great deal of planning, it is no suprise that the genetic dossiers contain notes, sketches, versions, and even drawings that support the narrative complexity of the whole as well as its parts. This chapter argues that genetic narratology can help to analyse and interpret the cycle and to recognise it as a conceptual art. First, it discusses the case of Beyond Me and True (Voorbij ik en waargebeurd, 2007-2010) by the Dutch author Herman Franke as an unfinished cycle in which the genetic process becomes part of the published version. Second, it illustrates how the features of the cycle (and those of its own genetic narrative) can be illuminated through a text-genetic narrative analysis.