Talk:Historical fiction

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[edit] Authors

Why only anglophone authors? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.37.113.198 (talk) 21:37, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re-loaded

I've asked around and since no one had any opinion I have re-instated an article for this literary genre. I feel that the old redirect to historic novel was done hastily, and essentially limited the genre to one medium and caused some confusion among users that were redirected there. So I was bold, and here we are. Hewinsj 03:56, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Good call, 'historical fiction' and 'historical novel' probably shouldn't have been merged in the first place. --Xiaphias 10:45, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] External link

Hello. I'm sorry if I'm using the wrong space for this, but this is my first time using a talk page, and I had trouble figuring out the system. I've created a website which lists over 2000 historical novels, organized by time and place. It also includes a list of authors with links to author websites. I think it would be a good link to add to the Historical Fiction page. It's at http://HistoricalNovels.info if you would like to consider it. Thanks! Margaret Donsbach (talk) 20:09, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

No problem, your in the right place. WP policy occasionally frowns on linking to so called fan sites, but what you have could be considered it an academic review of the subject. That said I added a link to your site with a brief description in the external links portion of the article. Thanks for the contribution and feel free to add to the article if you have time and can think of anything that hasn't been said. Hewinsj (talk) 07:45, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for adding the link, and for your kind words about the site! This newbie to editing (though an oldie to consulting) Wikipedia appreciates your words of welcome.Margaret Donsbach (talk) 20:15, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Some Facts

So, there is no citation in this article, and there's been some disagreement lately (concerning another article) about just what constitutes 'historical fiction'. I did a brief search, and here is what I came up with:

  • Encyclopaedia Britannica: [historical novel] "a novel that has as its setting a period of history and that attempts to convey the spirit, manners, and social conditions of a past age with realistic detail and fidelity."[1]
  • The Historical Novel Society: "To be deemed historical (in our sense), a story must have been written at least fifty years after the events described, or have been written by someone who was not alive at the time of those events (who therefore approaches them only by research)."[2]
  • ALA RUSA: "Historical fiction is defined as a story that is set at least a generation (25 years) prior to when it was written. In the best historical fiction setting, character and historical details combine to bring a historical period to life. These stories may center on real historical figures and real events or on fictional characters living in a particular time and setting. By reading historical fiction, one can gain insight into lives and times of the past. The best authors writing in this genre have conducted extensive research to authenticate their novels’ settings and details."[3]
  • Easttown Library: "Historical fiction is defined as fictional works (mainly novels) set before the middle of the last century, and ones in which theauthor is writing from research rather than from personal experience.”[4]
  • Teacher Materials: "Historical fiction is defined as “a bit of make believe” based on a factual historical event."[5]
  • "Historical fiction is defined by keeping in with true history and creating a fictional, but fully plausible story in a historical time period."[6]
  • "Historical fiction is defined as fiction that is set in a past time."[7]

It seems to me like the common point is that historical fiction is, pretty simply, fiction in a historical setting. The Historical Novel Society even counts alternate history or time-travel books as historical fiction.

So yeah, if no one has any contrary sources, I think this article should be changed accordingly; any objections? --Xiaphias 10:48, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the support. I based my definition on the definition we used in my college literature course, but did so from memory. If someone else has a more clear or more articulate way of saying "making up stories involving people or places that everybody knows about, without breaking cannon" by all means.
    • First off, I like the quote from Britannica because it easily states what the theme is about. That said I almost nominated that article for a name change (through their own user edit process) to historical fiction for the same reason I cut the redirect on this article. It limits the genre to novels. Still, I wouldn't mind citing it in this article where appropriate.
    • I like everything by ALA Rusa except for the first sentence. Some fiction considered modern by it's own standards may be viewed as historical fiction by today's readers. I wouldn't place a rigid time constraint on the writing in the terms as they state it. The same said for the east town library as stories about the 60's and 70's could have been viewed as historical fiction in the 90's.
    • I do disagree with the Historical Novel Society stance that this genre should also include alternate history and historical fantasy unless they do so as distinct sub-genres like the sub-genres of science fiction. As it stands this is a broad subject, and it's better to separate those that share qualities so that the article doen't become cluttered. I like the division of the three genres, as there are distinctive traits to each that make it hard to confuse one for the other. For instance, the film JFK followed a fictionalized account of the inquest into the JFK assassination, is historical fiction. Had Kennedy lived the film would have stepped over the line into alternate history. Mark Twain wrote stories in the American South which by todays standards are considered historical fiction, but The Amazing Screw on Head (set in the same time period) would be historical fantasy. The only problem I can see here would be Indiana Jones because they conform to the standards of historical fiction until the very end. Also, there are already substantial articles for both alternate history and historical fantasy so I'll go by the rule of "if it isn't broke, don't fix it". I also have reservations about their "written by people that weren't alive at the time of the event" quote.
    • As mentioned, some classic books that would be considered to fit historical fiction today were modern at their time of writing. The same goes today. At this point you'd be hard pressed to find someone writing about events taking place during the Cold War that wasn't alive when it was going on. It would also exclude literature like Forrest Gump, which is a fictional view of historical events that occured during the last generation.
I don't want to scare anybody off, I'm just think there is potential here for a good article. I started out using the featured article for science fiction as a template, ignoring subject matter but following article structure and themes. Hewinsj 14:22, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Film genre

I'm not sure if you may run into a problem with the historical drama genre, since it seems like some of the info may overlap, but it may be worth it to have a look. I also agree that a split was needed, however. María (habla conmigo) 15:33, 11 April 2007 (UTC)