Hi there! I've been really struggling to develop a clear and sophisticated question for my major work. I'm interested in investigating the role of imaginative reenactment in historical works, reflecting a lot of the ideas of Hayden White and Simon Schama about how the sort of 'novelisation' of history is inevitable, but doesn't necessarily compromise historicity and can even be beneficial for a greater understanding of the past. I'd like to use examples from historical novels and television shows, particularly about Anne Boleyn since she's one of the most 'characterised' historical figures of all time, that show how history can be told through narratives based on reliable evidence rather than just traditional empiricism, making it a kind of comparison between the works of academic historians and historical novelists. I feel like a topic like this has a lot of different aspects and I'm not sure how to condense it into a question. Any ideas? Sorry it's such a broad question, any advice would be super helpful!
Hey Angie!
First of all, coming up with a question is really really hard, so you're definitely not alone there! Your idea though is really really interesting! And I love how you are focusing on a historiographical concept rather than an event, as that will make it so much easier from the get go to write historiography rather than history (not to say that focusing on an event is bad - just within this aspect it can be tricker). Are you doing Western Imperialism for your case study? Just wondering cos you mentioned Simon Schama
If you are, I'd recommend having a look at some of Niall Ferguson's works, as they would relate well to both this topic and the Wstern Imperialism case study. Some other things that I suggest having a look at (if you haven't already!) to further your research/could act as examples include;
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Social History (and how it legitimises the role of imagination - if you're unsure what I mean by this feel free to ask! This was a key component of my major work
)
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Disneyfication of History (re. Pocahontas in particular, could link back to 'orientalism' to!)
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Schindler's List as an example of historical fiction that
attempts to play by the rules of history (Spielburg said that the movie is historically accurate because for each event depicted they analysed the account of two sources. Does that really make the film historically accurate? Can films be historically accurate when by its very nature - imagined script, sets, actors, camera angles etc - it can be no more than a depiction?)
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Horrible Histories (I don't know much about the historiography of this, but a girl in my class focused her entire major work on this series when discussing popular history!)
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Bill O'Reilly (He was my case study for my major work
An example of a "historian" who is in many ways even less credible than a lot of historical fiction writers.)
Okay now that I've got that out of the way (sorry I know that wasn't part of your question - I just like your topic so much and got a bit carried away haha), in terms of developing your question - is there a particular angle that you wish to approach? Do you want to focus on televised historical fiction? Do you want to use Anne Boleyn's representation as a case study, or just a frequent example?
When it comes to formulating a question for history extension -
simplicity is key. The sophistication comes from your analysis, not the convoluted and complex nature of your starting question. For example, my question was "To what extent is the discipline of History experiencing a dialectical dilemma?" Within this I discussed social history, marixsm, hegelianism, linguistics, the role of imagination, legitimised Bill O'Reilly as a historian (the latter of which was not easy!) - but my overall question was broad, clear and simple. It also wasn't limiting or confining - but had direction.
From what you have said about your topic, perhaps something like these could work?
- To what extent can historical fiction be "historical"?
- To what extent is the novelisation of history legitimised by current historiographical practices?
- To what extent is the novelisation of history "inevitable"?
- To what extent can historical fiction reveal historical truth?
- To what extent can fiction be utilised as a legitimate historiographical tool?
Hope this helps! Looking forward to hearing more about your topic, please keep us updated
Susie