1st week

Introductory class

In this first class, we will examine the changing relations between history and literature in the past and set up the ground for the semester.

2nd week

History, Figure, Myth

We will begin our discussions with the famous article by Roland Barthes, The Discourse of History. On its pages, Barthes drew a direct link between history and language (or fiction). He also offered a distinction between different historical genres, based entirely on their literary qualities.

Canadian scholar Northrop Frye offered different approach towards history, as his starting point was neither structuralism nor linguistics, but the “poetic mythology”. However, he also offered his own catalog of historical genres, based on various literary genres.

Reading:

Roland Barthes, The Discourse of History, in The Rustle of Language, 127-140.

Northrop Frye, New Directions from Old, in Fables of Identity: Studies in Poetic Mythology, 52-66.

3rd week

History and Tropology

Second and third lessons were just a warm-up for the major figure of the debate, Hayden White, and his Metahistory. The book caused controversy in its time, as White’s systematic approach divided 19th