Genre Basics

            Genre basics

What is Historical Fiction?

Historical fiction seems as though it should be an easy genre to define.  What could be simpler than the telling of a fictional story set sometime in the past?  But this definition presents certain problems for both readers and librarians alike.  How far in the past must a story be set to be considered historical?  Is ten years sufficient?  Or must a story be set  a century or more in the past?  Should the story take place before the author’s lifetime?  And to someone born in the 1980s, a novel set during the time of Kennedy’s presidency may seem adequately historical, yet to their parent’s generation, this might not hold true. 

Certain sources define historical fiction as fiction set before the first half of the 20^th century, while other sources state that the setting should be fifty years before the birth of the author.  Still others define historical fiction as fiction in which the author must rely on historical research for setting, plot, and characters rather than relying on personal experience.  While many might define the works of Charles Dickens or Jane Austen or Mark Twain as historical fiction, they were in fact writing about the times they lived in or times in the recent past.  While their works may appeal to many historical fiction readers, they are not strictly defined as historical fiction.

For our purposes here, historical fiction will be defined as a story set at least fifty years in the past and one that requires significant historical research on the part of the author to capture the history of the story faithfully and is not based on their own experiences.



Characteristics of the Genre

 

Although there are many trends in historical fiction that may that may ebb and flow (the rise of the historical mystery, the popularity of historical romance), there are certain characteristics of the genre that are almost always present.  First of all, the novel must seek to evoke a sense of the past with relatively historically accurate information.  The author must seek to present the information as accurately as possible while working historically accurate details into the storyline.  Anachronisms are frowned upon by readers and can in essence break the spell of a perfectly good story.

 

While details should be historically accurate, the story should not suffer merely for the presentation of facts.  While many historical fiction fans enjoy a historically accurate novel, this does not necessarily mean they want to read a history textbook.  Most fans of the genre enjoy the human touch that comes from a novel set in the past.   It is the fiction element of historical fiction that draws in readers and the strength of the characters is important.  While the historical aspect of the formula is of the utmost importance, readers still want to be entertained, just as all fiction readers do.