Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1996. [Vol. 3.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 23)

STUDIES - M. Thomas Inge: Sam Watkins and the Fictionality of Fact

gratifies our interest in life. But whatever interest may be appealed to by fiction, the special and immediate interest that takes us to fiction is always our interest in a story. A story is not merely an image of life, but life in motion

—specifically, the presentation of individual characters moving through their particular experiences to some end that we may accept as meaningful. And the experience that is characteristically presented in a story is that of facing a problem, a conflict. To put it bluntly: no conflict, no story.

1

1 Viewed from this perspective, "Co. Aytch

" has all the appeal of fiction. Sam Watkins is a character moving through a meaningful action within the greatest possible conflict in American history

—one that spelled the fate of the nation. A work like "Co. Aytch" compels us to reconsider the artificial boundaries between history and fiction. This is a work that hews to the truth of an individual experience as humanly as possible and provides a realistic portrayal of human nature at its most noble and despicable. It is a primary historical document of the first order: balanced, objective, and truthful. Because of his skills as a writer

—a realist, a humorist, and a stylist of unusual ability

—Sam Watkins's book has the appeal of fiction and engages our interest as effectively and fully as does any wellcrafted story or novel. His book deserves to be read alongside other fictional accounts of the Civil War because of the authenticity of the experience it portrays and the talent it reflects. In this case the fictionality of fact matches the factuality of fiction. 1

1 Roben Penn Warren, 'Why Do We Read Fiction?" Warren, New and Selected Essays (New York: Random, 1989) 55—66 (quotation on p. 55). 59