tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851859166625635257.post7965108912750683462..comments2023-04-29T06:17:20.997-07:00Comments on Clio's Children: How do we define ‘historical fiction’? A modest proposalKK Breeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18300974722831848744noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851859166625635257.post-21705325268483791292010-04-27T17:17:13.545-07:002010-04-27T17:17:13.545-07:00Even writers of history must endure the slings and...Even writers of history must endure the slings and arrows of their outraged fellows. I'm reminded of Barbara Tuchman and the scoffs and jeers and putdowns of her historical writing - most of them probably jealous because of her success. Perhaps some unhappy that a woman was writing for the masses and somehow corrupting the purity of history.<br /><br />History has always been a polyglot. Take people from any era, plop them down in an historical setting, and let them have at it. You'll get a ripping good tale if the author's skill is there, and you'll get utter boredom if it isn't (probably the reason so many people learn to hate history. Make it interesting and make it provocative and there will always be an audience.KK Breeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18300974722831848744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851859166625635257.post-26337921797161101092010-04-26T00:24:34.590-07:002010-04-26T00:24:34.590-07:00Marina, please free to use the term 'serio-his...Marina, please free to use the term 'serio-historical'. It's possibly less clumsy than Linda Hutcheon's now infamous phrase for neo-historical fiction: 'historiographical metafiction'. Why didn't she just call it 'metafaction' - and leave it at that?<br /><br />I was once tempted to set up a group called Real History Authors (RHA) in a bid to switch web traffic from the Royal Horticultural Association. But it might have started another war of the roses...Dr John Yeomanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03457052363231077457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851859166625635257.post-89356469540507514522010-04-25T16:14:16.460-07:002010-04-25T16:14:16.460-07:00Great proposal, John, there must be some restlessn...Great proposal, John, there must be some restlessness in the air on this topic as I am just in the process of setting up a new blog offering to help frustrated authors by reviewing books that fall into the serio-historical category - terrific term - I might pinch it with your permission? No Tudors need apply though. http://mistpoeffer.blogspot.com/Regina of Arbeiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03515362716195281135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851859166625635257.post-17496739352316981762010-04-25T14:59:26.221-07:002010-04-25T14:59:26.221-07:00Oh, but I do want to thank you for bringing up suc...Oh, but I do want to thank you for bringing up such an interesting proposal. I love debating this kind of thing!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07729283374222314144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851859166625635257.post-11372731043963012612010-04-25T14:54:51.138-07:002010-04-25T14:54:51.138-07:00How helpful is it for marketing purposes to slice ...How helpful is it for marketing purposes to slice and dice up the genre anymore than it already is? Costume dramas like HBO's Tudors might be considered heritage fiction, but because it gets maybe 70% of the history right while capturing the imagination, it inevitably leads readers to other related historical fiction that might more rightly be classified as serio-historical novels, and I think that's a good thing.<br /><br />Moreover, I always caution historians and historical fiction writers from believing too much of our own propaganda. Yes, there are some profoundly strange outlooks from times past, but the human mind hasn't changed drastically in thousands of years. Our ancestors aren't _aliens_.<br /><br />For example, the Roman viewpoint on slavery, religion, and a whole host of other issues would be utterly foreign to us. On the other hand, read some of Juvenal's work and it could be something you'd hear from a modern day commentator talking about illegal aliens. And then you have figures like Spartacus, who obviously held beliefs that ran contrary to the societal norm.<br /><br />So, whenever I read a Regency historical where there's a plucky young heroine who believes in women's liberation, I think to myself that there were surely a few women of her time period that thought the same way. It's just that she was an aberration.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07729283374222314144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851859166625635257.post-65886152338037361902010-04-25T10:14:08.731-07:002010-04-25T10:14:08.731-07:00At Speak Its Name (www.speakitsname.com) we very d...At Speak Its Name (www.speakitsname.com) we very definitely expect as serio as it we can get it. We DON'T want modern men in pretty costumes with modern sensibilities, and if we spot such anachronisms - even in the romances (which for some reason people think gets a bye just because it's a romance) we point it out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com