Reader Preconceptions / Historical Fantasy

[Steerpike]

An interesting issue that came to me while thinking of some of my stories. I am working on some historical fantasies set in the "New World" prior to the arrival of Europeans. A lot of the scholarship regarding the state of American Indian societies in the new world has changes in the last 60 years. The same is true for Central and South American societies. The new thinking is actually supported by sources contemporary with the European arrival, but at odds with what most people were taught and still think about the peoples who lived here before the Europeans arrived.

By way of example, whether you are talking about North or South America, the inhabitants had substantial impact on the land, shaping it for their own use (in clever, and very sophisticated ways, I might add). Great portions of what we now see in the Amazon area appear to be remnants of some of the most intensive and sophisticated "terraforming" the world has ever seen. The traditional view of North America as a state of wild nature, complete with images of extensive populations of game animals, was probably the result of European arrival and the decimation of Indian populations by disease, removing the key "check" on the cultivated environment that existed long before the Europeans arrived.

The cultures in my stories reflect this changed view of things, at least to the extent I have been able to accurately do so as a result of my research. Most readers still have the traditional, and inaccurate, view of the pre-Columbian New World in their minds, and I would like somehow to impart to the reader that a lot of what I am trying to portray in terms of society appears to be accurate, and not something I'm just making up as an author. Because my stories are also "fantasy," the lines between true history and authorial invention become even more blurred.

I've tried a few ways of getting this information across, but ultimately it comes down to more authorial intrusion than I want in the story if I'm going to juxtapose the traditional 19th-20th century viewpoint with how things really were.

Questions:

1. Does it strike any of you as important to establish some things that will seem "invented" to many readers as true representations of what life was like; and

2. If the answer to number 1 is "yes," what ideas do you have for accomplishing this?

For a novel, I could use an Appendix, I suppose, but I'd like to keep everything within the story itself to the extent possible.

 

[Penpilot]

1 - The short answer is no unless you as the author think it's important. The reader can go find out if it's real on their own.

2 - If you want to establish the story as an for the most part accurate, here are a few ideas. Not sure how good they are, but at least they're ideas. Involve time travel. Bring modern man into the past to make the comparisons. Book end the story with a modern day story involving native north/south american artifacts, revealing at the end that the whole tale was true.

Have you read Gun Germs and Steel I believe, in part, it talks about this. I saw the TV show based on it. It talked about how it's possible what the Europeans saw of native civilization was the equivalent of a post-apocalyptic society ravaged by disease. I've also seen shows that show evidence that natives exploited and abused the land just as much as any of the other peoples of the world. But only after a great environmental collapse did they ended up having to live in harmony with it.

 

[Zophos]

I like where you are going with this. Brilliant research in a fictional (especially fantasy) setting is hard to convey, however. Crichton does a really good job of research and transmitting it in his books. It takes a boat load of pages, but he gets it done. Seems like he pulls it off by barraging the reader with so much information that it can't possibly all be his own invention.

Maybe something as simple as a recommended reading list, bibliography or list of links on the interwebs would do the trick. You've gotta be able to pull off that barrage bit to get readers looking outside of the page that says "Chapter I" and the one that says "The End". I find that if I get into a book and really get interested in what the writer is selling, I start looking into it and usually I start with flipping to where the appendix or forward should be and seeing what's there.

 

[Steerpike]

Have you read Gun Germs and Steel I believe, in part, it talks about this. I saw the TV show based on it. It talked about how it's possible what the Europeans saw of native civilization was the equivalent of a post-apocalyptic society ravaged by disease. I've also seen shows that show evidence that natives exploited and abused the land just as much as any of the other peoples of the world.

Thanks for the input. I haven't read that book, but I've thought about getting it. The Europeans did indeed move into a world already ravaged by disease, where the vast majority of people were dead when they got their, contributing to the general view of the New World as sparsely inhabited, when it was not.

I agree that the Indians exploited and shaped to land to their own desires as much as anyone, but for the most part I think they didn't abuse it as bad as others. Some areas (milpas) in which crops are grown have been sustainable for centuries, while European and other societies rendered the soils unsuitable for planting in relatively short periods of time. They also transformed a lot of the unplantable regions of South America into areas that would support planting, and dramatically shaped the distribution of trees. In other words, they did have as much impact on the environment as Europeans, but it seems they were better at it in most cases (though there were some disasters - Cahokia probably being one of them).

