What's Left of Philosophy 127 | Hayden White's Forms of History
Explore the fascinating intersection of history and narrative through Hayden White's lens. Discover how historical writing is influenced by literary forms, shaping our understanding of events. Delve into Marx's provocative shift from tragedy to farce. The hosts debate whether narratives can retain objective truth while examining political implications. Engage with concepts like emplotment, the sublime, and the moral dimensions of storytelling. Find out why understanding history requires grappling with its narrative structures.
55:51
Annals, Chronicles, And Modern History
- Annals list events (bad infinity of the heap) while chronicles link events to a social center without closure.
- Modern history adds narrative closure and seeks meaning beyond mere listing.
Historian As Formalist, Not Pure Scientist
- White is a formalist: history is both poetic and scientific, with ineliminable craft elements.
- He insists narrative choice is ideological and cannot be justified purely by 'facts' alone.
Narrative Framing Overrules 'Scientific' Claims
- White challenges claims like Marx's 'tragedy then farce' as rhetorical emplotments, not scientific conclusions.
- Historians choose narrative frames when multiple plausible interpretations exist.
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Intro
00:00 • 58sec
Hayden White's Core Thesis
00:58 • 3min
Implotment: Romance, Tragedy, Comedy, Satire
04:12 • 1min
Narrative, Ideology, and Historical Truth
05:32 • 4min
Marx's Tragedy-Then-Farce Example
09:31 • 3min
Is Narrative Moralization or Truth?
12:07 • 4min
Radical Reading: Narrative All the Way Down?
16:33 • 3min
Explanation vs. Understanding
19:34 • 3min
Can Facts Favor One Narrative?
22:37 • 5min
The Historical Sublime and Decisionism
28:05 • 4min
Limits, Avowal, and Political Conversion
31:52 • 6min
Fiction, History, and Understanding
37:50 • 1min
Implotment's Political Effects
39:17 • 2min
Satire Versus Tragedy
41:20 • 2min
Rescuing History from Positivism
43:27 • 4min
Practical Value: Understanding Opponents
47:31 • 5min
Marx: Science Woven with Poesis
52:45 • 37sec
Outro
53:23 • 1min
#60332
The Content of the Form
Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation
Hayden White
string
#77794
Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Europe
The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Europe
Hayden White
string
#3647
• Mentioned in 13 episodes
City of Quartz
Excavating the Future in Los Angeles
Mike Davis
In *City of Quartz*, Mike Davis delves into the complex history of Los Angeles, exploring how the city has been influenced by various powerful groups, including real estate boosters, the Protestant elite, Jewish Westside elites, homeowner groups, and the Los Angeles Police Department.
The book critiques the city's development, highlighting issues of racial tension, economic inequality, and the transformation of Los Angeles into a 'fortress city' characterized by fear and surveillance.
Davis also examines the impact of market forces on urban design and the lives of different classes, concluding with a study of the de-industrialized town of Fontana, which he terms a 'junkyard of dreams'.
#320
• Mentioned in 84 episodes
A Tale of Two Cities
Julius Julius Seybt
Francisco Manuel GRANADO CASTRO
Marion Leighton
federico alonso
Aedi Abraham
maxi sanchez
jaime arbe
Fred BARNARD
Laura Santamaria
Juan Ramon Torregrosa
monica alonso
Charles Dickens
Alejo García Moreno
Miguel Muñoz
leonardo pablo federico sanchez alonso
J. J. Bernier
Salustiano Masó Simón
Victor G Ambrus
Jose perez
Hablot K. BROWNE
Published in 1859, 'A Tale of Two Cities' by Charles Dickens is a historical novel that contrasts the lives in London and Paris during the late 18th century.
The story revolves around characters such as Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton, and Lucie Manette, each dealing with love, sacrifice, and the profound societal changes brought about by the French Revolution.
The novel critiques both the conditions leading up to the Revolution and the Revolution itself, highlighting themes of resurrection, sacrifice, and the potential for positive change.
Dickens's vivid portrayal of the social disparities and political unrest of the era, along with his iconic opening lines, 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,' make the novel a compelling exploration of human resilience and societal issues.
