Historical novel is a novel subgenre that has an historical setting. Also referred to an historical fiction, historical novel comprises of fictional characters blended into historical setting and facts. According to Buendia, “To define the historical novel strictly speaking means simply saying that a novelistic action unfolds in the past; its main characters are imaginary, whereas the historical figures and the real facts constitute the secondary elements of the story” (Buendia, 36). This means that for a novel to be historical, its setting must that of the past but the characters are a creation of the author. Another characteristic of an historical novel is that it should reconstruct a past way of life or a period in time in which the plot is set. Although they are woven with historical facts and detail, historical novel always relives a historic period in an engaging way.
The main characteristic that distinguishes historical novel from other subgenre of novels is its setting. Historical novels are primarily set in a real historical setting. An author does everything he/she can to maintain the setting, for example, an author cannot mention smartphones in a 19th
century setting novel even if the novel was published in 2018. Historical novels heavily relies on real authentic place. Some scholars recommend that an historical novel be set fifty years while others twenty or more years in the past. It may also be an age that predates the author’s existence. Some of the areas that mark a setting of the past in an historical novel is the setting’s culture, society and geographical representation. Through description or utilization of the characters to tell the story, an historical setting can be relived in a novel. An example is the narration in the novel An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce. Bierce uses his main character, Farquhar’s narration to explain the setting. The setting becomes real through vivid descriptions. The setting is also authentic. Being the 16th
century, there is the fight between Union and confederate army war in Northern Alabama with also the construction of the railroad.
An actual geographical setting is also a feature in historical novels’ setting. A writer sets his/her fictional story on real geographical setting. Imaginary characters are placed on actual location in the world. A good example is An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce. The novel is set in Owl Creek, Tennessee in the United States. This is a particular historical geographical location.
The themes of historical novels usually fit a historical context. They can also have different historical views with conflicting contexts. Some of the themes in historical novels include social, economic, political and cultural events. Other historical event like wars, slavery, colonization, industrial revolutions and major inventions may also influence several themes in historical novels. They may also include other universal timeless themes like good vs evil.
In the aspect of style, historical novels utilize allusions and foreshadowing. Foreshadowing are common especially when used to tease the reader’s curiosity through clues. Other styles include dialogue that fit historical perspective, vivid descriptions and periodic thoughts. The writer utilizes aspects of style to paint a real historical picture in the minds of the readers.
Like other creative fiction stories, historical novel characters are the creation of the author according to his imagination and motive. Authors are given the freedom to create characters of their choice with the freedom of falsifications to enhance their creativity in the narration. However free they are to distort characters, authenticity of the characters according to setting must be maintained. For example, we do not expect a drone pilot in a novel set during the First World War or a software engineer in a novel set in the Victorian Age. Characterization is an integral part of plot development hence the author must be careful to create characters that are in tandem with the setting. Authenticity of the characters goes a long way in accurately portraying the ideas, opinions and values of the period of the novel’s setting. This is common in character-driven historical novels.
Another feature of an historical novel is cultural understanding. An ideal historical novel exhibits cultural understanding of the historical period featured in the novel. A writer needs to dig into the life experiences of the period in time in which he/she intends to write. Cultural understanding can be achieved through the characters’ perspectives. The author has to utilize factual information to avoid misinterpretation. Stone and Nyren explain that "outsiders to a culture often inadvertently create characters whose basic values and ideas reflect those of their own culture rather than the one at hand, thereby making the work unrealistic." (Stone and Nyren, 17). Cultural understanding also involves awareness and sensitivity towards the world view of that period, including the fair portrayal of different point of views.
Historical novels have an accurate timeline. This is another feature that distinguishes it from other subgenres of a novel. Historical novels’ plot often rely on specific timeline in the past. Even though historical novels have the element of fiction, their timeline needs to be authentic relative to the real timeline of the time its set in. The events in the novel also needs to be in line with the real events in history. The dialogue in the novel also have to be time-appropriate. Relate-able characters is also a characteristic that authenticates the timeline of a novel. The author can use real characters from the past or create own characters that fit the traits or almost similar traits to those from the past setting. This gives the story an historical perspective.
Last but not least, another quality of an historical novel is that of giving the reader the curiosity to do more research on the real historical happenings. Most historical novels leaves the reader with a thirst to know more about the history of the time set in the novel that he/she has just read.
