2. HISTORY AS PASTORAL, HISTORY AS A SOURCE OF DRAMA

Abstract

Samuel Johnson was alive to the perils of approaching literary works with inappropriate demands. Realizing that anyone who read Rich­ ardson for the story would hang himself, he suggested that we read him " for the sentiment, and consider the story as only giving occasion to the sentiment. " Johnson's remarks reveal an interest in the function and hierarchy of the parts that constitute artistic wholes ; he recog­ nizes the importance of determining whether one aspect of a work of art exists for the sake of another. I do not intend to suggest that we read all historical novels for the history, and consider the story as only giving occasion to the history, but in this chapter and the next one, I do want to take a close look at the different roles history has played in standard historical fiction. Tzvetan Todorov asserts that there are two possible ways to arrive at generic groupings : " theoretical genres" stem from " a deduction of a theoretical order, " whereas "historical genres" stem from " an ob­ servation of literary reality. " 1 My interest in the uses of history in fic­ tion is neither purely theoretical nor purely historical. Instead of at-