The story of history begins with W. Scott and we have Šenoa to thank for the emergence of the first canonized form of the historical novel in Croatian literature. The genre of historical novel is defined based on the conditions of its emergence, formal building elements, fiction and faction relations, teleological and non-teleological conception of history. From the classic model, we move to a model that appeared in Croatian literature in the first half of the 20th century.Unlike the other novels with which she shares “the conspiracy theme” The ZrinskiFrankopan Conspiracy and Croatia above Abysses, Golden Oriole does not lose faith in the meaningfulness of historical events which is a tipical feature of neo-historical variant or a novel about history. Roman Golden Oriole by Višnja Stahuljak belongs to the novel, but it is always at the crossroads of historical and neo-historical variants. It hasn’t lost faith in the meaningfulness and purposefulness of historical events, which is the main component of the classic historical novel, however, the attitude towards history is expressed through a rendition of a "weak" hero placed in the role of an observer of the prominent figures of national history and political events, which is a characteristic of the neo-historical variant. The golden oriole, as the driving motive of this novel, carries the symbolism of continuing national history through the offspring of the "weak" hero Mathias Bolf, the author's forefather. There is a cyclical notion of history, but not through the complete post-modernistic view of a "weak" hero and progress as prisoners of history in which evil is repeated, but rather as history of personal recollections that keep alive the memories of the important historical figures, fighters for national survival and independence.