Re-Reading Markus Zusak's The Book Thief as A Historical Fiction on Nazi Regime

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to demonstrate the extent of historical accuracy in the depiction of fictional events during the Nazi regime in the novel The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The research aims to interrogate the historicity of this historical fiction. Despite the text’s categorization as historical fiction, critics have questioned the credibility of its historicity - they argue that its depiction of events in the Nazi regime is excessively idealistic for historical fiction hence, can only be read as historical fantasy, for its incorporation of fantastic elements into a “realistic” narrative (Shanoes 236).