B.G.

C (Department of English)
Student seminar 2016
Second Year
Group- IV
Topic: Historical Novel

Contribution: Mousumi Ghosh

Dalia Saha
Kushal Chakrabarty
Akash Neogi
Introduction:
A historcial novel is a work of fiction,that combines ‘facts’ with ‘fiction’
and ‘history’ with ‘imagination’.Thus,it may be defined as a ‘literary
hybrid’ that melds two contradictory ideas of the actual and the
imaginary.Historical fiction has been one of the earliset forms of story-
telling.The melding of ‘historical’ and ‘fictionary’ in individual works of
literature has been a long tradition – members of long ago
cultures,from Babylonia to acient Greece and Rome proudly recounted
tales of their forebears’ heroism and of the contemporary events.Many
of these works have been passed down to us,over the ages.However,it
was Sir Walter Scott,who established ‘historical novel’ as a distinctive
form;and his Waverley,published in 1814,generally is considered to be
the first historical novel proper in English literature.This genre became
widely popular during the 19th century Romantic period,as the
contemporary people showed great interest in reading about the long
and far away.It became so attractive to the readers,that within 30
years,more than 500 of such novels were issued by the publishers.

1
A brief discussion on the
‘setting’,style,language and remarkable features
of a historical novel:
In order to discuss further about this particular form,we need to bear some
basic ideas in our minds,regarding this genre.What constitutes a historical
novel? What is the purpose behind the formation of such a novel? Which
qualities make a historical novel remarkable? These questions need a brief
discussion.
In a historical novel,the plot takes place in a ‘setting’ that is located in
the past.They are commonly set during eventful periods in human
history,depicting a conflict or a transitional moment in time.A historical novel
pays attention to the manners,social conditions and socio-economic changes of
the period it deals with.Some of these works span a lengthy duration and
include many accurate details about the past.Thus,a historical novel generally
involves substantial research by the author,concerning the details of the period
he is writing about.The novelist is at liberty to select such historical incidents
and personages,that will help him call the past back to life and infuse the
dynamic force of history into his narrative.Though he is free to do so,the author
must be careful that the characters and incidents he invests,do not contradict
or clash with those of history.This is why,the novelist should have a sound
knowledge of the history of the period,he writes about.
Definitions differ as to what constitutes a historical novel.On the one
hand,’The Historical Novel Society’ defines this genre as works “written at
least fifty years after the events described”; while,on the other hand,critic
Sarah Johnson delinates such novels as “set before the middle of the last
century.... In which,the author is writing from research rather than personal
experience.” Then again,Lynda Adamson,in her preface to the Bibliographic
referrence work,’World Historical Fiction’,states that historical novel is a
novel “about a time period at least 25 years before it was
written.”Rabindranath Tagore said,that the distance between the age that
the novelist deals with and that he belongs to,should be such as can not be
spanned by his memory.

