Fictionalizing History: Hilary Mantel’s New Historicist and Postmodern Reimagining of English National Narratives

Abstract

This article examines Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy (Wolf Hall, Bring up the Bodies, and The Mirror and the Light) through the theoretical framework of new historicism and postmodern historiography. Drawing on the ideas of Stephen Greenblatt, Michel Foucault, Linda Hutcheon, and other cultural theorists, the study argues that Mantel’s historical fiction systematically challenges the authority of archival history, the notion of objective truth, and the singularity of historical narrative. The trilogy exposes history as a constructed, ideologically mediated discourse shaped by power, institutional interests, and narrative selection. Through its skeptical treatment of historical records, its emphasis on rumor, forgery, and apocryphal history, and its reimagining of key Tudor figures, most notably Thomas Cromwell, Mantel’s fiction exemplifies historiographic metafiction and a distinctly new historicist sensibility. By destabilizing national myths, questioning religious and political historiography, and foregrounding the imaginative reconstruction of the past, the Wolf Hall trilogy redefines the relationship between history and literature. The article concludes that Mantel’s work not only revises English history, specifically Tudor history, but also invites readers to reconsider how historical knowledge itself is produced, transmitted, and contested.

Keywords

• New historicism
• postmodernism
• history
• Wolf Hall trilogy
• Hilary Mantel

Supporting Institution

This study was conducted without any financial support.

Thanks

No AI-assisted tools were used in the preparation of this work. All content has been created solely by the author(s), who take full responsibility for its integrity.

Tarihin Kurgulanması: Hilary Mantel’in İngiliz Ulusal Anlatılarına Yeni Tarihselci ve Postmodern Yaklaşımı

Abstract

Bu makale, Hilary Mantel’in Wolf Hall üçlemesini (Wolf Hall, Bring up the Bodies ve The Mirror and the Light), yeni tarihselcilik ve postmodern tarih yazımı kuramsal çerçevesi doğrultusunda incelemektedir. Stephen Greenblatt, Michel Foucault, Linda Hutcheon ve diğer kültür kuramcılarının görüşlerinden hareketle çalışma, Mantel’in tarihsel kurgusunun arşivsel tarihin otoritesini, nesnel hakikat anlayışını ve tarihsel anlatının tekilliğini sistematik biçimde sorguladığını ileri sürmektedir. Üçleme, tarihi; iktidar ilişkileri, kurumsal çıkarlar ve anlatısal seçilimler tarafından şekillendirilen, ideolojik olarak aracılanmış bir söylem olarak açığa çıkarmaktadır. Tarihsel belgelere yönelik kuşkucu yaklaşımı, söylentiye, sahteciliğe ve apokrif tarihe yaptığı vurgu ile özellikle Thomas Cromwell başta olmak üzere Tudor döneminin önemli figürlerini yeniden kurgulaması aracılığıyla Mantel’in kurgusu hem tarihsel üstkurmaca örneği sunmakta hem de belirgin bir yeni tarihselci duyarlılığı temsil etmektedir. Ulusal mitleri istikrarsızlaştırarak, dinsel ve siyasal tarih yazımını sorgulayarak ve geçmişin hayal gücü yoluyla yeniden inşasını öne çıkararak Wolf Hall üçlemesi, tarih ile edebiyat arasındaki ilişkiyi yeniden tanımlamaktadır. Makale, Mantel’in eserlerinin yalnızca İngiliz tarihini, özellikle Tudor tarihini, yeniden yorumlamakla kalmadığını, aynı zamanda tarihsel bilginin nasıl üretildiğini, aktarıldığını ve tartışmaya açıldığını yeniden düşünmeye davet ettiğini ortaya koymaktadır.

Keywords

• Yeni tarihselcilik
• postmodernizm
• tarih
• Wolf Hall Üçlemesi
• Hilary Mantel

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