Historical fiction and archaeological interpretation: introduction

Van Helden, D.; Witcher, R.E.

Abstract

The transformation of the material traces of the past into archaeological narrative is a fundamentally creative act. But what happens when archaeologists engage with the work and methods of historical novelists and filmmakers? Do they risk transgressing the long-established and widely perceived borderline between fact and fiction? In this introductory chapter, we explore these questions through an analysis of the intertwining of archaeological research and fiction writing to demonstrate both the risks and the tangible benefits involved. In practice, we find a surprisingly long, if contested, history of archaeological engagement with fictive techniques, which transcends shifting theoretical orientations. The second half of the chapter reviews some of the varied expressions of the use of fiction in archaeological research (e.g. fictive vignettes, imagined journeys) and discusses these authors’ motivations and intended outcomes. Finally, we address some of the key objections and challenges to the use of fictive techniques, before outlining examples of the great potential of archaeological engagement with historical fiction.

Citation

Van Helden, D., & Witcher, R. (2020). Historical fiction and archaeological interpretation: introduction. In D. Van Helden, & R. Witcher (Eds.), Researching the archaeological past through imagined narratives: a necessary fiction. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203730904-1

• Online Publication Date: Nov 26, 2019
• Publication Date: 2020
• Deposit Date: Feb 25, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: May 26, 2021
• Publisher: Routledge
• Book Title: Researching the archaeological past through imagined narratives: a necessary fiction
• ISBN: 9781138303638
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203730904-1
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1655967
• Contract Date: May 10, 2019