Figural Realism: Studies in the Mimesis Effect [Paperback]

Hayden White (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 29, 2000

In his earlier books such as Tropics of Discourse and The Content of the Form, Hayden White focused on the conventions of historical writing and on the ordering of historical consciousness. In Figural Realism, White collects eight interrelated essays primarily concerned with the treatment of history in recent literary critical discourse. "'History' is not only an object we can study," writes White, "it is also and even primarily a certain kind of relationship to 'the past' mediated by a distinctive kind of written discourse. It is because historical discourse is actualized in its culturally significant form as a specific kind of writing that we may consider the relevance of literary theory to both the theory and the practice of historiography."

Editorial Reviews

Review

[White] is a master of critical and provocative thought... Figural Realism... deserves to be read by historians in search of rejuvenating a sense of theoretical enlightenment.

(Johan W. N. Tempelhoff H-Ideas, H-Net Reviews )

A collection of essays by one who has arguably changed the course of historiography in the past twenty years... Any serious historian will need to engage the issues and answers that White raises.

(Fred W. Burnett Religious Studies Review )

[A] fascinating meditation on modernism or, more accurately, the effects of modernism... In this book, White confirms that he remains an active and important thinker.

(David W. Price Southern Humanities Review )

White lays out his arguments with a clarity and rigor that few can match.

(Choice )

Of all the writers on subjects connected to tropology, White is surely the best at making the complex both engaging and approachable. This is an important book.

(James M. Mellard, Northern Illinois University )

Hayden White... is the most prominent American scholar to unite historiography and literary criticism into a broader reflection on narrative and cultural understanding.

(The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism )

Review

"Of all the writers on subjects connected to tropology, White is surely the best at making the complex both engaging and approachable. This is an important book." -- James M. Mellard, Northern Illinois University

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (November 29, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801865247
• ISBN-13: 978-0801865244
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #861,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Critical Theory and History, February 1, 2007

By 

Peter E. Price "Ullathorne" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Figural Realism: Studies in the Mimesis Effect (Paperback)

Hayden White's work provides structured and critical understandings for modern analysis of historical and other texts. What we all once thought of as simply text that narrated facts, is full of codes and symbols that uncover a whole rich vein of meaning. "Figural Realism" is essential reading to uncover this fullness.