2026/07/23 by Nathan Huffine · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · #Ethics, Aesthetics, and Art #Narrative Theory and Analysis #Philosophy, History, and Historiography
paper · doi:10.1093/aesthj/ayag017
Abstract The typical criticism that a work of historical fiction is aesthetically flawed because it is historically inaccurate is puzzling. In this article, I argue for a fundamental modification of Iskra Fileva’s contract solution to the puzzle of historical fiction. I agree with Christopher Bartel and Fileva that other solutions in the literature, like appealing to genre, imaginative resistance, and import–export inconsistency, fail to solve the puzzle. However, I recommend that the contract between creator and audience be expanded to include a third party: the historical figures featured in the historical fiction. In this way, we make contracts with the dead when we engage with historical fiction.