Introduction—Historical Fiction and the 1960s: Mediating the Past and Reimagining the Future

Abstract

Abstract This introduction to the special issue on contemporary ethnic historical fiction considers recent trends in the field, as well as the critical history of this popular genre. Over the last two decades, historical fiction, particularly by writers of color, has gone mainstream, gaining large audiences as well as critical admiration. These works challenge the conservatism of the genre, both formally and thematically. Combining historical research with speculative elements, these works tell new stories about US history, centering on the lives of those too often sidelined or ignored in mainstream version of American history and in literary fiction. These various formal and thematic features suggest a distinctive generational moment, shaped by the nation's changing demographics and shifting political conditions. Contemporary ethnic American historical novelists focus simultaneously on the past and the present, bringing current preoccupations—such as the omnipresence of white supremacy, the unresolved trauma of war, and the demonization of refugees and immigrants—to light through their detailed re-creation and reimagining of historical events. In this way, contemporary ethnic American historical fiction operates as a means of representing, and attempting to work through, national traumas.