Through the Century

This chapter looks at two of the most crucial aspects of historical novel writing through the twentieth century. Firstly, the chapter considers the historical romance as a genre specifically able to address audiences. Writing specifically targeted at women has often been marginalised; why is this? How can historical romance allow a reflection upon the workings of the historical novel, its audiences, and the ways in which it is imagined and understood? These questions are discussed using the examples of Catherine Cookson and of Mills & Boon as a publisher. This section is concluded with a discussion of Diana Wallace’s work as crucial in situating understanding of the historical novel’s development and diversity. The chapter then moves to look at how radical literary and historiographical postmodern theory of the 1960s and 1970s influenced the writing of historical fiction, and the ways in which this was both resisted by, and already innate within, the form. How did experimental writing of the latter part of the twentieth century adapt the historical form to its own ends? How do the set of aesthetic strategies associated with postmodernism intersect with history, and what does this mean for the writer? How might formal experimentation be used in order to undermine the organisation of history? There are in-depth discussions of the criticism of Linda Hutcheon and the novels of Umberto Eco, Margaret Atwood, and Jeanette Winterson.