Chapter 10: Historical fiction
Chapter 10: Historical fiction
Historical fiction is any fictional story set in the past. I typically
like to add the caveat that typically historical fiction is based on
significant events or historical period in the past. While it is difficult to
pin point at what point historical fiction ends and contemporary fiction
begins- most students define it as being before they were born or if it is in a
history text book. One important aspect of historical fiction is that it gives
the reader “the opportunity to vicariously experience what it might have been
like to live in a previous time and place.”
Some criteria to help you and your student evaluate Historical fiction
is: Does the book tell a good story that blends the history in the story
itself?; Are the facts if the historical period accurate?; How are the values
of the time brought to life?; Is everything consistent with the social
environment or culture?; and Does the theme of the story relate to contemporary
readers? I feel that this last question is extremely important because the
universal themes are what draws and entraps readers in the world of the past.
Another source for criteria of historical fiction is the CBC (Council on Books
for Children) who work together with the National Council on Social Studies to
produce a list of Notable Trade Books in the Social Sciences.
Reflection:
As this chapter discusses the subgenre of Historical fiction, I think
it is important to evaluate a historical fiction text in two separate ways
because they combined make the subgenre successful. The two major criteria I
gleaned from the text would be: the historical aspect- facts, consistency to
historical era, and social and cultural values of the time; and the
storytelling- universal themes, the story blending into its environment, and
plot. These two aspects are going to be very important to the success of a historical
fiction novel. When I taught The Watsons
Go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis, I taught it as
historical fiction because the historically significant events that occurred
helped the readers understand the time period, values, and culture. While the
characters and overall plot of Watsons did not happen because it is fiction,
the 16th street Baptist Church bombing did in fact happen. The
bombing and many references to the famous people of the time embedded with the
fictious story line is what makes the story so successful. It allows children
to see an important historical even through the eyes of someone like themselves,
Kenny Watson. The loss of Kenny’s innocence after the bombing where he thought
he lost his sister is what helps the readers relate and fully understand some
of the crucial events of the civil rights movement. Historical fiction books
are sometimes semi-autobiographical as the stories are loosely based on events
or experiences of the author as a child. Other historical fiction books weave
true events that happened that they found in research and letters from the time
together to create one story from multiple examples from the time period. One historical
fiction work that I love is Death Coming
Up the Hill by Chris Crowe because he took his research and found tons of
stories from the summer of 1968 and weaved them into one narrative experience
for reader- bonus it is also written in the format of haiku. It takes the
values and culture of the period and enlightens the reader to a multitude of
issues that everyday people faced as well as critical events like the Vietnam War.
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