Historical fiction is a genre that has gained massive popularity over the last decade, with authors like Philippa Gregory, Hilary Mantel and Bernard Cornwell leading the charge. But what exactly constitutes a historical novel? How long ago does a novel have to be set to be considered historical? In this blog, I look at what historical fiction is and how it became so popular.
What Is Historical Fiction?
Broadly speaking, historical fiction is fiction that takes place in the past. It sounds simple enough, but would it surprise you to know that there is debate about what exactly constitutes historical fiction? If you’ve read some of my previous blogs, this probably won’t surprise you because you’ll know that this industry likes to have multiple definitions for the same thing or multiple words for the same thing. So, what are the definitions?
The Historical Novel Society defines historical fiction as novels written at least 50 years after the events described. However, Lynda Adamson, in her preface to World Historical Fiction, states that the ‘generally accepted definition’ of historical fiction is ‘about a time period at least 25 years before it was written’. Sarah Johnson, a critic, agrees with a longer gap, saying novels need to be set before the mid-20th century, but she adds that ‘the author must be writing from research rather than personal experience.’
So, as you can see, there is some debate about what exactly constitutes historical fiction. I would err away from Lynda Adamson: 25 years just seems too recent (and I’m not ready to admit that I’m old enough to be a part of history). I would tend to adopt a mix of the Historical Novel Society and Sarah Johnson: at least 50 years and not written from experience. By definition then, novels by Jane Austen and others like her are not historical fiction because Jane Austen was writing about the society in which she lived.
The History of Historical Fiction
Historical fiction has a long tradition, starting with works like The Iliad and The Odyssey. Several works between the 13th and 18th centuries built on classical interpretations of history, but historical fiction as a distinct genre came in the early 19th century. Walter Scott was a real pioneer with his works Ivanhoe, Rob Roy and Castle Dangerous. Györg Lukács asserts that Scott was the first fiction writer. Scott saw history not just as a convenient framework in which to set a narrative but as a distinct setting and genre. His novels inspired other writers to set their stories in the past. These novels were used to push social, cultural and political agendas. For example, Victor Hugo used The Hunchback of Notre Dame to spark interest in gothic architecture, and Leo Tolstoy used War and Peace to question contemporary Russian narratives about the Napoleonic Wars. Then, Georgette Heyer, who wrote over 50 novels (40 of which were historical), really cemented historical fiction as we know it today and established a new sub-genre: regency romance. Since then, many writers have turned to historical fiction, and some are now household names: Ken Follett, Philippa Gregory, and Hilary Mantel, to name a few.
Why Is Historical Fiction So Popular?
Historical fiction has never been more popular. The New York Times Style Magazine said in 2019 that we are living in a golden age of historical fiction. They say, ‘In tumultuous times, novels tend to look forward to a dystopian future, but authors are increasingly writing about the past’. But why is that?
Award-winning author Hilary Mantel once said, ‘Historical fiction comes out of greed for experience’. Humans long to understand; we want to understand the world around us, where we’re going, where we’ve been. But I don’t think Hilary Mantel goes far enough: yes, we crave experience, but we also crave connection. We want to know about our ancestors – just think about how popular genealogy is – and historical fiction gives us the means to do this in an accessible and entertaining way. We can feel connected to our families.
This connectedness promotes a sense of nostalgia. We have a habit of looking back at the past as a time when things were simpler and sometimes better. And, while any historian will tell you the past was absolutely not better than the present, years of romanticised depictions of the past have left us believing that we would have none of our current problems if only we were born 100 years ago. So, we’re left with a sense of nostalgia for something we never had, and historical fiction fills that void.
We have so much choice with historical fiction as well. We can choose from many types of historical fiction, including romance, epics, mysteries or adventure.
And, finally, we love historical fiction as a means to escape from our ordinary lives. Novels set in the past transport us to a place that is so foreign and yet so familiar. When we read any novel, we can temporarily forget about our problems and immerse ourselves in the character’s problems.
With all this in mind, it’s easy to see why historical fiction has become so popular, and it shows no signs of falling out of favour.
Summary
So, historical fiction is a novel set at least 50 years before the time of writing and not written from personal experience. Historical fiction has a long history (if you’ll pardon the pun), becoming a distinguishable and separate genre in the nineteenth century, with the likes of Walter Scott, Victor Hugo and Leo Tolstoy leading the charge. Today, some of the biggest names in fiction write historical fiction. It has become popular recently for many reasons, not least of which are understanding, connection, nostalgia and escapism, and it shows no signs of slowing down.
Kommentare