We began our literary podcast discussion on historical fiction by acknowledging there seems to be some disagreement on what truly qualifies as part of this subgenre. We had initially thought the definition was straightforward – fiction set in a historical time period.



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However, upon further research, we realized many lists of famous “historical fiction” included classic novels like The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, etc. that were written contemporaneously with the periods they depicted. This clashed with our understanding that historical fiction involves an author writing about the past from a modern perspective, years after those historical events occurred.







The Great Gatsby



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Author:
F. Scott Fitzgerald





Published:
01/05/2021


Genre:
American Literature


Publisher:
Modern Library


Number of pages:
192


ISBN:
9780593133569



Show Details





The Elements of Historical Fiction



We felt that mere period pieces written at the time in which they’re set should be considered present-day and do not necessarily constitute historical fiction in the purest sense.



While from a modern lens, novels like Gatsby could be considered “historical” since they capture a specific point in actual history, categorizing all fiction from past eras as “historical fiction” seemed an oversimplification to us. Part of our conception was that true historical fiction requires the retrospective viewpoint of an author looking back on and reimagining a prior age.



Works like Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, which blends vividly realized historical settings with fantastical story elements, seemed to fit our criteria better. We discussed how this allowed for the creative license to fictionalize aspects while still grounding the narrative in ...

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