Opacity and Transparency in Historical Representations

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Authors

Mitrovic, Branko

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Grantor

Date

2014-05

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Type

Journal Article

Ngā Upoko Tukutuku (Māori subject headings)

Keyword

Hayden White
postmodernism
antirealism
colligatory concepts
reference of historical narratives

ANZSRC Field of Research Code (2020)

Citation

Mitrovic, B. (2014). Opacity and Transparency in Historical Representations. History and Theory, 53/2014, pp.277-294. © Wesleyan University ISSN 0018-2656

Abstract

In his latest book Frank Ankersmit develops a comprehensive philosophical perspective on the problem of the truth and reference of historical representations. The approach and the wider perspective of the book largely belong to what could be called the postmodernist paradigm, in spite of some recent attempts to interpret Ankersmit’s recent work differently. Since his 1983 Narrative Logic Ankersmit has propounded the view that individual statements that constitute historical representations may have reference, but that representations themselves do not. This most recent book remains faithful to this position and elaborates it further. This essay examines Ankersmit’s arguments as well as the assumptions and implications of this view.

Publisher

Wesleyan University

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DOI

DOI: 10.1111/hith.10711

Copyright holder

Wesleyan University

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© Wesleyan University

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