On the Historical Novel

by Alessandro Manzoni, Sandra Bermann (Introduction)

Alessandro Manzoni was a giant of nineteenth-century European literature whose I promessi sposi ( The Betrothed , 1928) is ranked with War and Peace as marking the summit of the historical novel. Manzoni wrote “Del romanzo storico” ( “On the Historical Novel” ) during the twenty years he spent revising I promessi sposi. This first English translation of On the Historical Novel reflects the insights of a great craftsman and the misgivings of a profound thinker. It brings up to the nineteenth century the long war between poetry and history, tracing the idea of the historical novel from its origins in classical antiquity. It declares the historical novel—and presumably I promessi sposi itself—dead as a genre. Or perhaps it justifies I promessi sposi as the climax of a genre and the end of a stage of human consciousness. Its importance lies both in its prospective and in its retrospective contributions to literary debate.

Genres: Nonfiction, Literary Criticism

134 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1850

About the author

Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Antonio Manzoni, meglio noto semplicemente come Alessandro Manzoni (Milano, 7 marzo 1785 – Milano, 22 maggio 1873), è stato uno scrittore, poeta e drammaturgo italiano.
Considerato uno dei maggiori romanzieri italiani di tutti i tempi per il suo celebre romanzo I promessi sposi, caposaldo della letteratura italiana, Manzoni ebbe il merito principale di aver gettato le basi per il romanzo moderno e di aver così patrocinato l'unità linguistica italiana, sulla scia di quella letteratura moralmente e civilmente impegnata propria dell'Illuminismo italiano.

Alessandro Manzoni was an Italian poet, novelist and philosopher. He is famous for the novel The Betrothed (orig. Italian: I promessi sposi) (1827), generally ranked among the masterpieces of world literature. The novel is also a symbol of the Italian Risorgimento, both for its patriotic message and because it was a fundamental milestone in the development of the modern, unified Italian language.

Reviews

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Título engañoso en la traducción.-

Género. Ensayo.

Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Alegato contra la novela histórica (publicación original: Del romanzo storico e, in genere, de i componimenti misti di storia e d’invenzione, 1850), con interesante (más actual y más “certero”) prólogo de Isaac Rosa, con el subtítulo Y, en general, contra las obras mixtas de historia y ficción, propone una reflexión sobre la novela histórica y sobre si debe (o no debe) tener un componente de ficción en una narrativa de esas características.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...

[Jessica DMJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A translation of the original that is s accessible as it can be for English readers. Unfortunately, either the translation or the source material itself, and there were only a few nuggets of useful sections for my thesis. The translator's introduction was longer than the essay itself, and I felt like it got very off-topic and difficult to read. You can honestly read the intro and not bother with the source text.

[Jen Well-Steered]

So this guy wrote a historical novel called The Betrothed, which I am now keen to read. But apparently there were some historical inaccuracies in it, which caused critics to, uh, criticise. So he wrote this whole 60-page essay, plus snarky footnotes, about poetic license. I don't read a lot of historical fiction, aside from Hilary Mantel's books on Thomas Cromwell. It's true she says she always puts him where and with whom the historical record shows him to be. But is she an exception, or do we really demand that kind of exacting precision of our historical fiction? Or did this guy just need to invent either historical romance or historical fantasy and tell people to get over it?