Talk:Historical fiction

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)

Wording claims about noteworthiness

In the 19th century section I changed "The Scarlet Letter (1850) by Nathaniel Hawthorne...is, perhaps, the most famous 19th-century American historical novel." to "The Scarlet Letter (1850) by Nathaniel Hawthorne...is one of the most famous 19th-century American historical novels." My sense is that if you need to include "perhaps" in a claim of noteworthiness and don't have the references to claim something is "the most famous" then it should be "one of the most famous" unless you'd rather say "many historians consider it to be the most famous," in which case the reference would need to say so. I didn't write the original sentence and I'm not a The Scarlet Letter expert, so I may have misstepped in my re-writing of it. I welcome others to further revise. That said, I recommend against indecisive language in making claims of noteworthiness. -Dugan Murphy (talk) 02:38, 16 August 2020 (UTC)

Children and teen examples

Expanding the series list to include

We Were There series I Survived series 107.197.56.204 (talk) 15:24, 22 February 2023 (UTC)

Modern Historical or Nostalgia Fiction

The unofficial category of Modern Historical Fiction would include many novels written in recent years, set in the relatively recent past, such as the 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s. These books are neither contemporary nor technically historical. Examples include Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid and Distorted Perceptions by Paula Puddephatt. 86.15.129.200 (talk) 22:02, 23 September 2023 (UTC)