History Meets Fiction

Description

The relationship between history and fiction has always been contentious and sometimes turbulent, not least because the two have been seen as mutually exclusive opposites. In this thought-provoking and original study, Beverly Southgate investigates the truth behind fiction and the fact behind history and shows that the culmination of 20 years of historical theorising may well be that history meets fiction at a point where the two become indistinguishable.

History Meets Fiction provides a fascinating account of the relationship between history and fiction, a debate fast becoming central to the study of historical theory. It uses extracts and examples from well-known works of fiction to illustrate and reinforce points within the text, and Southgate is an engaging and accessible writer who has the rare ability to present this complex material with clarity.

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: History and Fiction

Chapter 2: History: Fact or Fiction?

Chapter 3: Dryasdust and Co.: Some Fictional Representations of Historians

Chapter 4: Fiction, History, and Memory

Chapter 5: Fiction, History, and Ethics

Chapter 6: Fiction, History, and Identity

Chapter 7: Fiction and the Functions of History

Chapter 8: Endings

Postscript

Bibliography

Index

Features

• Engaging and accessible style makes a complex topic easily understood and divertingly fascinating
• Inclusion of extracts and examples from well known works of fiction to illustrate the points made in the text
• Covers theoretical and practical perspectives of this often contentious topic

Author
Reader Emeritus in the History of Ideas, University of Hertfordshire