Historical Fiction
Historical Realism
Tells a story that never happened but
could have happened
Important Points
1. It can breathe life into what people may have considered
irrelevant and dull. Makes the time period come to life.
2. It implies that the present is a part of the living past. The
struggles we face today are a part of the struggles people
have faced before.
3. It helps readers get a feel for a time period. (History
textbooks don’t help readers make personal connections
with the past.)
4. History should not be sugar-coated.
5. Historical accuracy is required to give the flavor of the time.
•
•
Stories that convey a sense of nostalgia are usually inaccurate.
Anachronisms reduce verisimilitude.
6. Readers usually see history through the eyes of young
protagonists.
History in context
In what context is history presented?
•
As growth (more common in American ChLit)
–
–
–
–
•
We’re climbing toward improvement
We have problems because we’re making progress
Things are getting better. We are better people than people in
the past.
Work toward making the world better in the future (Number the
Stars, p. 137)
As cycle (more common in European ChLit)
–
–
–
–
–
History repeats itself
We don’t always learn from the past
We are no better than our parents
Things will return to normal (Number the Stars p. 132)
Rose Blanche: the seasons.
History as a social corrective
• There’s been a move in the last 20 years in
Western historical literature (America especially)
to make themselves look bad. A historical
corrective.
• Use of literature to admit wrongdoing.
• Helps to alleviate guilt. (native peoples, slavery,
racism)
• Perhaps reading, studying, and thinking about
racism can help to solve the problem.
Accuracy
• Nostalgia is tempting, especially in literature for
children, but it is opposed to accuracy.
• Factual accuracy vs. generalized accuracy.
–
–
–
–
Which details can be changed and which cannot?
We can check the dates to see exactly when the Nazis were in
Denmark and when the call came to round up the Jews.
Details about King Christian X and the general political situation.
See Number the Stars “Afterward” (133-137)
• Historical novels used to educate and teach
• The best education we can get is from our own social
culture
–
Compare Number the Stars with Taiwan’s White Terror
• Writers of historical fiction need to watch out for
anachronisms.
Anachronism (ana=against, chron=time)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The utilization of an event, a person, object, or idea in a time
when that event, person, object, or idea was not in existence.
In a movie of the ancient Romans, the people cannot be wearing
blue jeans, wrist watches, or glasses.
In Number the Stars, Annemarie cannot talk about using email to
keep in contact with Ellen.
We often get more of the values of the author’s culture than the
values of the culture being written about. We see the old culture
through the lens of the modern author.
Many aspects of feminism, individualism, democracy, various
political and religious ideas are fairly recent.
A strong-willed, independent young woman in a story set in
medieval Europe is anachronistic.
But literature that more accurately reflects the ideas of the times,
may also be criticized as racist or misogynist.
Values
Value statements are embedded in every work.
What values do different characters have?
And which values does the text support and critique?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Loyalty to friends and neighbors
Strong family relationship. Honest communication
Parents show obvious affection toward children.
Normal people can be brave; heroes.
Storytelling is good.
Lying can be useful, but be honest too.
Men and women can be equally courageous
Peaceful resistance is better than fighting.
Cleanliness is good.
Children should focus on studies. Ellen missing school.
The German Occupation of
Denmark
Amalienborg Castle
Copenhagen, Denmark
King Christian X and Queen of
Denmark
King Christian on horseback
King
Christian
on
Horseback
again
Kronborg Castle
Kronborg castle again
The Danish Coast
The coast of
Denmark north
of Kronborg
castle. The
opposite coast
is Sweden.
The Beginning of the Occupation
• On April 9, 1940, the German
invasion lasted for two hours.
Sixteen Danish soldiers in the
battle. (In Number the Stars, the
invasion happens in late August p. 31)
• The Danish cabinet surrendered to
Germany "under protest“ to avoid
further bloodshed.
• Germany had a much bigger army
with more modern weapons.
• The Danish army was small and
used old equipment; partially to
avoid antagonizing Germany.
German troops, carrying rifles and wearing
overcoats, march into the Danish city of Aalborg
on the first day of German occupation.
Danish resistance
A group of Danish soldiers on the morning of the German invasion,
on April 9, 1940. Two of these young men were killed later that day.
Danes hear terms of Nazis in 1940
Much of the world
couldn’t understand
the seeming lack of
resistance to the
Nazis.
Some thought
Denmark's Social
Democratic
government had
sided with Germany.
A boat used for ferrying Jews
•Denmark was the only occupied country that
actively resisted the Nazi regime's attempts to
deport its Jewish citizens.
•On September 28, 1943, Georg Ferdinand
Duckwitz, a German diplomat, secretly informed
the Danish resistance that the Nazis were
planning to deport the Danish Jews. The Danes
quickly organized a nationwide effort to smuggle
the Jews by sea to neutral Sweden.
•Warned of the German plans, Jews began to
leave Copenhagen, where most of the 8,000
Jews in Denmark lived. When the roundup
came, hardly any Jews were found!
•Within a two-week period fishermen helped
ferry 7,220 Danish Jews and 680 non-Jewish
family members to safety in Sweden.
One of the fishing boats used
The rescue of Danish Jews was
very risky. This is one of the boats
used by a rescue group codenamed the “Helsingor Sewing
Club.” The escape route they
provided enabled several hundred
Jews to escape across a narrow
strait to the Swedish coast. On
each trip, the boat carried 12-14
Jewish refugees. Kiaer himself
was betrayed and arrested in May
1944 and spent the rest of the war
in a concentration camp.
Map showing rescue routes
• The Danish rescue effort was unique because it
was nationwide and supported by the
government.
• Still, almost 500 Danish Jews were deported to
Czechoslovakia.
• Yet even of these Jews, all but 51 survived the
Holocaust, largely because Danish officials
pressured the Germans with their concerns for
the well-being of those who had been deported.
• The Danes proved that widespread support for
Jews and resistance to Nazi policies could save
lives.
•
Source: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/denmark.html
Kings of Denmark and Sweden after the War
Original caption: Royal
Reunion in Denmark.
Copenhagen, Denmark:
This photo, taken in
Amalienborg Castle,
was made at the first
meeting of the Danish
and Swedish Kings
since 1939. Since that
time Denmark was
occupied by Nazi forces
until its recent liberation.
Seated, left to right, are,
Queen Alexandrine, of
Denmark, King Gustaf,
of Sweden; King
Christian of Denmark;
Crown Princess Ingrid
and Crown Prince
Frederik of Denmark.
Other members of the
two royal families are
shown in background.