The Historical Novel

'Horace Walpole, Leland and Clara Reeve: Anglo-Saxon Histories and the Eighteenth-century Whig Historical Novel', conference paper, BSECS 2009

by Fiona Price

A longer and more detailed version of this paper is available as “‘Ancient Liberties’: Rewriting the Historical Novel: Thomas Leland, Horace Walpole, and Clara Reeve.” Journal of Eighteenth-Century Studies 34.1 (2011): 19-38.

Abstract: Taking Walter Scott’s novels as paradigmatic, Georg Lukács defines the historical novel as a genre that... more Abstract: Taking Walter Scott’s novels as paradigmatic, Georg Lukács defines the historical novel as a genre that figures history as abrupt change or progress, a theory which, this essay argues, fails to allow for the alternative political fictions available in eighteenth-century Britain. When the impact of the Glorious Revolution on the fictions of Leland, Walpole and Reeve is acknowledged, it becomes evident that the notion of inherited liberties was as important to Whig thinkers as the narrative of historical progress. This realisation allows fuller understanding of how these ‘gothic’ works function as historical novels.

‘Die Weltgeschichte ist das Weltgericht!’: August the Strong, the eighteenth century and the nineteenth-century German historical novel

by Madeleine Brook

published in 'German Life and Letters' 65/2 (April 2012)

Reconsidering Anti-Semitism and White Slavery in Contemporary Historical Fiction about Argentina

by Claire Solomon

Estructuras y técnicas narrativas de la novela histórica romántica española (1830-1870)

by Carlos Mata Indurain

Carlos Mata Induráin, «Estructuras y técnicas narrativas de la novela histórica romántica española (1830-1870)», en Kurt Spang, Ignacio Arellano y Carlos Mata (eds.), La novela histórica. Teoría y comentarios, Pamplona, Eunsa, 1995, pp. 145-198 [en la 2.ª ed., Pamplona, Eunsa, 1998, pp. 113-151].

Retrospectiva sobre la evolución de la novela histórica

by Carlos Mata Indurain

Carlos Mata Induráin, «Retrospectiva sobre la evolución de la novela histórica», en Kurt Spang, Ignacio Arellano y Carlos Mata (eds.), La novela histórica. Teoría y comentarios, Pamplona, Eunsa, 1995, pp. 13-63 [en la 2.ª ed., Pamplona, Eunsa, 1998, pp. 11-50].

Panorama de la novela histórica en Navarra

by Carlos Mata Indurain

Carlos Mata Induráin, «Panorama de la novela histórica en Navarra», en Carmen Saralegui Platero y Manuel Casado Velarde (eds.), Pulchre, bene, recte. Estudios en homenaje al Prof. Fernando González Ollé, Pamplona, Eunsa-Gobierno de Navarra, 2002, pp. 921-937.

A Welshman on the Water: The Portrayal of In-Betweener Identities in Richard Doddridge Blackmore’s The Maid of Sker (1872)

by Rita Singer

forthcoming in 'LWU Literatur in Wissenschaft und Unterricht'

Set in Glamorganshire and Devon at the end of the eighteenth century, Richard Doddridge Blackmore's novel The Maid of... more Set in Glamorganshire and Devon at the end of the eighteenth century, Richard Doddridge Blackmore's novel The Maid of Sker (1872) is told from the perspective of a Welsh fisherman and common sailor in the Royal Navy, 'Davy' Llewellyn. Blackmore adds an English dimension by choice of settings and his central character's profession. Although portraying in great detail the rural life of South Wales, only a third of the novel is set in South Wales. The remainder takes Davy to Devonshire and across the British Empire on board a vessel of the Royal Navy. He is particularly proud of his command of the English language which, in combination with what is portrayed as the stereotypical Welsh talent for telling stories, renders him highly verbal. These qualities allow him to reflect at great length about various subjects, such as slavery, savages and the sea.
Living between water and land, Davy is a literary example of what Gustavo Pérez Firmat calls a 'One-and-a-halfer' in his study of Cuban-American identities in his Life on the Hyphen: The Cuban-American Way (1994). Davy is part fisherman, who returns to his hut in Glamorganshire every evening to raise two orphaned girls, one of which was brought to him across the sea; he is also part sailor without a home to return to, taking care of three Devonshire savages and 'civilising' them whilst they are out at sea. Firmat talks of national identities in his study, but it can be argued that Davy's identity and the identities of the other characters are not shaped so much by their nationality as by the water surrounding them. Davy takes the role of the negotiator between the lives on land and water and, thus, is enabled to reveal, subvert and create a wide range of identities for his friends and foes.

