White, metahistory, 37f it tends to engender belief in the madness of civilization itself and to inspire a mandarinlike disdain for those seeking to grasp the nature of social reality in either science or art. Since its initial publication in 1973, hayden white s metahistory has remained an essential book for understanding the nature of historical writing. Since its initial publication in 1973, hayden whites metahistory has remained an essential book for understanding the nature of historical writing. Hayden white july 12, 1928 march 5, 2018 was an american historian and historiographer quotes.
From chronicle to story the series of events as recorded in chronicle or annal is shaped into something with a beginning, a middle and an end. The historical imagination in nineteenthcentury europe, 1973 book by hayden white this disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title metahistory. The historical imagination in nineteenthcentury europe. Hayden white was a historian in the tradition of literary criticism, perhaps most famous for his work metahistory. This article tries to place hayden white s metahistory between two trends. Hayden white, the politics of historical interpretation. He is the author of a number of books published by johns hopkins, including tropics of discourse. In the end, he suggests, the only meaning that history can have is the kind that a narrative imagination gives to it. On speculative philosophy of history, see dray, phi losophy of history, pp. My own analysis of the deep structure of the historical imagination of nineteenth century europe is intended to provide a new perspective on the current. Walsh, introduction to the philosophy of history london, 1961, ch. The historical imagination in nineteenthcentury europe 19732014. Hayden white is professor emeritus of the histories of consciousness at the university of california, santa cruz.
This latent poetic and linguistic contentwhich white dubs the metahistorical elementessentially serves as a paradigm for. Hayden white, the historical text as literary artifact page numbers from the norton anthology of theory and criticism according to white, what is the purpose of metahistory. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Hayden white, the historical text as literary artifact. Metahistory by hayden white history as literature seems to be the idea behind this book, or at least thats the overall meaning that ive managed to glean from the preface, introduction, and first chapter of hayden whites metahistory. Hayden whites most famous piece of work is metahistory. White thus invites a reading of his work as philosophy, and this volume presents the opportunity for accepting it as such. This, at least, led them to view themselves as being as potentially flawed as the cripples they conceived to be. The historical imagination in nineteenthcentury europe by white, hayden isbn. White is particularly interested in the problematic posed by the fact that history is a form of narrative, a feature it shares with fiction, and as he shows in metahistory. Notion of a truly scientific positivist historical representation has its origins in the.
For an analysis of whites earlier work in comparison to metahistory and subsequent publications, see hans kellner, language andhistoricalrepresentation. Hayden white july 12, 1928 march 5, 2018 was an american historian in the tradition of literary criticism, perhaps most famous for his work metahistory. For an analysis of white s earlier work in comparison to metahistory and subsequent publications, see hans kellner, language andhistoricalrepresentation. The history of historiography and the challenge of the linguistic turn. Hayden white is renown for publishing two books that has changed the discipline of history forever. Historiography and historiophoty hayden white academic. Metahistory gaia and gnosis, deeper ecology, planetary. Poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular.
Hayden white, author of the magisterial metahistory, has. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. On the second page of his introduction white stated. Historicism, history, and the figurative imagination. White, an influential scholar whose ideas on history and how it is shaped have fueled discussions in academic circles for half a century, died on monday at his home in santa cruz, calif. This deeper content the metahistorical element indicates what an appropriate historical explanation should be. The historical imagination in nineteenthcentury europe baltimore, 1973, introduction. Pdf this article tries to place hayden whites metahistory between. Hayden whites 1973 metahistory tossed the entire concept of historical science out the window.
The historical imagination in nineteenthcentury europe and tropics of discourse. Thus, while i argued in metahistory that every work of historiography. While objecting to a framework of preconceived ideas, popper has no objection to the historians adopting a preconceived selective point of view as the basis for his narrative. The following entry presents an overview of whites career through 2000. Narrative discourse and historical representation, figural realism.
The historical imagination in nineteenth century europe. Essays in cultural criticism, the content of the form. Dec 06, 2017 hayden whites most famous piece of work is metahistory. Myth in metahistory is on long essay on the nature of myth, the eight categories.
Hayden white study guide hayden white\the historical. The historical imagination in 19thcentury europe 1973, this has a significant influence on the range of meanings that can be given to a set of basic facts. White, metahistory, 37f it tends to engender belief in the madness of civilization itself and to inspire a mandarinlike disdain for those seeking to grasp the nature of social reality in either science or. White pointedly says what he will consider as metahistory. Hayden white probes the notion of authority in art and literature and examines the problems of meaningits production, distribution, and consumptionin different historical epochs. During the depression he moved with his family to detroit in search of work, where his father became a union organizer in the automotive world. The following entry presents an overview of white s career through 2000. Hayden white since its initial publication in 1973, hayden white s metahistory has remained an essential book for understanding the nature of historical writing. Oct 23, 2009 metahistory by hayden white history as literature seems to be the idea behind this book, or at least thats the overall meaning that ive managed to glean from the preface, introduction, and first chapter of hayden whites metahistory.