Waverly by Sir Walter Scott (1814)
Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) is believed to be the pioneer of historical novel genre. With his novels, starting with Waverly (1814), he made many readers passionate about reading historical novels up to this century. Scott used the history of Scotland in his novels blending it with creative imagination to create a masterclass historic novels. He made people realize that historical novels were not all about biography, politics and religion portrayed out rightly as facts, but could be blended with fictional aspects like fictional characterization and imaginative plot to create an interesting novel. Waverly is believed to be the first historical novel. It was published during the romantic period (1814). It is a story about war and pity in war. So what are some of the characteristics that make Waverly an historical novel?
First, the novel Waverly is set in an historical context. The novel is set in a particular historical period and accurate geographic locations. It is set during the Jacobite Uprising between 1744 and 1746. This was the last civil war in Britain’s mainland. The events in the novel are parallel to what happened during the Jacobite uprising. The novel’s protagonist, Edward Waverly, hails from a royal family, Waverly-Honor in South England. He travels to Scotland, to the family of Baron Bradwardine then to the highlands where the battle takes place. His family are Jacobite sympathizers. Waverly is committed to the Jacobite cause and fights in the Battle of Prestonpans, September 1745 which is described in detail in the novel. When the Jacobites failed in 1746, Edward is pardoned by Talbot. In the real Jacobite uprising in history, the battle started in the summer of 1744 and ended in 1746. The battle sought to restore power to Charles Edward Stuart after the fall of House of Stuart dynasty. The final battle, The Battle of Culloden, led to the defeat of the Jacobites.
Another feature of historical novel employed in the novel Waverly is characterization. Scott creates a blend of fictional and real characters in this story to place the novel in an authentic historical novel. The protagonist of the story, Sir Edward Waverly is fictional. One real character is Charles Edward. Others are fictional are shaped by the setting. The soldiers fighting in the war and Edward Waverly’s family members are all well placed in the historical setting that one might think that they are real people who actually lived. The characters also change due to the conflict or problems and are able to resolve them. An example in the story is Colonel Talbot. Despite Edward being the enemy, Colonel Talbot intervenes to give Waverly pardon after saving him from tumbling into the marsh.
The themes in the story also fit with the historical context. They include heroes and heroines, tolerance, wars. Tolerance was a major issue due to the influence of existentialism in the 18th century. Scott believed anyone could be anything he wanted to be despite his/her class, religious beliefs, political alignment and ancestry. The theme of war is quite evident. The protagonist, Waverly, leads us to the Battle of Prestonpans. This war started in September 1745 to 1746. There is also the execution of POWs in the novel.
However, Quixotism is evident in the novel. In the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, Quixotic means “having or involving ideas or plans that show imagination but are usually not practical”. One element of Quixotism in the story happens when Edward Waverly helped the enemy, Colonel Talbot when he was almost falling to the marsh. Again Colonel Talbot helped Waverly get pardoned which is almost unreal. However, the critics of Scott, as he later clarified, did not have the same perspective of the effect of Cervantes on his novel.
Gone With the Wind
Gone with the wind by Margaret Mitchell is an historical novel that its main character, Scarlett, to reconstruct the past in the South. One of the element in the novel that makes it an historical novel is its setting. The novel is set in an historical context. It is set in post-civil war Atlanta, Southern America. It is also set in a real geographical location: Atlanta. The novel is also about farming and agriculture in general. Agriculture was a popular activity in Southern America after the civil war. The themes, characters and the plot are also authentic to the historical context. All these features make Gone with the wind by Margaret Mitchell an historical novel.
The Last of the Mohicans
James Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans is another historical novel, set during the French and Indian War between 1754 and 1763. The novel is set seventy years before its publication. The novel is written in a limited third person point of view. The narrator barely gives the reader any insight into the thoughts of the characters in the narration. This led to the inaccuracy of the book although it is classified as a historical novel.
Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville is more of an adventurous novel. It is a sea story that does not have any relation to history hence it is not an historical novel.
Works Cited
Scott, Walter. Waverley, or'tis Sixty Years since. D. Appelton and Company, 1875.
Stone, Sarah, and Ron Nyren. Deepening Fiction: A Practical Guide for Intermediate and Advanced Writers. Pearson/Longman, 2005.
