Tropology, Agency, and Historical Languages in Hayden White

This article addresses three issues closely related to current developments in philosophy and epistemology of history. First, it addresses the narrative deployment of historiographic discourse according to the original framework of Hayden White’s narrativist philosophy of history, centered on tropol...

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Main Author: Nicolás Lavagnino
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad Nacional de Colombia 2011-04-01
Series:Ideas y Valores
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/idval/article/viewFile/13511/22188
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author Nicolás Lavagnino
author_facet Nicolás Lavagnino
author_sort Nicolás Lavagnino
collection DOAJ
description This article addresses three issues closely related to current developments in philosophy and epistemology of history. First, it addresses the narrative deployment of historiographic discourse according to the original framework of Hayden White’s narrativist philosophy of history, centered on tropology as a basic method of historical cognition. Secondly, it examines how the application of tropology to historiography has raised questions about the status of historical knowledge, resulting in concerns about relativism, “linguistic solipsism”, truth, and justification. Finally, the paper addresses the fact that narrativism has been seen as opting for a merely literary or fictional view of the past. On that basis, it goes on to propose a narrativist perspective that avoids skeptical and relativistic interpretations, while at the same time reconsidering the concept of literature as a better way of understanding the tropological nature of the language used to give an account of the past.
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spelling doaj.art-16e3fd4f091b4103a33883d787627e472022-12-21T18:46:50ZengUniversidad Nacional de ColombiaIdeas y Valores0120-00622011-04-016014587111Tropology, Agency, and Historical Languages in Hayden WhiteNicolás LavagninoThis article addresses three issues closely related to current developments in philosophy and epistemology of history. First, it addresses the narrative deployment of historiographic discourse according to the original framework of Hayden White’s narrativist philosophy of history, centered on tropology as a basic method of historical cognition. Secondly, it examines how the application of tropology to historiography has raised questions about the status of historical knowledge, resulting in concerns about relativism, “linguistic solipsism”, truth, and justification. Finally, the paper addresses the fact that narrativism has been seen as opting for a merely literary or fictional view of the past. On that basis, it goes on to propose a narrativist perspective that avoids skeptical and relativistic interpretations, while at the same time reconsidering the concept of literature as a better way of understanding the tropological nature of the language used to give an account of the past.http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/idval/article/viewFile/13511/22188H. Whiteskepticismhistoriographyliteraturenarrativismrelativismtropology.
spellingShingle Nicolás Lavagnino
Tropology, Agency, and Historical Languages in Hayden White
Ideas y Valores
H. White
skepticism
historiography
literature
narrativism
relativism
tropology.
title Tropology, Agency, and Historical Languages in Hayden White
title_full Tropology, Agency, and Historical Languages in Hayden White
title_fullStr Tropology, Agency, and Historical Languages in Hayden White
title_full_unstemmed Tropology, Agency, and Historical Languages in Hayden White
title_short Tropology, Agency, and Historical Languages in Hayden White
title_sort tropology agency and historical languages in hayden white
topic H. White
skepticism
historiography
literature
narrativism
relativism
tropology.
url http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/idval/article/viewFile/13511/22188
work_keys_str_mv AT nicolaslavagnino tropologyagencyandhistoricallanguagesinhaydenwhite