Commingling of History and Fiction in Julian Barnes’s A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters

Abootalebi, Hassan

doi:10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILSHS.52.1

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Commingling of History and Fiction in Julian Barnes’s A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters

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Abstract:

This paper intends to explore the relationship between history and fiction in the novel A History of the World in 10 1⁄2 Chapters (1989) by the British writer Julian Barnes in order to indicate how these two notions have been commingled in different periods. In this regard, the focus of the current study is to investigate the above-mentioned novel, and to demonstrate the invalidity of historical records, their subjectivity, and how throughout history myths have become realities, with an eye on New Historicism. By the end of this study, its reader’s attitude towards history and what s/he is presented with as fact and truth is hoped to change, not to readily accept historical records and stories as absolute truths, rather to consider them one possible history among many others that might have been marginalized and suppressed by a dominant ideology.

Info:

Periodical:

International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences (Volume 52)

Pages:

1-5

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILSHS.52.1

Citation:

H. Abootalebi, "Commingling of History and Fiction in Julian Barnes’s A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters", International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, Vol. 52, pp. 1-5, 2015

Online since:

May 2015

Authors:

Hassan Abootalebi

Keywords:

Fiction, History, Julian Barnes, New Historicism, Truth

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Distribution:

Open Access

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

References:

[1] Abrams, M.H. (2009). A Glossary of Literary Terms. 9th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

[2] Barnes, Julian. (1989). A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters. New York: Vintage International.

[3] Bressler, Charles E. (2007). Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. 4th ed. United States: Pearson Prentice Hall.

[4] Guerin, Wilfred L., et al. (2005). A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. 5th ed. OUP.

[5] Guignery, Vanessa. (2006). The Fiction of Julian Barnes. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

[6] Habib, M.A.R. (2005). A History of Literary Criticism: From Plato to the Present. UK; Blackwell Publishing.

[7] Moseley, Merit. (1997). Understanding Julian Barnes. N. p: U of South Carolina P.

[8] Tyson, Lois. (2006). Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. N. p: Routledge.

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