Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Historical novel
(1,698 words)

1. Definition

The historical novel is a subgenre of the novel in which authentic historical personages, events, and circumstances are presented in varying degrees of fictionalization, or in which fiction and history are melded in a narrative configuration (Fictionality). The term historical novel (French roman historique, Italian romanzo storico, German historischer Roman) became established in European-Angloamerican literature around 1820 in the context of the reception of Walter Scott’s novel…

Cite this page
Lampart, Fabian, “Historical novel”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 01 April 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_021001>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20180915



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