Date
6-16-2025
Department
College of Arts and Sciences
Degree
Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (MFA)
Chair
Jennifer Bell
Keywords
Historical, Biblical, Fiction, Ancient Rome, Romance
Disciplines
Creative Writing
Recommended Citation
Avery, Reaghan Sara-Anne, "Authenticity in Historical Fiction" (2025). Masters Theses. 1336.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/masters/1336
Abstract
Authenticity is often debated in the field of literature. It’s an element that attests to an author’s credibility and a work’s originality, specifically the measure of an author’s genuine intent and the historical veracity of the work, including the genre of historical fiction. Authenticity can be defined in twofold terminology: those being the idealism and the factual, historically based evidence of the piece. Assessing a work’s authenticity by analyzing its believability and relatability is a three-part process that includes looking at the realistic dialogue, sensory and detailed language, and historical elements in a given text. The partial novel below entitled, "Arius," utilizes each element to reveal an authentic story that combines biblical history with fictional storytelling.
