127 | Hayden White's Forms of History

127 | Hayden White's Forms of History

January 14, 2026 · 56 min · Season 1 · Episode 127

About this episode

This episode discusses Hayden White's views on the narrative forms of history and their significance in historical arguments.

In this episode, we discuss the work of historian Hayden White. His provocative claim is that the practice is inescapably the practice of narrative forms to give sense and significance to events of the past. It is this form that often supplements, or even outright makes, historical arguments. Is history a tragedy, a comedy, a satire, or a romance? Why did Marx describe history as tragedy and then farce? What could entitle him to that? The historian always prefigures their history with these c...

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Hosts: Lillian Cicerchia, Owen Glyn-Williams, Gil Morejón, William Paris

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