Historical Purist?
When I write historical fiction, I don't mind doing the research to get it right. Perhaps that comes from the fact that I got my bachelor's degree in history. Having a history background has also helped with the writing. I find I often have a sense of time and place that makes the writing easier and brings the books to life. Two of my historical novels (When Winter Is Past and It All Started at the Masquerade) are set in the 1700's and five (Cleared for Planting, Sown in Dark Soil, Uprooted by War, Transplanted to Red Clay, and Mountain Mishap) are set in the 1800's.
In addition to background research and specific research of facts as I need them in writing, I also check vocabulary words to make sure they were used in my time period. It bothers me to read books where the vocabulary is too modern for the book's setting. I want mine to remain appropriate and true. My husband thinks that my attention to these details is what makes my historical novels so popular.
However, when I started writing a series of books set in the Middle Ages, this has presented a problem. I find that not only is the vocabulary I can use extremely limited, but I'm also having to check about five words in every sentence to see when they first came into use. As you can imagine, this is very laborious and time-consuming. Some of my favorite authors of Medieval fiction don't restrict themselves in this way. They include words used through the 1950's but structure their sentences in a way that gives the impression of Medieval speech.
I have thought long and hard about this, and I can't bring myself to do less than my very best. I'm not entirely satisfied when I find modern words in the historical novels I read, and I wouldn't be satisfied writing that way. I have found that I tend to be a traditionalist when it comes to grammar and writing, and I guess this is just one more example. I may be too much of a historical purist, but I don't think I could be happy with the books I published if I thought I'd made easier choices instead of making them the best I can. I truly believe my readers deserve the best.
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I have thought long and hard about this, and I can't bring myself to do less than my very best. I'm not entirely satisfied when I find modern words in the historical novels I read, and I wouldn't be satisfied writing that way. I have found that I tend to be a traditionalist when it comes to grammar and writing, and I guess this is just one more example. I may be too much of a historical purist, but I don't think I could be happy with the books I published if I thought I'd made easier choices instead of making them the best I can. I truly believe my readers deserve the best.
I'm also an author of fiction set in the Middle Ages, specifically English Reformation. I certainly understand your dilemma about word choice. I don't have the time (I'm also a fulltime missionary) or the resources to check out word history the way you do. I want my characters to sound like they live in the 1500s but I also want my modern day readers to understand what the characters are saying. It's a delicate balance. Even when I can't do the word research, I'm determined to get all the historical details as correct as I possibly can.
ReplyDeleteThe English Reformation is actually counted coming a little after the Middle Ages, well at least in Britain. We sort of count the Medieval period as ending someone around the early 1500s, or late 1400s.
DeletePersonally, as a British woman and a Medieval enthusiast, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Christian Fiction set at that time. I understand why we focus on the Reformation, but part of me just wants to shout 'there were 1000 years of history before that- and lots of interesting things happened- can we stop ignoring it please?'
A real dilemma. I enjoy Shakespeare for instance, but some of what he has written is hard to understand, and going back even further is worse yet. So, there needs to be a middle-ground, but please don't put modern terminology in ancient societies...
ReplyDeleteKaren, I understand. I can quickly check Merriam-Webster Dictionary online because it gives the etymology. However, my text won't be straight out of the Middle Ages. If so, no one would be able to understand it, including me. The Middle Ages is 500 to 1500. Writing in the 1500's, you would have more vocabulary to use. : )
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Donevy. I think I can write a good story with the appropriate vocabulary, but it won't or shouldn't use the same language patterns they had in the Middle Ages. That would be hard to wade through.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about speech patterns. I don't like language that is too jarringly modern, but its gets harder with any book that is set before about 1500 I think.
ReplyDeleteMiddle English is not easy: this is someone who has made an effort to actually read it in the original form. Hard! I would not expect any author to write a novel in Middle English, and as a reader I have found novels with dialogue written in that style hard to read. Not bad, but hard. Although, I think you are making a valiant effort to be faithful to the original speech patterns.
I think as long as you avoid obviously modern terms and phrases like 'Okay', you're probably Okay!
I think my love of English gained at High School has stayed with me though, as I'm still interested in the influence of history and geography on speech patterns.
ReplyDeleteI recently finished a novel set in Ireland, but could not help thinking that the characters often sounded more Scottish than anything else.
Then again though, there are some novels that go to the opposite extreme and assume that everyone in Scotland knew Gaelic at some undetermined point in the past. That seems to be a common misconception, actually.
They did not though: Gaelic has never been a Universal language in Scotland, and I very much doubt am Anglo-Scottish lowland nobleman of Norman extraction like Robert the Bruce spoke it, as one novel made out if I recall.
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ReplyDeleteEnglish Lady, I appreciate your thoughts and comments. You seem to have a very good perspective on the issues. Despite the limitations of writing novels set prior to 1500, I am having a great time with it.
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