![]() ![]() ![]() 1–2) contains more than a certain amount of wishful thinking. As Paul puts it in his introduction, Dominic LaCapra’s paean that ‘no-one writing history in this country has done more to wake historians from their dogmatic slumber than Hayden White’ (pp. (1) Yet at the same time his influence on the actual practice of history and historical writing has been virtually zero. It marked what came to be known as the ‘linguistic turn’ in historical theory, and has inspired legions of acolytes whose reverence for the master at times verges on embarrassing. Study any textbook on the theory and philosophy of history, and you will be assured that his 1973 book Metahistory marked a revolutionary turning point in historical theory. Hayden White is a controversial figure in the world of history. ![]()
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