The historical and cultural context of the novels cannot be fully understood unless we deal first with the events leading up to the 1920s and the 1950s. The end of the nineteenth century saw the emergence of life-changing technological advances such as the steam-engine, the mechanized factory, as well as gas and electricity (James 1994: 25). Humanity became aware of the possibilities made available by the technical progress. But instead of using science and technology to improve and simplify people’s
Juliet Historical Narrative Essay In the novel I am Juliet, the author Jackie French made use of the four main characteristics of a historical narrative, but added some exceptions to keep the reader engaged and to set this historical narrative apart from the others. Jackie French uses her research into both Elizabethan England and Renaissance Italy to create historically accurate settings, events and perspectives. She also utilises an extra perspective at the beginning and the end of the novel to ‘frame’
A fictional novel can serve as a useful source for historical information if it the right one. It just depends on the novel and the author who has written it. Also, it makes a difference if the author actually had experience with what they have written about. All Quit on the Western Front, for example, can be used to show the troubles of War World I. The author Erich Maria Remarque himself had been in the war. Nevertheless, there is one negative thing about using nonfiction. For example, a person
A unique representation of a Historical Fiction novel is The Help, written by Kathryn Stockett in 2009. The novel’s plot line follows the journey that Eugenia Phelan (Skeeter), Aibileen, and Minny, take to write a book reveling the truth about life as a back maid in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960’s. Maids in this time ear are looked down upon, and are at the bottom of the chain. In the novel, Abileen expresses her perception of being a help in the sixties, “Shame ain’t black, like dirt, like
Green for Danger In the Historical Fiction novel “Green for Danger”, a mailman is wounded by a falling Doodlebug bomb and taken to a nearby hospital. While he’s being operated on, he dies and nobody in the operating room seems to know what has happened. It is mentioned that Dr. Barnes had been involved in a similar accident four years previous to the current surgical disaster. Meaning he’s not allowed in the operating room while the other doctors investigate the cause of death. Afterwards
widely accepted that historical or descriptive narratives produce knowledge, is the same true of fiction? Can fictional narratives such as novels produce knowledge, and if so, what kind? Consider this question in relation to Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement. It would be very difficult for anyone to find a person who stated that historical or descriptive narratives did not produce knowledge. Can the same thing be said for the genre of historical fiction? In an analysis between historical narratives and
The genre of historical fiction novels can be subdivided into many categories and often crosses genres, such as historical mysteries and romances. The traditional definition of the historical fiction genre is “fiction set in the past” where the author is writing from research rather than personal experience. This definition leaves a lot of room for interpretation, controversy, and contradiction. Critics in the media, even when they praise individual historical novels in their reviews, somehow
Does historical fiction have a duty to be factually accurate? It’s a question many people found themselves discussing a lot lately. It’s certainly true that historical fiction is enjoying a boom at the moment, but for many readers, a historical novel might be their point of entry or perhaps their only real window to a particular period. Historical fiction offers readers a narrative that takes place during a specific period in history. It often focuses on a specific event and presents some of the
The historical fiction genre is more popular than ever, with masses of television programmes, motion pictures and novels being written around the subject. This influx has brought a new reception to the many time periods of history that had otherwise been forgotten and abandoned, and also to many that are heavily documented but rarely looked upon. However, with the need for a fascinating story to sell to the audiences some of the historical fact is being obscured in the process, thus causing a lack
Fever is a wonderful historical fiction by Laurie Halse Anderson. She has written many historical novels and Fever is one of her greatest works. This story took place in Philadelphia in 1793, when yellow fever just began to strike and kill thousands of people . Matilda Cook “little Mattie” is a daughter of a coffee shop owner. She’s a fourteen- year- old girl who works for her widowed mother. She works with a girl named Polly and a kitchen cook Eliza, a woman from the Free African Society. Mattie