What's Wrong With The Past Tense?

Why do so many historians always talk in the Present Tense even when describing events of a thousand years ago?

It sounds lazy or worse, pretentious.

I know some novellists have been writing in the present tense for a long time, but I associate that with "airport novels" stuff dashed off in a hurry to pay the bills and to suit the demands of publishers run by money-traders rather than literary people.

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ninalanyon · 70-79, TVIP

That's the historic present, a rhetorical device used to make the prose more immediate and lively. Wikipedia illustrates its use with an excerpt from Dickens

If the funeral had been yesterday, I could not recollect it better. The very air of the best parlour, when I went in at the door, the bright condition of the fire, the shining of the wine in the decanters, the patterns of the glasses and plates, the faint sweet smell of cake, the odour of Miss Murdstone's dress, and our black clothes. Mr. Chillip is in the room, and comes to speak to me.

"And how is Master David?" he says, kindly.

I cannot tell him very well. I give him my hand, which he holds in his.

—Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, Chapter IX

I think it is defensible in popular histories in passages describing everyday life and closely connected events. But I agree that it can be overdone.

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@ninalanyon I can see it has a place in short passages in a narrative like that, and it's an old way of telling jokes, but I am afraid "Historic Present" does not excuse it for me, when used in entire books and for factual descriptions of historical people and places.

hunkalove · 70-79, M

I don't usually read fiction written in the present tense but I wrote a short story in it and it was fun.

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

I think that's called the Simple Historic tense. It's effective if you are talking to a room of students who are familiar with the topic as it streamlines speech and allows you to communicate more simply and directly. It is less effective on the page and quite annoying in television documentaries.

emmasfriend · 46-50, F

When writing a story, I often use the historic present without always realising it.
It is probably because English is my second language and I am less likely to make a grammatical error if I avoid the more complicated tenses !

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@emmasfriend Oh, I can understand that- I have forgotten most of what French I managed to learn but I did find its grammar very difficult.

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