YPOLOGY OF THE HISTORICAL NOVEL IN AMERICAN LITERATURE OF THE SECOND HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Abstract

The historical novel occupies a significant position in the genre system of American literature of the second half of the twentieth century. During this period, the genre underwent substantial transformation and developed into a number of distinct but interrelated forms. The present article examines the typology of the American historical novel of the second half of the twentieth century and identifies three major genre variants: the documentary historical novel, the postmodern historical novel, and the neorealist historical novel. The classification is based on three interrelated criteria: epistemological, narratological, and functional. The epistemological criterion concerns the possibility of acquiring reliable knowledge of the past; the narratological criterion focuses on narrative strategies, the narrator, temporality, and self-reflexivity; while the functional criterion examines the cultural and ideological functions performed by historical fiction. The study demonstrates that documentary fiction is characterized by an aspiration toward historical authenticity and evidential reliability, whereas postmodern historical fiction emphasizes the constructed nature of historical narratives. Neorealist historical fiction combines critical awareness of the problems of historical representation with psychological depth, ethical seriousness, and a renewed interest in testimony and traumatic memory. Particular attention is given to E. L. Doctorow's Ragtime, Thomas Pynchon's Mason & Dixon, Toni Morrison's Beloved, Louise Erdrich's historical fiction, Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, and Don DeLillo's Libra. The article argues that the proposed typology should not be understood as a rigid classification, since many representative American historical novels combine features of several models.