Overview
In his earlier books such as Tropics of Discourse and The Content of the Form, Hayden White focused on the conventions of historical writing and on the ordering of historical consciousness. In Figural Realism, White collects eight interrelated essays primarily concerned with the treatment of history in recent literary critical discourse. "'History' is not only an object we can study," writes White, "it is also and even primarily a certain kind of relationship to 'the past' mediated by a distinctive kind of written discourse. It is because historical discourse is actualized in its culturally significant form as a specific kind of writing that we may consider the relevance of literary theory to both the theory and the practice of historiography."
Synopsis
"Hayden White... is the most prominent American scholar to unite historiography and literary criticism into a broader reflection on narrative and cultural understanding." — The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism
In his earlier books such as Tropics of Discourse and The Content of the Form, Hayden White focused on the conventions of historical writing and on the ordering of historical consciousness. In Figural Realism, White collects eight interrelated essays primarily concerned with the treatment of history in recent literary critical discourse. "'History' is not only an object we can study," writes White, "it is also and even primarily a certain kind of relationship to 'the past' mediated by a distinctive kind of written discourse. It is because historical discourse is actualized in its culturally significant form as a specific kind of writing that we may consider the relevance of literary theory to both the theory and the practice of historiography."
Johns Hopkins Guide
Hayden White. . . is the most prominent American scholar to unite historiography and literary criticism into a broader reflection on narrative and cultural understanding.
Editorials
Religious Studies Review
A collection of essays by one who has arguably changed the course of historiography in the past twenty years... Any serious historian will need to engage the issues and answers that White raises.— Fred W. Burnett
Choice
White lays out his arguments with a clarity and rigor that few can match.Southern Humanities Review
[A] fascinating meditation on modernism or, more accurately, the effects of modernism... In this book, White confirms that he remains an active and important thinker.— David W. Price
The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism
Hayden White... is the most prominent American scholar to unite historiography and literary criticism into a broader reflection on narrative and cultural understanding.