History in Literature

How much of history is reflected in our literature? Literature acts a social sponge or net, absorbing and reflecting important events. By studying history through literature we take a slice of our culture and examine our foundation, often times from a different perspective than what enters our history books. I would argue that literature incorporates more the application what happens than the dates it occurred. Hand in hand with the historical facts and dates we get a clear understanding of historical events.
Insenszatez was a book that perfectly describes the use of literature in a historical context. I enjoyed this book not only for the testimonies in the text but also because it showed the changes that history reflected in the literature can have on the individual.
It is easy to look at testimonies and see their historical significance. They are eyewitness accounts of historical events that define us. The movies that showed these testimonies impacted me more than the books or poems we read. Seeing and not just reading gives a very different effect. I enjoy reading because I, as the reader, get to give the characters and events my own view and opinion, but hearing those same words from the voice and with feeling of the person that wrote them makes such a strong difference. Instead of using my eyes and interpretation I get to see it through them.
In the personal accounts and testimonies it is easy to see the historical significance, but in novels and poems me are forced to look a little deeper. It is a great way to indirectly educate the people and maintain a level of understanding. History will always be incorporated in literature. It is something I was excited to discover during this class and hope to continue discovering.