From: Cappiello, Maryann <mcappiel_at_lesley.edu>
Date: Mon, 05 Nov 2012 17:07:41 +0000

I wrote my dissertation on historical fiction for young people (from the di me novel of the 1860s to the ya novel circa 2000, all set during the Americ an Revolution with a female teen protagonist), so this topic is near and de ar to my heart. I was curious about how one period of time had been represe nted over time in books for young people, and the role of girls in history in the only form that was available to them for much of that time — ficti on.

In framing the definition of historical fiction, I used a variety of differ ent sources to compare and contrast the definition over time. They ranged f rom defining the genre by purpose/type: researched history, family history, your own lived experiences fictionalized after 25 years. The time frames v aried, but most frequently, 25 years and/or "a generation" were used as the dividing time between the author and the subject. Thus, if you were settin g out to write a book set twenty-five years or so earlier, it would be a ge neration past the current youth who might be reading the book. In this time frame, lived history can then be considered historic.

I think we have historical literature, books that are contemporary realisti c fiction written in some past moment of time and illuminate that time for us (in the world of both adult and children's books, fiction and nonfiction ) and we have historical fiction, which implies a conscious decision to wri te about the past in a fictionalized format.

In some cases, we have historical fiction about the past, that has yet anot her layer of history added to it because of our distance from it, which is one aspect of looking at the book in my dissertation that was most fascinat ing. Johnny Tremain is a great example of that. What does it tell us about Boston during the American Revolution, and what does it tell us about the h ome front during World War II, the time in which it was written?

I think fiction and nonfiction written about events that have happened in o ur recent past (September 11th, the war in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina) are con temporary realistic fiction or nonfiction about current events. In time, th ey will become historical literature, as they will represent our thinking o n our present, capturing it in time. But I would not label a book set on Se ptember 11th or during Hurricane Katrina written now as historical fiction. I abide by that "generation/twenty-five year" rule personally as a general guideline.

From a collecting and teaching standpoint, I think we have a lot to gain by examining books within this context of time. Students can see more clearly how our treatment of topics and the nature of writing has changed as they look at historical literature in a continuum, or even historical fiction an d nonfiction in a continuum. Rich opportunities. I have some terribly writt en books about the American Revolution on my shelves…but from 1860 to 200 0, they tell me a great deal about the ways in which the role of girls and women in that time period have been represented over time. Kids can make th ose connections, too, and from that, understand representation on a whole n ew level.

Best, Mary Ann Mary Ann Cappiello, Ed.D. Associate Professor Language & Literacy Division Coordinator, Collaborative Internship Partnership Graduate School of Education Lesley University

Teaching with Text Sets, http://estore.seppub.com/estore/product/50688 www.classroombookshelf.blogspot.com

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Received on Mon 05 Nov 2012 05:07:41 PM CST