CMU professors on historical and counterfactual fiction
Kris McDermott and JoEllen DeLucia talk about "Wolf Hall" and "Civilizations"
Sleepy Dog Books' sign for storefront at 120 E. Broadway St. on March 23.
As the snow was dancing on the streets of Mount Pleasant, attendees of the English department book event gathered in a warmth and coziness of the Sleepy Dog Books.
Kris McDermott and JoEllen DeLucia are English professors at Central Michigan University, who shared their reading experiences of historical and counterfactual fiction.
According to Robert Fanning, a professor of English, the event was opening the English Department authors' events series this semester. He said more events will be posted on the CMU English social media.
DeLucia is teaching English and Women and Gender Studies. She has published pieces such as "A Feminine Enlightenment: British Women Writers" and the "Philosophy of Progress." Her articles focus on gender as well as the 18th and 19th century literature and philosophy.
McDermott has written several books on Shakespeare and Renaissance dramas. Fanning said she is "a mother, a knitter, a reader, a reviewer of historical novels and the property of an exceedingly fine cat indeed.”
“We are both big fans of historical fiction,” McDermott said. “So we decided, you know, kind of work within that very, very, very broad genre.”
McDermott on "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel
McDermott said her favorite historical fiction book is "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel.
“I have a lot of favorite books, but Wolf Hall is one of those books that when I read it for the first time, I just almost couldn’t breathe,” McDermott said. “I was so in awe of the style that it was in and the way it treated a time period that I was extremely familiar with.”
Before she read a small portion of the book, she set the scene. Thomas Cromwell was the chancellor for King Henry XIII. It was an extremely politically dangerous time in English history, she said.
McDermott then explained how Cromwell came to power by his intellect and fiscal knowledge. He also ended up on the losing sides of religious and political conflicts. McDermott said that the writer was interested in how someone who was presented as a Machiavellian, evil villain, actually functioned and thought.
“(King) Henry has been trying for several years to divorce his wife, Queen Catherine, and marry a young woman named Anne Boleyn, because Henry both wants a son, which Catherine is too old to give him, and he’s also in love with Anne Boleyn,” McDermott said. “Cromwell is working for Henry’s former chief counselor, the cardinal, Cardinal Thomas Wooley, who is now on the outs because he has failed to convince the Pope to let Henry get his divorce.”
In the book, Cromwell was trying to defend his employer but also putting himself in a good place, McDermott explained. The scene showed more into his private life however. Sadly, at this point in time, Cromwell is a widower with an only son. He also has the people he's working with that he eventually decides to go out with.
He immediately regrets going out because they are all very loud and hate the cardinal who they start mocking. Yet he enjoys the night and makes jokes about the Cardinal too.
After they leave for the night, he reminisces about his wife and kids who are gone. He accepts their death.
DeLucia on "Civilizations" by Laurent Binet
DeLucia chose to talk about a book she discovered back in the summer. Instead of a traditional historical fiction, it is a counterfactual fiction, meaning it is a hypothesis. The hypothesis was that if Columbus had been defeated in Cuba, and the Aztec Empire went and colonized Europe instead.
With some coincidences of the Lisbon earthquake of 1531, the colonized believed that it was a divine intervention. In the book, en the Aztecs arrived, they dominated, but they were also unfamiliar with the cold weather. Quig Emoto, the princess, was shivering in her unprepared clothes, DeLucia said.
The troops were tired and needed somewhere to rest, she said.
“The crew was exhausted on edge after their long voyage, he decided that they should find somewhere to rest, but were in a city of ruins,” DeLucia said.
They went to the church, and most of the priests were frightened. However, one was calm and asked to speak to the Aztecs. Princess Emoto was the best at Spanish out of her crew, but only understood a few words. The priest brought them food, and the Aztecs appreciated his gesture.
Both McDermott and DeLucia, appreciated how the authors were able to look at the “whole picture”.
McDermott said, “(Cromwell) understands evil and he understands that sometimes you have to do evil, but he himself is always struggling to try and choose the least evil option.”
DeLucia said she had to learn a bit by herself before being able to understand the perspective of the Aztecs.