Interesting stuff, that's for sure.

 

[Steerpike]

Maybe something as simple as a recommended reading list, bibliography or list of links on the interwebs would do the trick. You've gotta be able to pull off that barrage bit to get readers looking outside of the page that says "Chapter I" and the one that says "The End". I find that if I get into a book and really get interested in what the writer is selling, I start looking into it and usually I start with flipping to where the appendix or forward should be and seeing what's there.

That's not a bad idea. It would work particularly well for a novel-length work. Not sure if it works as well for short stories, but I suppose there could be a note or two at the end of the story.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Jabrosky]

I've run into a similar issue more than once before, but as long as people know you're writing fantasy than they will probably give you more leeway. You could give the Olmecs lightsabers for all the average fantasy fan would care. Readers' preconceptions would be more problematic when writing historical fiction, but that's nothing an author's "historical notes" afterword and bibliography can't address.

 

[Steerpike]

Yeah, this is true. It may well be of more importance to me than it will ever be to the reader. I'd like to impart the information because I enjoy these cultures and find the information interesting. In terms of the story itself, it doesn't matter whether the representation is historically accurate or completely fictional, or somewhere in between.

 

[The Dark One]

I'm currently writing (among other things) a historical novel set in the C11. The fictional main characters are interwoven with real characters and real events but there is a slightly fantastical subplot. Despite the presence of fantasy I am really keen to make the story as authentic as reasonable research will allow, but never at the expense of the story and its momentum. Just a few brush strokes here and there are all you need to maintain the flavour of your milieu once the story is set and rolling.

Unless it is absolutely your purpose to push a particular political barrow, I would avoid getting too caught up in what you believe is the preferred authenticity of the times. You'll soon lose the momentum if you're pushing a barrow and people hate being preached at.

I'll bet some people even think this post is too preachy...

 

[Zophos]

Yeah, this is true. It may well be of more importance to me than it will ever be to the reader. I'd like to impart the information because I enjoy these cultures and find the information interesting. In terms of the story itself, it doesn't matter whether the representation is historically accurate or completely fictional, or somewhere in between.

Yeah, I've always been a fan of the western hemisphere native cultures, as well. So much so that I've tried to force them into places they don't belong. I'm considering taking them out of my primary world right now because I don't think they fit there. Hard to find a "place" for them that is origin-authentic in a standard medieval fantasy setting which tends to be more European.

 

[J.P. Reedman]

I have some of the same problem. I am writing about a remote period of British history (around 2000 BC) which is often misrepresented in popular culture--the people are shown either as shaggy, grunting cavemen-types wearing a few skins or as this wise, 'in tune,' harmonious and almost magical lot dancing around stone circles in the moonlight. Neither, is of course true, it was the early bronze age, Britain was a big tin exporter, people lived in houses, had buttons and toiggles on their clothes, wove cloth, wore jet,amber and gold, drank booze, and yep,sometimes warred with the neighbours.
I've studied this period for many years, and even done some archaeology in the Stonehenge region, but I seem to be getting comments from people who seem a little obsessed either with facts (ultimately what I am writing is fiction--and historical fantasy at that,and there are a few creative anachronisms (deliberate) although I try to keep it as 'real' as possible.) On the other hand I know that some people probably won't want to see a Stonehenge where there are no leylines,wise astronomer priests or visiting Ets, and might even find some aspects a bit dark and unpalatable, like the mention of foundation sacrifices like the child with the split skull at Woodhenge.
I think I will probably have to do a brief section of historical notes and also a short bibliography of the books that have been most helpful to me over the years. This hopefully will be useful to readers who want to know more about the era. When I was a kid and first into fantasy I learned about many of the mythic source material such as the Mabinogion from mentions in authors' notes.

 

[ShortHair]

In this respect you will have two kinds of readers. The first, and most numerous, won't care about the background material you want to add. All they want is a good story, and forcing that material down their throats will make it less of a good story.

The second kind will want to know more. If you mention the historical source for your setting (say, in a brief preface), they will find the same information you did. Mission accomplished.

In an ideal world, everyone would want to learn whatever they could instead of relying on stereotypes. In the real world, unfortunately, you have to compromise. You can't sell your story as well if the audience perceives it as part history lesson, and you'll turn away readers who might have read more of your work. I wish it were otherwise.