Synopses & Reviews
This anthology of new essays by an international group of preeminent scholars explores the ground-breaking work of Hayden White, whose thought, beginning with his seminal Metahistory (1973), has revolutionized the way we think about the philosophy of history, historiography, narrative, and the relation between history and literature. Representing a variety of disciplines and approaches, the contributions to this volume testify to the far-reaching effects and significance of White's philosophy of history. Individual essays relate White's ideas to contemporary art, cognitive studies, Heideggerian hermeneutics, experimental history, Kant's transcendental philosophy, analytic philosophy of history, Marxist cultural theory, the Kantian sublime, and American academic historiography.
A substantial introduction by the editor traces the genesis of White's philosophy of history, situating it with respect to both the Anglo-American and Continental traditions. The volume also features a previously unpublished essay by White, which offers a concise overview of his later thought, and a "Comment" written specifically for this volume, in which White revisits the question of the philosophy of history.
Review
Hayden Whites contribution to history and other humanistic disciplines is inestimable. The essays in this book mark a great step forward not only in the growing body of commentary on White but in the creative uses and adaptations of his work. - Dominick LaCapra, Bowmar Professor of Humanistic Studies, Cornell University
Review
Hayden Whites contribution to history and other humanistic disciplines is inestimable. The essays in this book mark a great step forward not only in the growing body of commentary on White but in the creative uses and adaptations of his work. - Dominick LaCapra, Bowmar Professor of Humanistic Studies, Cornell University
Review
Hayden Whites diagnosis of history as constructed narrative has wreaked permanent damage to traditional conceptions of history, philosophy, and narrative alike; it is no longer the moment simply to assess that damage, but rather to respond to it with new proposals and new creativity, something this extraordinarily stimulating collection does in exemplary fashion. Fredric Jameson, William A. Lane, Jr. Professor, Duke University, USA
Hayden Whites contribution to history and other humanistic disciplines is inestimable. The essays in this book mark a great step forward not only in the growing body of commentary on White but in the creative uses and adaptations of his work. Dominick LaCapra, Bowmar Professor of Humanistic Studies, Cornell University, USA
This book is about two related subjects: the enigmas, paradoxes, contingencies, and contradictions inherent in any and all attempts to understand, come to grips with, and free ourselves from history; and the intellectual itinerary of Hayden White. I suggest that readers begin with Whites eloquent and brief closing “Comment” before moving on to the shrewd and erudite reflections that precede it. Allan Megill, Professor of History and Thomas C. Sorensen Professor of Political and Social Thought, University of Virginia, USA; author of Historical Knowledge, Historical Error.
Synopsis
This anthology of essays by an international group of leading scholars explores the controversial and ground-breaking work of Hayden White on the philosophy of history.
About the Author
Robert Doran is James P. Wilmot Assistant Professor of French and Comparative Literature at the University of Rochester, USA. He is the editor of The Fiction of Narrative: Essays on History, Literature, and Theory, 1957-2007, by Hayden White, and Mimesis and Theory, Essays on Literature and Criticism, 1953-2005, by René Girard.
Table of Contents
Editor's Note \ List of Contributors \ List of Illustrations \ Introduction: Choosing the Past: Hayden White and the Philosophy of History
Robert Doran \ 1. History as Fulfillment
Hayden White \ 2. A Cognitivist Approach to Tropology
F. R. Ankersmit \ 3. Deliver Us from A-Historicism: Metahistory for Non-Historians
Mieke Bal \ 4. Hayden White's Hope, or the Politics of Prefiguration
Karyn Ball \ 5. Hayden White and Me: Two Systems of Philosophy of History
Arthur C. Danto \ 6. Uneven Temporalities / Untimely Pasts: Hayden White and the Question of Temporal Form
Harry Harootunian \ 7. Hopeful Monsters or, The Unfulfilled Figure in Hayden White's Conceptual System
Hans Kellner \ 8. Rhetorical Theory / Theoretical Rhetoric: Some Ambiguities in the Reception of Hayden White's Work
Gabrielle M. Spiegel \ 9. Hayden White and Non-non-Histories
Richard T. Vann \ 10. From the Problem of Evil to Hermeneutic Philosophy of History: For Hayden White
Gianni Vattimo \ 11. Comment
Hayden White \ Notes \ Index