海登·怀特史的情节建构

Emplotting the History of Hayden White

本文呈现的是海登·怀特对历史学科的影响史。从怀特早期的文章《历史学的重负》到他最后一本书《实用的过去》,追溯怀特的职业生涯,目的是证明怀特与历史学科从冲突、亲近到最终背离的关系。在此过程中,本文着重讨论了《元史学:19世纪欧洲的历史想象》和围绕怀特向“探索表现的限度”会议提交的论文发生的争论。会议主题是历史事件的可能表现方式是否存在限度。怀特的回答是“否”。最后回顾了怀特对历史专业以及当今相关历史研究与训练最严厉的批评。本文采用了受《元史学:19世纪欧洲的历史想象》启发的形式,目的是在实践上证明怀特的理论主张。

This article provides a history of the influence of Hayden White on the discipline of history.It follows White’s career trajectory from his early article,“The Burden of History”to his final book The Practical Past in order to demonstrate White’s conflicts with,affinities to,and eventual dismissal of/from the discipline of history.Along the way there is a substantive discussion of Metahistory as well as the controversy surrounding White’s contribution to the conference“Probing the Limits of Representation”which asked whether there were limits to the ways that historical events could be represented and to which White’s response was“no.”It concludes by revisiting some of White’s most salient criticisms of the historical profession in relation to historical work and training today.The article follows a form inspired by Metahistory in order to demonstrate in practice what White argued in theory.