Description: This anthology of essays by an international group of leading scholars explores the controversial and ground-breaking work of Hayden White on the philosophy of history.
Brief description: Robert Doran is Professor of French and Comparative Literature at the University of Rochester, USA. He is the author of The Ethics of Theory (Bloomsbury, 2016) and the editor of Philosophy of History After Hayden White (Bloomsbury, 2013).
Review Quotes:
"Doran's clearly written and scholarly introductory essay to this volume nicely sketches White's intellectual debts and relationships to many of his progenitors and successors." - History and Theory
"Hayden White's diagnosis of history as constructed narrative has wreaked permanent damage to traditional conceptions of history, philosophy, and narrative alike; it is no longer the moment simply to assess that damage, but rather to respond to it with new proposals and new creativity, something this extraordinarily stimulating collection does in exemplary fashion." --Fredric Jameson, William A. Lane, Jr. Professor, Duke University, USA "Hayden White's contribution to history and other humanistic disciplines is inestimable. The essays in this book mark a great step forward not only in the growing body of commentary on White but in the creative uses and adaptations of his work." --Dominick LaCapra, Bowmar Professor of Humanistic Studies, Cornell University, USA "This book is about two related subjects: the enigmas, paradoxes, contingencies, and contradictions inherent in any and all attempts to understand, come to grips with, and free ourselves from history; and the intellectual itinerary of Hayden White. I suggest that readers begin with White's eloquent and brief closing "Comment" before moving on to the shrewd and erudite reflections that precede it." --Allan Megill, Professor of History and Thomas C. Sorensen Professor of Political and Social Thought, University of Virginia, USA; author of Historical Knowledge, Historical Error