‘Causing misery and suffering miserably’: Representations of the Thirty Years’ War in literature and history

Talbott

Abstract

This article examines a range of fictional literature – poetry, prose, play and song produced between the seventeenth and twenty-first centuries – that represents aspects of the Thirty Years’ War, a conflict fought in Europe from 1618-1648. Depiction of the Thirty Years’ War in literary works is compared to that found in empirical historical evidence and historians’ analyses. It is concluded that historical fictions offer a different, but equally valid, account of the conflict to academic histories, and that by using historical fictions and empirical evidence together, a more holistic picture of events is offered than academic histories alone provide.

Citation

Talbott. (2021). ‘Causing misery and suffering miserably’: Representations of the Thirty Years’ War in literature and history. Literature and History, 30(1), 3-25. https://doi.org/10.1177/03061973211007353

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 9, 2020
• Online Publication Date: May 5, 2021
• Publication Date: May 5, 2021
• Journal: Literature & History
• Print ISSN: 0306-1973
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 3-25
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/03061973211007353
• Keywords: Thirty Years' War; historical fiction; academic history; seventeenth century
• Publisher URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/03061973211007353