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English and Literary Studies Final Year Topic: The Archive as a Narrative Device in Historical Fiction

This English and Literary Studies final year project examines how invented documents and archival gaps organise historical storytelling. The proposed evidence base is two African historical novels containing letters, records or documentary fragments.

Why choose this project topic?

This topic turns historical fiction into a focused reading task by investigating how invented documents and archival gaps organise historical storytelling. A clearly bounded corpus gives you passages to compare and an argument to develop beyond a general plot summary.

What does a close analysis of two African historical novels containing letters, records or documentary fragments reveal about how invented documents and archival gaps organise historical storytelling?

Agree the corpus size, editions and critical framework for this study of how invented documents and archival gaps organise historical storytelling with your supervisor.

Proposed project objectives

  1. 01Define the textual features relevant to how invented documents and archival gaps organise historical storytelling.
  2. 02Build a documented evidence set from two African historical novels containing letters, records or documentary fragments.
  3. 03Distinguish quoted historical material from fictional documents and analyse the authority each is given.

A suggested research approach

Obtain lawful access to two African historical novels containing letters, records or documentary fragments. Distinguish quoted historical material from fictional documents and analyse the authority each is given. Establish selection criteria before detailed reading, record edition and page references, and test the developing interpretation against passages that complicate it.

What you will need

  • Lawful access to two African historical novels containing letters, records or documentary fragments
  • A reading matrix for how invented documents and archival gaps organise historical storytelling
  • Relevant scholarly criticism and a consistent citation system

Keep your project scope clear

Fictional archival material must not be cited as an authentic historical source.

English and Literary Studies project chapter outline

Use this outline as a starting point. You can edit the chapter titles to match your department’s format during setup.

  1. Chapter 1General Introduction
  2. Chapter 2Literature Review and Theoretical Framework
  3. Chapter 3Analysis and Discussion
  4. Chapter 4Further Analysis and Findings
  5. Chapter 5Summary and Conclusion

Turn this topic into your own final year project.

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