«Meinst du, daβ ich […] eine Vorrede halte? Nein, keines weges» : tra tradizione e modernità: la Vorrede di J. G. Schnabel alla Insel Felsenburg

Anna Fattori «Do you think that I […] am writing a preface? No, certainly not». Between Tradition and Modernity: J.G. Schnabel’s Preface to Palisades Island The essay deals with Schnabel’s Vorrede to his Insel Felsenburg (1731, Engl. Transl.: Palisades Island). This paratext is seen in connection with the Titelblatt and the Advertissement, which concludes the first part of the novel, as well as with Daniel Defoe’s preface to his Robinson Crusoe (1719). The aim of this essay is to characterize the features of Schnabel’s Vorrede within the context of the 18th-century practice of preface-writing while exploring the role it plays in the debate ensued in the 18th century about the novel as a genre. In particular, the essay focuses on two aspects which make Schnabel’s Vorrede very peculiar if compared to contemporary prefaces: first of all, it does not emphasize the moral teaching of the story; secondly, although it discusses the issue of the reliability of the narration, it does not presume to offer a ‘true’ story. In fact, the author of the preface brings into play the concept of ‘Lusus Ingenii’, thus anticipating essential issues of the future theory of the novel.