The journey of the “historic romantic novel” Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University

Abstract EN

The problematic relationship between history and novel has preoccupied many scholars.

Though the question of where facts stop and art starts is not the only question to be discussed, it is the basic question that the Romantic historic novel was based on.

This relationship is explicit in the Romantic Literary production where the romantic theme and the tumultuous political historical events of a period are clear.

The study of the development of the theory of novel writing and critical reading make the question of relationship between romantic novel and history eligible, since both history and novel consist of a discourse that gains its power from its language with its impact on the recipient and its role, regardless of its factual and historical references.

This paper examines nineteenth and late twentieth century novel in terms of changing configuration of the ‘historic novel’ and its function and appeal.

It focuses on the historical, theoretical, literary as well as cultural aspects that assist in assimilating the valid meaning of the relationship between history and novel.

It examines two texts written by two well-known writers from different eras and cultures : one belongs to the nineteenth century England, Sir Walter Scot, and the other to an Arab modern one, Ameen Maalouf.

The choice of the two different writers is to universalize the problematic the relationship between history and novel.

The focus is on the historic novel, its characteristics, meaning, and how far we can consider it a history