Family saga
The family saga is a genre of literature which chronicles the lives and doings of a family or a number of related or interconnected families over a period of time. In novels with a serious intent, this is often a thematic device used to portray particular historical events, changes of social circumstances, or the ebb and flow of fortunes from a multitude of perspectives.
The word saga comes from Old Norse, where it meant "what is said, utterance, oral account, notification" and " narrative, story ", and was originally borrowed into English from Old Norse by scholars in the eighteenth century to refer to the Old Norse prose narratives known as sagas.
The typical family saga follows generations of a family through a period of history in a series of novels. A number of subgenres of the form exist such as the AGA saga.
Successful writers of popular family sagas include Susan Howatch, R. F. Delderfield and Philippa Carr.
Literature
- The sagas of Icelanders – the medieval Icelandic family sagas from which the English word "saga" was derivedMahabharata, by Vyasa – the chronicle of the Chandravanshi Rajput clan founded by Puru, also considered the longest poem in human historyDream of the Red Chamber – one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, it chronicles the rise and decline of the Jia familyA Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight, by Henry WilliamsonThe Accursed Kings: The series chronicles the fall of the direct French Capetian dynasty in the early-to-mid 14th century after Philip IV’s three sons all die in quick succession without producing male heirs. Ada or Ardor: [A Family Chronicle|Ada or Ardor], by Vladimir NabokovAbsalom, Absalom!, by William FaulknerThe Artamonov Business, by Maxim GorkyBrideshead Revisited, by Evelyn WaughBeauty Is a Wound, by Eka KurniawanBuddenbrooks, by Thomas MannCaptains and the Kings, by Taylor CaldwellHarmonia Caelestis, a historicist piece by Péter Esterházy
- The Cairo Trilogy, by Naguib Mahfouz
- The Cazalet Chronicles, by Elizabeth Jane HowardThe Covenant, by James A. MichenerThe Crowthers of Bankdam, by Thomas ArmstrongDune, by Frank HerbertEast of Eden, by John Steinbeck
- The Emberverse series|Emberverse] series, by S. M. StirlingThe Eternal Call by Anatoly IvanovEvergreen, by Belva PlainFall on Your Knees, by Ann-Marie MacDonaldFamily Tree tetralogy, by Ann M. MartinFire & Blood by George R. R. MartinThe Forsyte Saga, by John GalsworthyThe Golovlyov Family, by Mikhail Saltykov-ShchedrinThe Good Earth and its sequels, by Pearl S. BuckHoles, by Louis SacharHomegoing, by Yaa GyasiHomestuck, by Andrew HussieThe [House of the Spirits], by Isabel AllendeThe Immigrants, by Howard Fast
- The Jalna books, by Mazo de la RocheThe Kent Family Chronicles and The Crown Family Saga, by John JakesKristin Lavransdatter, by Sigrid UndsetOs Maias, by Eça de Queiroz
- Old-fashioned Story by Magda SzabóI Malavoglia, by Giovanni VergaThe Mallens, by Catherine CooksonMiddlesex, by Jeffrey EugenidesOne Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García MárquezThe Oppermanns, by Lion Feuchtwanger
- Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. The novel chronicles the struggles of a family of Korean immigrants in Japan throughout the 20th century. The Palaeologian Dynasty. [The Rise and Fall of Byzantium], by George LeonardosThe Promise, by Damon GalgutRadetzkymarsch, by Joseph RothRoma, by Steven SaylorRoots: [The Saga of an American Family|Roots], by Alex HaleyThe Silmarillion, by J. R. R. TolkienSometimes a Great Notion, by Ken KeseyStrangers and Brothers, by C. P. SnowThe Thibaults, by Roger Martin du GardTime and the Wind, by Erico VerissimoThe Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough
- The Lymond Chronicles and The House of Niccolò, Renaissance-set novel series by Dorothy DunnettUnder the North Star, by Väinö LinnaThe Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster BujoldWhite Teeth, by Zadie SmithWar and Peace, by Leo TolstoyThe Witcher, by Andrzej SapkowskiThe Zhurbins, by Vsevolod Kochetov
Film and television
A Big FamilyAmerican PopArrested DevelopmentThe Best of Youth, in Italian La Meglio GioventùBlackadderDarkThe Eternal CallGame of ThronesThe GodfatherHeimatHouse of the DragonHousehold SaintsHow the West Was WonI, ClaudiusIn a Land of PlentyJoJo's Bizarre AdventureMy Country, My ParentsOne [Hundred Years of Solitude (TV series)|One Hundred Years of Solitude]Our Friends in the NorthRaajneetiRootsRoots: The Next GenerationsSibiriadaStar WarsSuccessionSunshineTakenThe Thorn BirdsThe Dirtwater DynastyThis Is Us- ''Vacas''