What is politics? What is a novel? In the mid 18th century these questions were still unresolved. The study exploits this state of affairs for closer investigation of the convergence between genre theory and political theory. It takes its bearings from the "genre negotiations" to be found in the novels of Wieland and Jean Paul, disquisitions in which these authors attempt to arrive at conclusions about the political and poetological conditions under which they are writing. In terms of the history of the (German) novel, the background is formed by the transformations undergone by the 'Staatsroman' (political novel) genre on the threshold from the Baroque to the modern age.