Publication Details
On Two Approaches to Historical Narratives and Plurality of Their Representations of the Past
Abstract
The article deals with two approaches to constructing a historical narrative: that of Hayden White, who considers historical narratives to be narrative interpretations. He argues that the plurality of historical narratives arises from the plurality of narrative forms used in the representations of the past. For M. Mandelbaum, N. Carroll and D. Carr on the other side the historical representation of the past is a sort of map or copy of reality. According to the author, both conceptions face the problem of selecting those historical narratives, which would not provoke objections on the side of historians. He argues that constructing a historical narrative associates necessarily with different interpretations of sources as well as different representations of the past.
Causal and narrative contexts, Historical narrative, Interpretation, Point of view, Representation of the past