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A Look Into The Historical Novel
2020
The historical novel— also referred to as ‘historical fiction’ in this paper— is a popular genre of literature and currently one of the rich areas for research within the fields of literature and literary criticism. Although historical novels are usually densely written and filled with factual details, they can effectively bring a historic period to life in engaging and memorable ways. Historical fiction has received so much attention over the years and it has been greatly discussed by scholars, yet one can hardly find a comprehensive definition for it that includes all the characteristics of the genre. This paper investigates the reasons behind this and analyzes some of the definitions of historical fiction in an attempt to form a working definition for the genre. It also studies whether research guarantees the success of a historical work of fiction or not. The paper also explains the purposes behind the production of historical fiction. Clearly, this genre has a long history in w...
Understanding the Historicity of the Text: A Reading of Khushwant Singh's Train to Pakistan
Kazim ali, 2018
Literature is never purely aesthetic, to believe that a writer writes inthe complete absence of awareness of the time and place, is contestable. Literary works are informed by the historical context and vice versa. This is vividly traceable in the plethora of Partition-related Literature by the writers of the Indian Subcontinent. They, in addition to being works of Literature appealing aesthetically, also contradicts and many times re-enacts History afresh. Thus, this paper is an attempt in that context, trying to study facts in fiction and the fiction in received facts (History).
Arabic and Greek literature of the Diaspora, (1900-today). Introductory paragraph/general overview To what extent does history inspire literature? In what ways can writers converse with historical events and historical experiences and reproduce them in fiction, prose or even poetry? What ways of managing material (evidence, testimonies, memories and other sources, etc.) are required by writers? In other words what are the "tools" required to achieve objectivity that often becomes uncertain, when the writer fails to get rid of his own personal ideology, identity, or even personal experiences? In other words, τo what extent can history be transferred /transformed into a literary work? Wanting to recreate the fact in a novel for example, when referring to real historical events, do we run the risk of falsifying history? Literary theorists have debated these questions through the years, with various conclusions. J. Barnes maintains that through a myth, or its ordered "lies" as he describes them, truth can be represented more effectively than in a simple recounting of an event; and that, despite its 'subjectivity', myth seeks and mirrors the truth in its own ways*. While, philosopher and literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin points out that history not only inspires literature, but is also shaped by it; and that without imagination history seems sterile or ' immobile'. As a matter of fact he argued that the (European) novel was the purest cultural embodiment of historical becoming, and that, consequently, the theory of the novel was an act of supreme historical self-consciousness. In the many essays and notes he dedicated to the history and theory of this genre, he insisted on both its uniqueness and its centrality to the modern age 1 .
Século XXI: Revista de Relações Internacionais, 2023
This article explores the similarities between historical narrative and historical fiction. History as it is traditionally interpreted and reported may or may not be entirely accurate or reliable, but is generally accepted as "history". Historical fiction also shares these same properties and furthermore can give deeper insights into characters and events in a more engaging manner allowing the reader to connect and to relate more to these characters and events from the past than a history narrative would, thus forming a bridge between academic study and popular engagement with history. In this paper, I examine historiography and the historical novel and show through three examples that history can be studied and learned equally through reading a historical narrative or a historical-fictional account.