历史书写及其政治语境——霍华德·津恩的“人民历史”及其影响

History Writing and Its Political Context: Howard Zinn's People's History and Its Impact

霍华德·津恩是美国新左派史学的著名人物,以其激进的批判精神著称。他的代表作《美国人民史》以"人民"作为核心概念对美国历史重新进行解读和叙述,反思盎格鲁—新教文化为核心的"美国信念",指出以往历史书写背后隐含的白人种族主义、精英主义、性别歧视等问题。20世纪70年代以来,以"种族"、"性别"、"阶级"为核心的分析范畴开始主导美国当代史学,津恩的"人民历史"恰逢其时地体现了这一趋势。围绕津恩这种激进的史学思想在学术界内外展开的争论,体现了史学走向公众之后对政治价值观造成的冲击和分化,展现了学术和政治在历史书写问题上的巨大张力,这也反映了当代美国史学界在政治认同问题上所面临的分歧和挑战。

Howard Zinn is a prominent figure in the New Left movement,known for his progressive and critical view of American history. His masterpiece A People's History of the United States re-interprets the history of the United States through the concept of the "people. "Upon reflection of the "American Creed"which is centered on the Anglo-Protestant culture, he points out that the white racism, Elitism, gender discrimination are implicitly embedded in the traditional history writing. Zinn's book gained great influence. New categories of historical analysis such as "race,""gender,"and "class"have dominated historical writing in America since the 1970 s,and Zinn's people's history represents the trend. Inside and outside academia people are debating on the radicalism embodied in Zinn's historical writing. Not only does it indicate the impact and polarizing power of historiography on political values after it reaches the society,but also the enormous pressure that the tensions between academics and politics have on the writing of history. It further reflects the disagreements and challenges that contemporary American historians face on the issues of political identification.