Comments on: What Constitutes History? http://www.wondersandmarvels.com/2009/11/what-constitutes-history.html A Community for Curious Minds who love History, its Odd Stories, and Good Reads Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:36:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Editor http://www.wondersandmarvels.com/2009/11/what-constitutes-history.html/comment-page-1#comment-3325 Editor Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:20:20 +0000 http://www.wondersandmarvels.com/?p=2785#comment-3325 Thanks for the comment, Frances. That's something I've really come to appreciate--how much historical fiction writers (the best ones) research their topics. Holly Thanks for the comment, Frances. That’s something I’ve really come to appreciate–how much historical fiction writers (the best ones) research their topics. Holly

]]> By: Frances Hunter http://www.wondersandmarvels.com/2009/11/what-constitutes-history.html/comment-page-1#comment-3143 Frances Hunter Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:20:00 +0000 http://www.wondersandmarvels.com/?p=2785#comment-3143 This was a good, thought-provoking post. For the purposes of historical fiction, I think of history as being "out of living memory." That is, if it's beyond the memory of a grandparent, then it's history. But as you point out, even that varies by the individual. The grandparents of an 8-year-old could be in their forties, with no memory of JFK, Vietnam, the moon-walk, or even Watergate. I agree that historical fiction is that which presents carefully researched history as part of the story, though, regardless of how long ago that history took place. This was a good, thought-provoking post. For the purposes of historical fiction, I think of history as being “out of living memory.” That is, if it’s beyond the memory of a grandparent, then it’s history. But as you point out, even that varies by the individual. The grandparents of an 8-year-old could be in their forties, with no memory of JFK, Vietnam, the moon-walk, or even Watergate.

I agree that historical fiction is that which presents carefully researched history as part of the story, though, regardless of how long ago that history took place.

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