American Literature / Unit 6 AML 0518 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Historical Romance as a Form
Captions available
The idea
The historical romance sets invented characters inside real events, usually a generation or two back, and lets a nation examine its own founding at a safe distance. Scott supplied the model; Cooper naturalized it; and the form let American writers claim a past for a country that had little.
In practice
Invented people, inside real history.
Where people slip
The form supplies a usable past by construction.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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