Resisting the Spirit of Innovation The Other Historical Novel and Jane Porter

by Fiona Price

published in The Modern Language Review , Vol. 101, No. 3 (Jul., 2006), pp. 638-651.

In The Historical Novel George Lukács suggests that the ‘ideological struggle against the Revolution’ gives rise to... more In The Historical Novel George Lukács suggests that the ‘ideological struggle against the Revolution’ gives rise to ‘polemical’, often ‘reactionary’, writings, which are not, one presumes, as clear-sighted about capitalism as Lukács’s Scott (p. 26). However, Lukács, whose work ‘does not claim to give a detailed and complete history’ of the form, does not explore these writings or suggest the possibility of a related type of historical novel (p. 17).
It is precisely this possibility that Jane Porter’s work offers. The Scottish Chiefs (1810) places great emphasis on the whole of the Scottish landscape as a site of struggle and emphasises the mass activity of the Scottish people. The novel engages, albeit sometimes obliquely, with questions of economics and class which Lukács suggests the new sense of history brings sharply to the fore. And arguably Porter plays with more political fire than Scott in suggesting the power of unified mass action to overthrow the state. In other words, Porter’s novel, published before Scott’s, contains the preoccupations of the Napoleonic period, linked with a vivid awareness of the impact of history. What it does not do, however, is lay the emphasis primarily upon change. Instead, Porter constructs the ‘propagand[ist]’ use of history in a particular way (Lukács, p. 23). For her, creating an appropriate narrative that ‘brings the past into relation with the present’ involves stressing continuity. She uses history to promote a narrative of ongoing, disinterested patriotism, a tale in which the inevitable rise of capital has little part to play

'"Ancient Liberties?' Rewriting the Historical Novel: Thomas Leland, Horace Walpole and Clara Reeve

by Fiona Price

published in Journal of Eighteenth-Century Studies 34.1 (2011): 19-38

Abstract: Taking Walter Scott’s novels as paradigmatic, Georg Lukács defines the historical novel as a genre that... more Abstract: Taking Walter Scott’s novels as paradigmatic, Georg Lukács defines the historical novel as a genre that figures history as abrupt change or progress, a theory which, this essay argues, fails to allow for the alternative political and historical fictions available in eighteenth-century Britain. When the impact of the Glorious Revolution on the fictions of Leland, Walpole and Reeve is acknowledged, it becomes evident that the notion of inherited libertieswas as important to Whig thinkers as the narrative of historical progress. This
realisation allows fuller understanding of how these ‘gothic’ works function as historical novels.

Fra i libri dell’antiquario: leggendo i romanzi di Sir Walter Scott, “Misinta. Rivista di bibliofilia e cultura”, dicembre 2011, pp. 19-22

by Simone Signaroli

Some notes on antiquarians and old books in Scott's novels (to say nothing of the dogs): Waverley, Guy Mannering, The... more Some notes on antiquarians and old books in Scott's novels (to say nothing of the dogs): Waverley, Guy Mannering, The Antiquary.

La reescritura de la gesta napoleónica en la novela histórica reciente

by antonio dominguez leiva

Entre razón y barbarie: las Novelas Históricas de Pío Baroja

by antonio dominguez leiva

The Historical Turn in British Fiction

by Suzanne Keen

Lyhyt johdatus historiallisen romaanin tekijöihin

by Juha Järvelä

Julkaistu: Agricolan kirja-arvostelut 2009

Arvostelu teoksesta Nummelin, Juri, Halme, Jukka ja Polvinen, Sari: Historiallisen romaanin taitajia 1. Arvostelu teoksesta Nummelin, Juri, Halme, Jukka ja Polvinen, Sari: Historiallisen romaanin taitajia 1.

Recension to Santiago Posteguillo, Los Asesinos del Emperador

by Roberto Lerida

La vraisemblance narrative: Walter Scott, Barbey d'Aurevilly

by Fiona McIntosh

Recension to Jesús Sánchez Adalid, Los Milagros del Vino

by Roberto Lerida

Recension to Simon Scarrow, El Águila Abandona Britania

by Roberto Lerida

Recension to Michael Curtis Ford, El Último Rey

by Roberto Lerida

Recension to Valerio Massimo Manfredi, La Conjura de las Reinas

by Roberto Lerida