Hayden white is a professor and director of the program in the history of consciousness at the university of california, santa cruz. Contrary to the common notion, modernism or the avantgarde didnt make its entrance by breaking with the past. Hayden white modernism and the sense of history 3 this statement stands in vivid contrast to the view of clement greenberg, the virtual inventor of american modernism, who held that. Dec 04, 2014 since its initial publication in 1973, hayden whites metahistory has remained an essential book for understanding the nature of historical writing. The historical imagination in nineteenthcentury europe 1973. So natural is the impulse to narrate, so inevitable is the form of. The value of narrativity in the representation of reality. The first is that of the relative adequacy of what we might call historiophoty the representation of history and our thought about it in visual images and filmic discourse to the criteria of truth and accuracy presumed to govern the professional practice of.
Hayden whites famous answerbrutally foreshortenedwas that we do so. He was professor emeritus at the university of california, santa cruz, and held position of professor of comparative literature at stanford university. See the oxford dictionary of english etymology, ed. My own analysis of the deep structure of the historical imagination of nineteenth century europe is intended to provide a new perspective on the current debate over the nature and function of historical.
Hayden white, author of the magisterial metahistory, has died 1928 2018 historians in the news tags. Abstract this article intends to place hayden whites reflection on the basic. This article tries to place hayden whites metahistory between two trends. The historical imagination in nineteenthcentury europe is a work of historiography by hayden white first published in 1973. The value of narrativity in the representation of reality hayden white to raise the question of the nature of narrative is to invite reflection on the very nature of culture and, possibly, even on the nature of humanity itself. Background to metahistory is long essay on the antecedents of metahistory, going back to founding of rome in 747 bce, an event in which mythical and history converge, and coming forward to the modern definition of metahistory proposed by the academic hayden white. The first is the trend towards studying the rhetoric of history. Essays in cultural criticism, both available from johns hopkins university press. Lhm 0606 pdf the bosch lhm 10 is a general purpose, 6 watt, volt line, costeffective ceiling loudspeaker. Hayden white, the historical text as literary artifact white applies theories of fiction to historical writing ie historiography. Hayden whites metahistory 1973 marked this change paradigmatically. For an analysis of white s earlier work in comparison to metahistory and subsequent publications, see hans kellner, language and historicalrepresentation.
Hayden white was born in martin, tennessee in 1928. Hayden white is professor of the history of consciousness and presidential professor of historical studies at the university of california at santa cruz. Hayden white for absolute beginners university of oxford. Century europe by hayden white click here to access this book.
In whites view, beyond the surface level of the historical text, there is a deep structural, or latent, content that is generally poetic and specifically linguistic in nature. Historians are concerned with events which can be assigned to specific timespace locations, events which are or were in principle observable or perceivable, whereas imaginative writers poets, novelists, playwrights are concerned with both these kinds of events and imagined. This latent poetic and linguistic content which white dubs the metahistorical element essentially serves as a paradigm for. For a detailed discussion of whites grid see kellner, language andhistoricalrepresentation,221225, and david konstan, the function of narrative in hayden whites metahistory, clio 11 1981, 6578. Narrative discourse and historical representation, and figural realism.
Hayden whites critique of the writing of history wulf. This element is, i believe, inexpungeable from discourse in the human whites metahistory in 1973, historian hayden white published metahistory. The historical imagination in nineteenthcentury europe baltimore, 1973. Nov 01, 1973 hayden white was a historian in the tradition of literary criticism, perhaps most famous for his work metahistory. Carlo ginzburg and hayden white his in 2011, which combine to reinforce the.
It is mostly remembered for the extensive set of theory found in the introduction covering how the historian uses certain techniques to give their work meaning. Humanity is a species endangered by its beliefs, and most of all, its religious illusion of superiority. White american historian, critic, essayist, and editor. Yolton has published a paper history and meta history in philosophy and phenomenological research, vol. Robertrosenstones essay raises at least two questions that should be of eminent concern to professional historians.
Formulating historical analysis as a literary analysis, white separates the methods that historians use into two general. Essays in cultural criticism, the grecoroman tradition, and metahistory. The book is a major reconsideration of the historians contributions and influence by an international group of leading scholars from a variety of disciplines. My thanks to herman paul and eugen zelenak for providing helpful comments on an earlier draft of this essay. Hayden white is a must read to enable one to understand histories or to write histories. They combine these tropes in various ways, each writer adopting some tropes rather than others, each. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the us or from the uk, depending on stock availability. Hayden white, professor in the program in the history of conscious ness at the university of california, santa cruz, is the author of the tropics of discourse. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Hayden white, the absurdist moment in contemporary literary theory, contemporary literature 27 summer 1976, 378. Hayden white born 1928 is professor emeritus at the university of california, santa cruz, having recently retired from the position of professor of comparative literature at stanford university.