(Trans)historical Fiction in Saint-Réal's Don Carlos

Abstract

Abstract:César Vichard, abbé de Saint-Réal's nouvelle historique Don Carlos (1674) is an example of the ways in which history and fiction merge. By analysing seventeenth-century French historiography, especially the works of Antoine Varillas and Saint-Réal himself, this paper discusses the appearance of a history of anecdotes that will introduce a new paradigm in the writing of history. The importance of Don Carlos in England, as attested by its multiple editions, lies in the cultural transfer between France and England that would be vital in the development of the English novel. Before the emergence of a proper English way of writing fiction by later novelists, Saint-Réal's work in translation is an important milestone in the development of writing historical fiction during the English Restoration.