A01=David Harlan
academia
Author_David Harlan
Category=DSA
Category=NHA
Category=NHK
disillusionment
elaine showalter
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
feminism
gender
hayden white
henry louis gates
historiography
history
ideology
john patrick diggins
leftist politics
marginalization
methodology
morality
new traditionalism
nonfiction
objectivity
professionalism
professor
reflection
research
richard rorty
scholarship
social sciences
women
Product details
- ISBN 9780226316178
- Weight: 482g
- Dimensions: 16 x 23mm
- Publication Date: 10 Nov 1997
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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American historical writing has traditionally been a primary form of moral reflection. However, this study argues that, in the disillusionment following the 1960s, history abandoned its redemptive potential, and adopted the methodology of the social sciences. It describes the reasons for this change to objectivity and professionalism, explains why it failed, and examines the emergence of a new traditionalism in American historical writing. The first section describes the impact of literary theory in the 1970s and beyond, the rise of women's history, the various forms of ideological analysis developed by historians on the left, and the crippling obsession with professionalism in the 1980s. The second part focuses on the contributions of John Patrick Diggins, Richard Rorty, Elaine Showalter, Henry Louis Gates Jr, and others. The author argues that at the end of the 20th century American historical writing may become again, not one of the social sciences in historical costume, but a form of moral reflection which speaks to all Americans.
