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For discussions of historical fiction. Threads that do not relate to historical fiction should be started in the Chat forum or elsewhere on the forum, depending on the topic.
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Margaret
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2440
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Post by Margaret » Thu June 16th, 2011, 4:17 pm

"Sorry, I only read Literary Fiction, not Historical Fiction" as if the two are mutually exclusive!
He is misinformed! I guess it's readers like him who are the reason why one writer I contacted about her historical novel (set in the WWI period) wrote back huffily to say she didn't write historical novels.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

Ash
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Posts: 2475
Joined: August 2008
Location: Arizona, USA

Post by Ash » Thu June 16th, 2011, 11:01 pm

[1. Is a novel written by a ninety-year-old about events of seventy years ago (ie in their lifetime but not of most readers) Historical Fiction - yes

2. Is a novel written by a twenty-year-old about events only thirty years ago (and therefore researched) Historical Fiction? -yes. Think back what was happening thirty years ago - the fall of the USSR, Tianimen Square, the end of the Berlin Wall, the Miner Strikes in England. I think it depends on what the author was trying to do - write a book about the time, or write a story that happened to be during the time

3. If a novel is fundamentally about action that could take place in any era (ie universal themes) and the setting adds just colour rather than being critical to the story still Historical Fiction in a strict sense? yes, tho it depends I think on what the novel was trying to do

4. Should there be a strict cut off date of say 100 years for something to qualify as Historical Fiction (as in the case of vintage becoming antique when 100 years old)? No, I am uncomfortable with a time limit. There are some books about 9/11 that could be HF. Its the kind of thing that I'd know when I see/read it

5. Does a novel become HIstorical Fiction over time, even if it was once contemporary (eg Charles Dickens)? Not sure. I don't consider books by Dickens or Austen to be HF,; I put them more in the 'Classic' category. But Im on the fence sometimes - there are books about WWI written just after the fact that I'd consider HF. I think it might be a matter of why the book was written - to actually explain a time or event, or for the history to be the background of a story (see question 3)
Last edited by Ash on Thu June 16th, 2011, 11:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Kate139
Scribbler
Posts: 22
Joined: April 2011

Post by Kate139 » Fri June 17th, 2011, 6:04 pm

[quote=""Margaret""]He is misinformed! I guess it's readers like him who are the reason why one writer I contacted about her historical novel (set in the WWI period) wrote back huffily to say she didn't write historical novels.[/quote]

How did you know it was a HE, Margaret?? Very clever of you. I'd deliberately avoided gender so I couldn't be accused of stereotyping, but you're right, of course . . .

User avatar
Margaret
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2440
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Post by Margaret » Fri June 17th, 2011, 7:35 pm

How did you know it was a HE, Margaret?? Very clever of you. I'd deliberately avoided gender so I couldn't be accused of stereotyping, but you're right, of course . . .
LOL. I went back and read your post, and indeed, you do completely avoid mentioning your friend's gender. My assumption that your friend was male was purely an unconscious mental leap. Probably because the people I have known who get unreasonably dogmatic about the distinctions between literary and popular fiction have generally been male. They're likely to be the same people who get sniffy about novels by women authors. Obviously, not all men do this, but I've run into a few who get very sneering about any literature that doesn't fit into their pre-determined standards.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

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TeralynPilgrim
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Location: Starkville, Mississippi
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Post by TeralynPilgrim » Wed June 22nd, 2011, 9:02 pm

[quote=""MLE""]1. no
2. no
3. yes
4. yes
5. yes

My reasons: I operate from an average reader's standpoint, which is they picked up the book for a setting 'not in any sense set in the present' -- which includes things they might be able to discuss with Grandma who lived through it. So that explains answer #4. 100 years minimum, at least for me.

and as to question #5: To the above reader, Jane Austin falls into the same category as a Jane Austin knockoff -- both set in regency England. They aren't going to nit-pick about Austen's being a 'contemporary' novel, while the spinoff is 'Historical'.

On #3, the setting versus the universal themes. Show me a novel that doesn't deal with universal themes! The human race hasn't changed any. If it is set other than the present/recent past, it's historical.

On questions 1 and 2, Why should the reader know or care about the writer's age?[/quote]

Good points! I second all your answers.
A Writer's Journey http://teralynpilgrim.blogspot.com/
Querying Sacred Fire,a novel of the Vestal Virgins of Ancient Rome.

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javagirl
Reader
Posts: 118
Joined: May 2009
Location: Florida

Post by javagirl » Fri June 24th, 2011, 3:21 am

1. Is a novel written by a ninety-year-old about events of seventy years ago (ie in their lifetime but not of most readers) Historical Fiction?
Yes

2. Is a novel written by a twenty-year-old about events only thirty years ago (and therefore researched) Historical Fiction?
No

3. If a novel is fundamentally about action that could take place in any era (ie universal themes) and the setting adds just colour rather than being critical to the story still Historical Fiction in a strict sense?
Yes, if the colour is enough to let you feel like you're in a different time period.

4. Should there be a strict cut off date of say 100 years for something to qualify as Historical Fiction (as in the case of vintage becoming antique when 100 years old)?
Not strict, cause there are some good exceptions. I generally think of 50 as the general guideline.

5. Does a novel become HIstorical Fiction over time, even if it was once contemporary (eg Charles Dickens)?

No

Ash
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2475
Joined: August 2008
Location: Arizona, USA

Post by Ash » Fri June 24th, 2011, 11:28 pm

the fall of the USSR, Tianimen Square, the end of the Berlin Wall
Duh, my apologies, off by a decade or so.....

That guys response about HF versus Lit is why I so don't like genre lables. I've had the same kind of responses to Sci Fi/Fantasy - oh, those books could never be as profound as those in the 'canon'.Yet some of the most amazingly powerful books I've ever read have been in those genres. Even in genres I don't tend to care for (mystery, romance, westerns) I've find at least one example of a book that could be considered classic lit. And on the other hand, I've read books considered 'literature' that had nothing to say. If I owned the world, I'd maybe classify novels by time period, than genre. But I don't so there we are.

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EC2
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Location: Nottingham UK
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Post by EC2 » Sat June 25th, 2011, 10:57 am

1. Is a novel written by a ninety-year-old about events of seventy years ago (ie in their lifetime but not of most readers) Historical Fiction?

Yes


2. Is a novel written by a twenty-year-old about events only thirty years ago (and therefore researched) Historical Fiction?

Yes - albeit modern historicl fiction. 10 years ago and the answer would be no.

3. If a novel is fundamentally about action that could take place in any era (ie universal themes) and the setting adds just colour rather than being critical to the story still Historical Fiction in a strict sense?

Yes - but I wouldn't read it!


4. Should there be a strict cut off date of say 100 years for something to qualify as Historical Fiction (as in the case of vintage becoming antique when 100 years old)?

No

5. Does a novel become HIstorical Fiction over time, even if it was once contemporary (eg Charles Dickens)?

No. He was writing it when it was contemporary to him.
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

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