Authenticity and alterity: evoking the fourteenth century in fiction

511 Pages·2015·2.84 MB·English

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U S
NIVERSITY OF OUTHAMPTON
F H
ACULTY OF UMANITIES
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

Authenticity and alterity:
evoking the fourteenth century in fiction

Carolyn Hughes

THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
OCTOBER 2015

i
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON
ABSTRACT
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
English
Doctor of Philosophy
AUTHENTICITY AND ALTERITY: EVOKING THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY
IN FICTION
by Carolyn W. Hughes
This PhD thesis consists of two major sections. The critical commentary,
Authenticity and alterity: evoking the fourteenth century in fiction, reflects upon
issues of authenticity and alterity in historical fiction. The historical novel, The
Nature of Things, through its structure, themes, style and language, aims to deliver
an authentic and naturalistic portrait of life in the fourteenth century.
The commentary and novel are supplemented by a bibliography, and three
appendices: a synopsis of the novel, a list of the characters, and a summary of a
review of historical novels undertaken alongside the writing, which sought to
discover how other novelists addressed the issues of authenticity and alterity.
The critical commentary considers what makes good historical fiction, specifically
how to bring a sense of authenticity and the role of ‘alterity’. It first addresses the
alleged ‘problems’ of historical fiction claimed by nineteenth-century author Henry
James and others: the impossibility of authenticity, its innate falsehood, and its
failure to portray the past’s strangeness. It then explains the process of writing The
Nature of Things: its concept and themes, structure and characters, narrative
metaphors, language and style, its quest for authenticity and ‘naturalism’. Then it
looks at authenticity in historical fiction and how it can be achieved: through
narrative form, recorded history, social context, physical details, and the historical
thought-world, including religion and superstition. It goes on to consider the need
for, and use of, ‘alterity’ (strangeness) as a means of achieving authenticity, looking
at such concepts as magic, spells, the supernatural and monsters. Finally, it looks at
the authenticity of language in historical fiction, the relationship between thoughts
and words, and the problems of both anachronisms and archaic language.
Throughout the commentary, examples are drawn from both The Nature of Things
and other historical novels. Concluding remarks are given at the end.
The novel, The Nature of Things, spans the fourteenth century. It is structured in
seven parts, each of which is narrated by one of seven different voices. The titles of
the parts allude to the four biblical apocalyptic horsemen plus three invented
‘horsemen’ – Poverty, Famine, War, Plague, Death, Dissent, Despair. The titles
allude to the disasters that befell the fourteenth century, which form the backdrop for
the narrators' stories, but are also metaphors for the narrators’ emotional sensibilities.
People's response to disaster is one of the novel’s themes, but so is hope and
continuity, expressed in a garden metaphor that is given physical shape in a fictional
thirteenth-century gardening book, The Nature of Growing Things.
ii
iii
LIST OF SECTIONS
Critical reflection – Authenticity and alterity: evoking the fourteenth century in fiction
Novel – The Nature of Things
Appendices
Bibliography
iv
DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP

I, Carolyn Wendy Hughes,

declare that this thesis and the work presented in it are my own and has been
generated by me as the result of my own original research.

Authenticity and alterity: evoking the fourteenth century in fiction

I confirm that:

1. This work was done wholly or mainly while in candidature for a research
degree at this University;
2. Where any part of this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree or any
other qualification at this University or any other institution, this has been
clearly stated;
3. Where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly
attributed;
4. Where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With
the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work;
5. I have acknowledged all main sources of help;
6. Where the thesis is based on work done by myself jointly with others, I have
made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed
myself;
7. None of this work has been published before submission.

Signed:

Date:
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to thank my supervisor, Rebecca Smith, who has provided invaluable support
and advice throughout the five years of my doctoral work, most especially bolstering
my frequently flagging confidence in the merit of my novel and encouraging me to
keep going in the face of mounting doubt. I wish also to thank my advisors: in the
first year, Professor Bella Millett, who guided my initial thinking, and Dr. Chris
Briggs, who, as an historian, gave me confidence that the history in my novel had a
semblance of authenticity, and, for the last four years, Professor John McGavin, who
has given me much food for thought about writing historical fiction, and challenged
me to think about my writing and my objectives. Also I wish to thank Dr. Marianne
O’Doherty, who helped to clarify some of my thinking and introduced me to ideas
that have enriched my work.
I must also thank my husband, David, for providing not only lots of tea, but also
much encouragement and practical advice. Also my son Christopher, for spending
many hours discussing, among other aspects of my work, the nature of thought and
language, and my daughter Rosie, for her continuing moral support through what has
seemed a long, but ultimately satisfying, experience.
vi
1
CRITICAL REFLECTION – AUTHENTICITY AND ALTERITY:
EVOKING THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY IN FICTION
1
  INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 3

2
  THE “PROBLEMS” OF HISTORICAL FICTION ........................................ 5

Historical fiction can never be authentic .............................................................. 5

Historical fiction is a lie ....................................................................................... 6

Historical fiction fails to portray the strangeness of the past ............................... 7

Summary .............................................................................................................. 8

3
  WRITING THE NATURE OF THINGS ......................................................... 11

Themes ............................................................................................................... 11

Structure and characters ..................................................................................... 13

Narrative metaphors ........................................................................................... 14

Tonal variety ...................................................................................................... 16

“Social realism” and naturalism ......................................................................... 18

4
  AUTHENTICITY AND ALTERITY .............................................................. 21

What is authenticity? .......................................................................................... 21

Achieving authenticity ....................................................................................... 22

Narrative form .............................................................................................. 22

Recorded history .......................................................................................... 23

Social context ............................................................................................... 24

Physical details ............................................................................................. 27

Thought-world .............................................................................................. 29

Including alterity ................................................................................................ 36

Authenticity of language .................................................................................... 44

Thoughts and words ..................................................................................... 45

Modern language and the problem of anachronisms ................................... 47

Archaic or strange language ......................................................................... 52

5
  CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................ 61