“想象”在历史书写中的实践

Practice of Imagination in History Writing

自史学产生起,“求真”“垂训”是其最重要的原则。19世纪末,传统的实证主义史学受到挑战,20世纪末到21世纪的世纪之交见证了美国学者哈梅罗提出的“史学革命”,而21世纪的后现代史学则带来了全方位的冲击。在这一过程中,史学书写的客观性问题因为触及历史研究的本质一直是讨论的焦点,历史的可靠性不断受到质疑。基于此,本文拟从“想象”的视角分析历史书写的实践,提出想象是研究者创造性理解过去的方式,它在区别中形塑对象,又在联系中建构整体性社会,这是人的思维和认知方式在历史研究中的反映。

Since the emergence of history as a discipline,two of its most important principles are pursuit of truth and teaching.At the end of the 19th century,the positivist tradition in history was challenged.The transition from the 20th century to the 21th century had witnessed“the historic revolution”which was put forward by Theodore C.Hamerow,an American historian,while the post-modern historical studies have brought in shocks in all aspects.In this process,the question of objectivity in history writing has always been raised and discussed as it touches the essence of history study.Given the previous study,this article intends to analyze,from the point of view of imagination,the practice of history writing,in a way to explore its nature.It reaches the conclusion that imagination is a creative way taken by historians to understand the past.It shapes objects in distinction,and constructs a holistic society in connection,which is a reflection of people's way of thinking and cognition in historical research.