Land of Oz - "Oz As History"

"Oz As History"

In Baum's time, it was common for authors to present works of fiction as true accounts (compare Sherlock Holmes, The Phantom of the Opera and Tarzan for other examples). While Baum presented Oz as fiction in some of his forewords such as that of the first book, in other books he presented it as a true account related to him by those involved. Most notably, in The Emerald City of Oz he attempted to end the series on the basis of a letter he had claimed to have received from Dorothy Gale, the main character. In the following book, The Patchwork Girl of Oz, he explained that after some difficulty he had re-established communication with the characters by wireless telegraph. Baum also began signing himself as "Royal Historian of Oz," a title which several other authors of the series have taken on after his death.

Because Baum himself wrote from an in-universe standpoint, many fans of the series treat the books as if they were true, known among the fans as the "Oz as History" standpoint. Any confusion or contradiction between the different versions of their histories is said to be the fault of the historian making an honest mistake, of the editors for removing parts which they did not consider suitable for the child audience, of the characters involved who reported the incidents in question back to the historian, or explained by the concept that many alternate versions of Oz exist simultaneously.

There are many discussions founded on clues in the series in Oz fan group Regalia (and previously Nonestica and the Ozzy Digest ) on how large Oz is, its population, and many other details not addressed explicitly in the books themselves. Articles of the sort frequently appear in The Baum Bugle as well.

While some fans enjoy trying to explain the various inconsistencies in the books, others prefer to ignore them, since apparently the inconsistencies were not important to Baum himself. These fans prefer to view Oz from the contrasting, but more traditional, Oz as Literature standpoint. Many fans enjoy both standpoints, and it is not uncommon for new ideas about Oz to be examined from both standpoints by the same people.