The language of a historical novel should be one,which shall be a

compromise between the idiom of the time written about and that of the
time of writing.The use of contemporary language is likely to destroy the
atmosphere of the bygone age,which the novel seeks to evoke.In The
History of Henry Esmond,Thackeray uses a prose,which is neither that of
his own time,nor that of the time of Queen Anne,but something that
suggests the both.
 In a historical novel,it is not desirable to have real historical figures
among the leading characters and only the minor characters can be
taken from history;as the selection of a great historical person as the
‘hero’ or ‘heroine’ or as the ‘villain’ may limit the free-play of the
author’s imagination.The characters of a historical novel should be
drawn from all classes of contemporary society ,in order to provide a
representative picture of the age it talks about.The purpose of a
historical novel extends beyond that of entertainment,though some
of them excel at this in their own rights.It is very likely,that a historical
novel provides commentary on contemporary events,in guise.
Rise and evolution of the genre:
As mentioned earlier,historical novel rose to prominence in Europe
during the early 19th century,as part of the Romantic reaction to
the Enlightenment- especially through the influence of the Scottish
writer Sir Walter Scott,whose works were immensely popular
throughout Europe.In the 20th century,Gyorgy Lucaks argued,that
Scott was the first fiction writer,who saw history not just as a
convenient frame but rather as a distinct social and cultural
setting.Though works like Maria Edgeworth’s Castle
Rackrent(1800) and Jane Porter’s Thaddeus of Warsaw were
already present in the field,it was Waverley (1814) that helped
this genre to reach it’s culmination.
Other famous works of Scott are Rob Roy,Ivanhoe and Kennilworth.While
Rob Roy is focused upon a middling character who sits at the intersection
of various social groups,in order to explore the development of the
society through conflict; Ivanhoe gained credit for renewing interest in
the Middle Ages.
Many wellknown English writers published historical novels in
the mid 19th cenrury.Some remarkable among those works are:
Thackeray’s Vanity Fair,Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities,George
Eliot’s Romola and Charles Kingley’s Westward Ho!. The Trumpet-major
is Thomas Hardy’s only historical novel and is set in ‘Weymouth’ during
the Napoleonic Wars.The genre became popular in other national
literature as well.In United States,James Fenimore Cooper was a
prominent author of historical novel.The famous work of him is The Last
of the Mohicans(1826).Set in 1757,the work has been one of the most
popular novels in English and it has been adapted numerous times in
different languages for films,T.V movies and cartoon.In French
literature,the most remarkable inheritor of Scott’s style of this genre was
Honore de Balzac.Les Chouans is one of his famous historical novels.Leo
Tolstoy’s War and Peace(1869) is known to be one of the most enduring
example of this form.The novel was set 60 years before it was composed
and offers an example of 19th century historical fiction,used to critique
contemporary history
A major 20th century example of this genre is the German author Thomas
Mann’s Buddenbrooks(1901).This work led to a ‘Nobel Prize in
Literature’ for Mann in 1929.Robert Graves’ King Jesus and I,Claudius
are also known to be famous historical novels of this period.Anya
Seyton’s Katherine(1954) is another important work of this genre,which
even got recognition from historians and recommended as an actual
portrayal of Chaucer’s England.The form also got wide acceptance as a
literay form and remained the most prolific sub-genre from the early 20th
century to the 1950s.Then historical romances exploded onto the market
in the 1970s,with their lavish tales of wild passion and star-crossed
lovers,set against vividly rendered historical backdrops.Things picked up
in the mid to late 1990s,when authors started looking back to the past
for inspiration.All of a sudden,historical novels began winning major
literary prizes.Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace,a novel about a house-
maid tried for employer’s murder in 1843,garnered ‘The Pulitzer Prize for
Literature in 1996.
In the early 21st century,it has become fashionable again to talk about the
historical novel in public.In the meantime,historical novel took a large step in
the path of it’s evolution.In the late 20th century Post-modern literature,works
like E.L.Doctorow’s Ragtime or William Kennedy’s Legs have modified the form
and gave birth to ‘historiographic metafiction’ .This form of literature self-
conciously and systemitically draws attention to its status as an artifact,in order
to pose questions about the relationship between fiction and reality.The term
was coined by Linda Hutcheon in her essay “Beggining to Theorize the Post-
modern”.These novels are self-reflexive and yet paradoxically lay claim to
historical events and personagers.Some other works that are remarkable in this
field,are: Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children,John Fowles’ The French
Lieutenant’s Woman and the like.However,publishers are actively promoting
their books as “upmarket historical fiction” novels.The success of the films like
Gladiator,Elizabeth,The Girl with a Pearl Earing and Cold Mountain(the latter
two of which are based on novels) demonstrates peoples’ huge and growing
interest in historical topics.Booklist has devoted several recent issues to
historical fiction and ‘The Historical Novels Review’,a book review
magazine,publishes 800 reviews of new historical novels every year.The genre is
prolific,healthy and globally accepted for it’s quality to bring about the true
taste of literature and tendency to provide valuable information about the past
at the very same time.
-X-
Sources:

oWww.wikipedia.org
owww.britannica.com
ohttps://historicalnovelsociety.org
owww.enotes.com
oCassell’s Encyclopedia
oThe Growth of the English Novel(Richard Church)