Fiction against History: Scott as Storyteller - Hardcover

Kerr, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521364256 ISBN 13: 9780521364256

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1989

Synopsis

Walter Scott was acutely conscious of the fictionality of his historical novels. In this 1989 book, James Kerr reads the Waverley novels as a grand fictional project constructed around the relationship between the language of fiction and historical reality. We can see throughout Scott's novels a tension between the romancer, recasting the events of the past in accordance with recognizably literary logics, and the historian, presenting an accurate account of the past. This contradiction, reflected in Scott's generic mixture of romance and realism, remains unresolved, even in the most self-conscious of his works. It is in this interplay of fiction and history that Professor Kerr identifies the rich complexity of the Waverley novels.

About this title

Review:

'A complex and original interpretation of the novels ... Kerr conducts some intense and scrupulous reading of Scott's texts, honoring their imaginative richness while exposing their unexpressed ideological commitments. He brings to bear on Scott a sound critical intelligence.' George Levine, Rutgers University

Book Description:

Walter Scott was acutely conscious of the fictionality of his historical novels. In this 1989 book, James Kerr reads the Waverley novels as a fictional project constructed around the relationship between the language of fiction and historical reality. Throughout Scott's novels there is a tension between the romancer, recasting past events with recognizably literary logic, and the historian, presenting an accurate account of the past.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0521364256
• ISBN 13: 9780521364256
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 156