Literatura e historia. La historia como alegoría en la literatura inglesa del siglo XX

Abstract

The relationship between Literature and History has been the subject of discussion ever since Aristotle. Every generation has considered that relationship from the point of view of the conceptions of Literature and of History in favour at the time. Nowadays, even if the scientific methods of historiography tend to separate it from fiction, the deep consciousness of time and History, which is one of the characteristics of contemporary man, is reflected in literary works and creates a new link between both branches of knowledge. 20th Century novelists not only have History as reference and as subject matter of their fiction, but they frequently allegorize History too. An illustration of this can be found in Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf, and Darkness Visible, by William Golding. A reading of these two novels as allegories of History adds new meaning to them.