Analysing Historical Narratives : On Academic, Popular and Educational Framings of the Past

For all of the recent debates over the methods and theoretical underpinnings of the historical profession, scholars and laypeople alike still frequently think of history in terms of storytelling. Accordingly, historians and theorists have devoted much attention to how historical narratives work, illuminating the ways they can bind together events, shape an argument and lend support to ideology. From ancient Greece to modern-day bestsellers, the studies gathered here offer a wide-ranging analysis of the textual strategies used by historians. They show how in spite of the pursuit of truth and objectivity, the ways in which historians tell their stories are inevitably conditioned by their discursive contexts. Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Narrativity and Historical Writing: Introductory Remarks Part I. Professional History Writing Chapter 1. Thucydides’ History of the Vanquished: Death, Narrative Gazes and Historical Time Chapter 2. History beyond Narration: The Shifting Terrain of Bloodlands Chapter 3. Secularization Narratives in 1950s Europe: Sources, Characteristics and Effects Chapter 4. Narratives of Global History: Expounding Global Interconnections Part II. School Textbooks in History Chapter 5. More Than Just Barbarians: The Two-Faced Narrative of Ancient Persia in German Textbooks since 1900 Chapter 6. Historicizing Present-Day European Societies by Telling Medieval (Hi)Story in Schoolbooks Chapter 7. Narrative Structure of High School World History Textbooks in Postwar Japan Chapter 8. Historical Maps as Narratives: Anchoring the Nation in History Textbooks Part III. Histories in Various Media Chapter 9. Social Media and Multimodal Historical Representation: Depicting Auschwitz on Instagram Chapter 10. The Civil Rights Movement (Re)Narrated Chapter 11. Media Narratives of 1970s Left-Wing Terrorism Chapter 12. Time Travel as Running around in Circles: The Popular Historical Novel and the Sense of Historicity in Today’s Society Part IV. National Histories Chapter 13. National Narratives in Chinese Global History Writing Chapter 14. Narratives of Brazilian History: From Liberal to Politically Incorrect Chapter 15. Changing LUK: Nation and Narration in the First and the Third Editions of Life in the United Kingdom Analysing Historical Narratives: Concluding Remarks Index "For all of the recent debates over the methods and theoretical underpinnings of the historical profession, scholars and laypeople alike still frequently think of history in terms of storytelling. Accordingly, historians and theorists have devoted much attention to how historical narratives work, illuminating the ways they can bind together events, shape an argument and lend support to ideology. From ancient Greece to modern-day bestsellers, the studies gathered here offer a wide-ranging analysis of the textual strategies used by historians. They show how in spite of the pursuit of truth and objectivity, the ways in which historians tell their stories are inevitably conditioned by their discursive contexts"-- Provided by publisher