THE HISTORICAL NOVEL: RE-CREATING PAST REALITIES THROUGH FICTION “A BOOK A DAY KEEPS REALITY AWAY”

Abstract

Fiction and reality are two terms that seem to be in continuous opposition. Although the two worlds appear disparate, fiction and reality are linked together in more ways than thought. A literary text opens up a means to access reality; often it is a reflection of a reality we claim to exist. This paper, thus, explores how selected contemporary historical novels creatively (re-) construct alternative realities of WWII events as opposed to an assumed fixed reality presented in the grand narratives of history. The novels seek to retrieve the mini-narratives of long lost, subdued and/or marginalized stories of minor participants in those events that constitute the grand narratives of history. As such, these novels become the voice of the silenced, and discursively/collectively establish a subgenre that acts as a tool of (narrative/fictional) empowerment.