Authority and the Historical Document in Late Twentieth-Century Literature

Book excerpt: After the Fact: Authority and the Historical Document in Late Twentieth-Century Literature examines historiographic metafiction’s epistemological concern with the historical document. The six texts herein recover official and neglected documents, viewing history from marginal perspectives endeavoring an ethical reconsideration of dominant historical narratives. Thematically paired chapters focus on eye-witness narratives, legal and official government documents, and news publications. The first two chapters, D.M. Thomas’ The White Hotel with Toni Morrison’s Beloved, explore the writers’ reconsideration of eye-witness accounts, specifically the Holocaust survivor narrative and the slave narrative. The second pair reviews mythologies of the nation in the United States. Susan Howe’s Singularities rewrites the Indian captivity narrative. Hannah Weiner’s Spoke revises the 1868 Black Hills treaty to focus on how popular and official texts promote the colonial imaginary and function to justify colonial expansion. The final two chapters examine Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace and Robert Coover’s The Public Burning, which critique the press’s authority by questioning its claim to objectivity.