Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Historical fiction is a genre in a constant state of flux: since its inception in the
nineteenth century, it has been shaped by cultural trends and has persistently
responded to the way in which history is popularly conceptualised. As such, historical
novels have always revealed as much about the socio-political context of their
moment of production as they do about their historical settings. The advent of
feminism was among the most significant movements which shaped the evolution of
the women’s historical novel in the twentieth century, prompting as it did a radical
shift in historiographic methodology. As feminist discourse became embedded in
popular culture in the latter decades of the twentieth century, this shift in turn allowed
authors of historical fiction the opportunity to reconsider the ways in which women
have been traditionally represented in both historical narrative and fiction. The
historical novel thus became a site for exploring the female perspective of history, a
perspective that had been denied or ignored by more male-centred historical
narratives. This dissertation will assess the impact wrought by the popularisation of
feminist discourse on the genre of women’s historical fiction during the twentieth and
twenty-first centuries. An examination of a selection of contemporary women’s
novels set during the Tudor era will prove particularly useful in executing this
assessment, not least because of the Tudors’ unprecedented popularity as the focus of
literature and film in the last decade. More significantly, the women of this period
have proven to be ideal subjects for their authors to imaginatively reconstruct in the
mould of third wave feminist icons in the twenty-first century. By examining how
Tudor women have been represented in the contemporary historical fiction of Jean
Plaidy, Philippa Gregory, Mavis Cheek, Suzannah Dunn and Emily Purdy, this
dissertation will demonstrate the ways in which popular feminist discourse has
impacted on the development of women’s historical fiction in the last century,
focusing specifically on texts published within the last decade. Three key aspects of
the genre will be assessed in detail in this regard: the author’s self-conscious feminist
intervention in the characterisation of her historical heroines; the shift in the narrative
perspective adopted and the deployment of postmodern literary devices; and the
representation of female sexuality. The evolution of the genre as a whole will also be
examined in some detail, and the shifting parameters of modern feminisms will be
interrogated in order to fully understand their manifestations in popular culture. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Historiese fiksie is ’n voortdurend veranderende genre: sedert die ontstaan daarvan in
die negentiende eeu is dit beïnvloed deur kulturele neigings en het dit aanhoudend bly
reageer op die manier waarop die geskiedenis populêr gekonseptualiseer word. As
sodanig het historiese romans altyd net soveel oor die sosiopolitieke konteks van hulle
produksiemoment as oor hul historiese milieus onthul. Feminisme was een van die
betekenisvolste bewegings wat gedurende die twintigste eeu die evolusie van die
historiese roman vir vroue sou beïnvloed, en het sodoende aanleiding gegee tot ’n
radikale verandering in historiografiese metodologie. Namate feministiese diskoers in
die latere dekades van die twintigste eeu deel van die populêre kultuur geword het, het
hierdie verandering op sy beurt die skrywers van historiese fiksie die geleentheid
gegun om die maniere waarop vroue tradisioneel in sowel historiese narratief as fiksie
uitgebeeld is, te heroorweeg. Die historiese roman het dus ’n terrein geword waarop
die vroulike perspektief op die geskiedenis verken is, naamlik ’n perspektief wat deur
meer manlik-gesentreerde historiese narratiewe ontken of geïgnoreer is. Hierdie verhandeling sal die impak evalueer wat die popularisering van
feministiese diskoers op die genre van historiese fiksie vir vroue gemaak het tydens
die twintigste en een-en-twintigste eeue. ’n Ondersoek na ’n seleksie van
kontemporêre vroueromans wat in die Tudor-tydperk afspeel, is veral nuttig in hierdie
verband, onder andere as gevolg van die Tudors se ongekende gewildheid as die
fokus van letterkunde en film in die afgelope dekade. Wat meer veelseggend is, is dat
dit blyk die vroue van hierdie tydperk was ideale subjekte wat verbeeldingryk deur
hulle outeurs gerekonstrueer kon word in die vorm van derdegolf-feministiese ikone
in die een-en-twintigste eeu. Deur te ondersoek hoe Tudorvroue uitgebeeld is in die
kontemporêre historiese fiksie van Jean Plaidy, Philippa Gregory, Mavis Cheek,
Suzannah Dunn en Emily Purdy sal hierdie verhandeling die impak demonstreer wat
populêre feministiese diskoers in die afgelope eeu op die ontwikkeling van historiese
fiksie vir vroue gemaak het, met die fokus spesifiek op tekste wat in die afgelope
dekade gepubliseer is. In hierdie verband sal drie sleutelaspekte van die genre
uitvoerig geassesseer word: die skrywer se selfbewuste feministiese ingryping in die
karakterisering van haar historiese heldinne; die verskuiwing in die
vertellingsperspektief en die ontplooiing van postmoderne letterkundige tegnieke; en
die uitbeelding van vroulike seksualiteit. Die evolusie van die genre as geheel word
ook beskou, en die veranderende parameters van moderne feminismes word ondervra
sodat hul manifestasies in die populêre kultuur ten volle verstaan kan word.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/86303 |
| Date | 04 1900 |
| Creators | Barlow, Jenna Elizabeth |
| Contributors | Roux, Daniel, Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of English. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 294 p. |
| Rights | Stellenbosch University |
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