You should certainly not assume that the mapping of historical change in the novel cannot involve analytical detail,nor that the close analysis of fictional prose is unable to engage with historical processes or formal changes.Indeed, i do myself believe that histories of the novel that fail to engage with how the novel (as either single work or as a system at a point in time) works cannot but be superficial - just as i also believe that close analysis of fictional prose that is unresponsive to the detail of historical contexts and movement is arid. You should remember that relating these two approaches is rarely a simple matter, and that complex processes of mediation rather than simple one-step relationship link the structures of prose fiction with the processes of historical change