Historical Realism

1
Historical Realism
EDU11GCL - Genres in Childrens Literature

• Week 9 Lecture2
• The past is a foreign land they do things
  differently there
• (LP Hartley, The Go Between)

2
Voice and perspective in historical fiction

• I question the idea that the only kind of book
  that can help a child through a problem is a book
  about that very problem. From my own experience
  I would say that many children in the grip of
  great trouble cannot face their problems and will
  reject books about those problems. But a book
  that is set in a parallel world - fairyland or
  wonderland or the future or the past, a parallel
  world in which things are happening on a rational
  basis - can sometimes be the way to acceptance.
• Anne Schlee, (1987)

3
Past and Present

• History is a dialogue between past and present
• We learn from the achievements and failures of
  the past, but we select the details to consider
• The selection is based in modern ideas
• But each age can rediscover the details of the
  past and reinterpret
• Thus the past is continuously being reconstructed
  by the present

4
Past and Present

• When you write a story that takes place in times
  long past, you are more free. Your readers have
  less prejudice and will accept your tale with
  open minds
• Erik Christian Haugaard
• Characters not as prescribed by modern realities
• Modern stakeholders of the past - interpretations
• Alternative perceptions depending on your side
• Vietnam - communist aggression or war of
  independence?
• Joan of Arc - deluded rebel or national saint?
• Aborigines (Aust., US, Africa etc.) - noble
  primitives, uncivilized savages, protectors of
  the earth, troublesome injuns ?

5
Voice and perspective

• Possibilities of perspective
• Stories of real historical characters
• Stories of wholly imaginary characters
• Stories of real events
• Stories of imaginary events
• Stories in real, identifiable settings
• Stories in imaginary settings

6
Voice and perspective

• Possibilities of voice
• 1st person
• Stories told directly by real characters
• Stories told directly by imaginary characters
• 3rd person
• Stories told about those characters by a narrator

7
Voice and perspective

• Who is telling the story?
• Whose perspective are we getting?
• Are they real or imagined?
• How does this impact on the language they useIs
  it contemporary, everyday English, colloquial
  equivalents, Gadzookery or carefully researched
  authenticity?
• How does this affect the narrative voice?

8
Voice and perspective

• What values are expressed ?
• Do the values reflect todays more enlightened
  times? E.g. the roles of women, racial
  attitudes, political and social authorities,
  modern medicine or attitudes to life and death.
• Characters have to act in accordance with the
  values and beliefs of their time.

9
Voice and perspective

• Do the themes illuminate the problems of today by
  examining those of yesteryear.
• These themes may include
• meanings of freedom
• loyalty and treachery
• love and hatred
• acceptance of new ways
• closed minds verses questioning ones
• the struggle between good and evil.