#131
• Mentioned in 147 episodes
The Communist Manifesto
Friedrich Engels
Karl Marx
#130
• Mentioned in 147 episodes
Hamlet
William Shakespeare
The play revolves around Prince Hamlet's journey to avenge his father's murder, which was committed by his uncle Claudius.
Hamlet's father's ghost appears and reveals that he was poisoned by Claudius, who then married Hamlet's mother, Gertrude.
Hamlet feigns madness while he investigates and plots his revenge.
The play explores themes of betrayal, mortality, and the human condition, culminating in a tragic finale where nearly all main characters die, including Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, and several others.
#30753
• Mentioned in 2 episodes
Anti-Semite and Jew
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre's "Anti-Semite and Jew" is a philosophical and sociological analysis of antisemitism.
Sartre examines the psychological and social mechanisms that contribute to antisemitic attitudes and behaviors.
He argues that antisemitism is not simply a matter of individual prejudice but is rooted in deeper social and historical structures.
The book explores the ways in which antisemitic stereotypes are constructed and perpetuated, and how they function to maintain social hierarchies and power structures.
Sartre's work is a significant contribution to the understanding of antisemitism and its complex relationship to broader social and political issues.
#357
• Mentioned in 78 episodes
Capital
Karl Marx
Das Kapital is a comprehensive critique of capitalism written by Karl Marx.
The work is divided into three volumes.
Volume I, published in 1867, focuses on the production process of capital, introducing the concept of surplus value and the exploitation of labor.
Volume II, published posthumously in 1885, examines the circulation of capital, while Volume III, published in 1894, discusses the capitalist process as a whole, including the internal differentiation of the capitalist class and the tendency of the rate of profit to fall.
Marx argues that capitalism is characterized by the exploitation of labor, leading to class conflict and eventual crises that necessitate the emergence of a new mode of production.
#692
• Mentioned in 48 episodes
The Trial
Franz Kafka
The Trial, written by Franz Kafka, follows the story of Joseph K., a bank official who is unexpectedly arrested on his 30th birthday for a crime that is never revealed to him or the reader.
The novel delves into the absurd and labyrinthine legal system, where K. is drawn into a world devoid of logic and transparency.
As K. navigates this enigmatic system, he encounters various characters, including lawyers, court officials, and other defendants, which further complicate his situation.
The novel explores themes of guilt, bureaucracy, and the individual's struggle against an incomprehensible and oppressive society, ultimately leading to K.'s psychological and emotional transformation.
The book is a profound reflection on the human condition, illustrating how societal structures can alienate and render individuals powerless.
#2207
• Mentioned in 20 episodes
The Black Jacobins
Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution
C. L. R. James
Written by C.L. R.
James in 1938, 'The Black Jacobins' is a pioneering historical work that recounts the Haitian Revolution of 1791–1804.
The book places the revolution in the context of the French Revolution and highlights the leadership of Toussaint L'Ouverture, who rose from being a slave to a prominent figure espousing the French Revolutionary ideals of liberty and equality.
James's work challenges conventional historiography by emphasizing the agency of the enslaved and their role in shaping their own history.
It also explores the broader implications of the Haitian Revolution, linking it to the destruction of European feudalism and the global struggle against colonialism and slavery.
In this episode, we discuss the work of historian Hayden White. His provocative claim is that the practice is inescapably the practice of narrative forms to give sense and significance to events of the past. It is this form that often supplements, or even outright makes, historical arguments. Is history a tragedy, a comedy, a satire, or a romance? Why did Marx describe history as tragedy and then farce? What could entitle him to that? The historian always prefigures their history with these choices. We get into whether history has a meaning on its own, what it contributes to politics, and whether there are literary styles more commensurate to Marxist history than others.
leftofphilosophy.com
References:
Hayden White, Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Europe (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973).
Hayden White, The Content of Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation (London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987).
Music:
“Vintage Memories” by Schematist | schematist.bandcamp.com
“My Space” by Overu | https://get.slip.stream/KqmvAN