The Novel as a Performing Art

The consensus is that the novel—along with painting, sculpture, and architecture—should be categorized as a non-performing art. In this essay, I argue that such categorization is misguided: In fact, there is good reason to categorize the novel as a performing art. I begin by showing that x is a performing art if the following conditions are satisfied: (a) x is an art and (b) to fully appreciate a work of x, it is necessary to experientially engage with a performance or a performance-like object. I then demonstrate that in the case of the novel, these conditions are actually satisfied.