First published in 1969, this book asserts that two concepts, structure and praxis, make it impractical for scholars to ignore the necessity of a theory of the novel - with the term ´classical novel´ used to cover western fiction. The author argues that the novel is fundamentally an ´enterprise´ - an aspect of the praxis of a particular social class - and that the ways of orthodox scholarship are also a praxis. The investigator must enquire into the nature of their questions as those traditionally put to literature are inspired by ´irrelevant´ nineteenth century positivism. In the author´s view the book is necessarily a theory of the classical novel and a manifesto for the student movement.