Historical nonfiction
Historical nonfiction is a genre of writing that presents fact-based accounts of past events, figures, and cultures. This form of literature has its roots in ancient storytelling traditions, where knowledge was passed orally through generations. As societies developed written languages, the recording of history became more systematic, with early examples found in the writings of ancient civilizations such as Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Greek historian Herodotus is often credited with establishing a more critical approach to historical writing, emphasizing the importance of primary sources and careful research methods.
Over time, historical nonfiction has evolved to encompass a wide range of topics beyond just politics and war, including social and cultural movements. Contemporary works often appeal to diverse audiences, including young readers, and may blend factual accounts with fictional elements for a richer narrative experience. Additionally, technological advancements have expanded the ways in which historical narratives can be presented, utilizing photography, documentaries, and online resources to engage modern audiences. Today, historical nonfiction plays a crucial role in educating society about the past while highlighting the values and lessons it holds for the present.
Historical nonfiction
Historical nonfiction is a form of writing that conveys factually based information about the past. This information may include narratives about historic people, accounts of great events, or analyses of past cultures. People have been creating nonfiction accounts since ancient times through stories, artwork, and written languages. The Greek historian Herodotus revolutionized historical nonfiction by employing critical research methods. Historians have followed his example for thousands of years. Today, historical nonfiction covers a wide variety of issues and topics, as well as a range of media.
The Development of Historical Nonfiction
Historical nonfiction has likely been around since the beginning of human communication. The earliest people transferred their knowledge orally through storytelling, passing from generation to generation tales of ancestors, historic events, and great exploits. Storytelling carried knowledge through many lands and generations, helping to teach lessons and perpetuate cultural values. As time passed, however, most of the oral histories of ancient people gradually faded away.
One of the few forms of ancient nonfiction to exist into the modern era is artwork, such as cave paintings. Cave paintings may be viewed today as the first recorded works of historical nonfiction. Made in times before written languages, ancient painters employed visual symbols to record facts and truths about their lives and ancestors. Many cave paintings feature representations of nature, such as the wild animals hunted by the ancients, as well as marks of humanity, such as handprints. The exact meanings of these markings may be difficult to decipher today, but cave art was certainly used to record historical accounts.
With the development of written languages about 5,500 years ago, people gained the ability to record exact words and meanings. Scribes in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, and later in China and Mesoamerica, began writing extensive narratives in their respective languages. Although many of these writings were stories and legends, others were legal documents and everyday records, forms of nonfiction that preserved valuable information about these ancient people for scholars of the modern world. These records are valuable not only for their facts but also for the clues they provide about the beliefs and values of their creators.
The Historical Method
In time, as writing and scholarship advanced, historians, or students of history, appeared in many cultures. These people studied the past by interviewing older people, collecting their stories about history, and writing down their findings. The work of these historians set the standard for what is generally considered historical nonfiction today. One of the first great historians was Herodotus, a Greek scholar of the fifth century B.C.E. Herodotus is widely considered the main innovator of historical nonfiction. While prior scholars tended to accept questionable material, biased accounts, and fanciful interpretations, Herodotus applied a more critical and scientific approach to his research and writings.
The greatest work of Herodotus, The Histories, contains a detailed account of the Greco-Persian War. It begins with the formation of the Persian Empire and then describes its great clash with the Greek city-states in the fifth century B.C.E. Although Herodotus clearly favored the Greek side and cast the Persians in an unflattering light, his methods of research and recording were groundbreaking. Herodotus employed what is known in modern times as the historical method, a process of finding and analyzing information about the past.
Herodotus sought out primary sources, or firsthand accounts, to serve as the basis of his narrative. He used fewer secondary and tertiary sources, which are accounts based on previous sources. Herodotus recognized that primary sources were more likely to contain accurate information. This was because these sources were written by people who actually experienced the great events of the past, rather than people who may have merely overheard stories about such events. Other historians adopted his careful critical approach and research methods to improve their own writings.
Modern Historical Nonfiction
Historical nonfiction thrived as a form of narrative throughout the centuries, leading to many classic accounts of the past. In 1776, English politician and historian Edward Gibbon undertook the enormous task of chronicling the ancient world in his masterpiece The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Gibbon used primary sources to find the most accurate information and employed modern prose to lead readers to the important lessons he saw in the story of the Romans. The works of Gibbon and subsequent historians continued to develop the art and science of historical nonfiction.
In modern times, historical nonfiction covers a wide variety of topics. While earlier historians generally focused on issues of politics and war, historians today examine social and cultural topics just as extensively. All are considered important facets of historical nonfiction. Listings of popular nonfiction works suggest that scholars and readers today have significant interest in social trends and movements, such as the quest for civil rights in America in the 1960s, as well as the life stories of well-known social, political, military, and entertainment figures from the past. Many historical nonfiction works are written for young readers, and some texts blend nonfiction information with fictional elements to create mixed narratives about the past.
Modern creators of historical nonfiction have also taken the genre far beyond the printed word. Today, hundreds of forms of technology have been used to create and record historical nonfiction. Forms of photography, audio recordings, and computer applications offer historians a limitless range of possibilities for storing and presenting their material. Documentary films and television productions, along with Internet sites and other resources, have become very popular means of conveying the lessons of history to modern audiences.
Bibliography
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Banner, James M., Jr. Being a Historian: An Introduction to the Professional World of History. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Print.
Kelley, Donald R. Faces of History: Historical Inquiry from Herodotus to Herder. Chelsea, MI: BookCrafters, 1998. Print.
Kott, Ruth E. "The Origins of Writing." University of Chicago Magazine. University of Chicago Magazine. Web. 26 Nov. 2014. http://magazine.uchicago.edu/1102/features/the‗origins‗of‗writing.shtml
"The 100 Greatest Non-Fiction Books." Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Web. 26 Nov. 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jun/14/100-greatest-non-fiction-books
"Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources." University of Maryland Libraries. University Libraries, University of Maryland. Web. 26 Nov. 2014. http://www.lib.umd.edu/tl/guides/primary-sources
Whitley, David S. Cave Paintings and the Human Spirit: The Origin of Creativity and Belief. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2009. Print.