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JORN RUSEN
Queen:
Lady:
Queen:
Lady:
Queen:
2. -. White,Metahistory:TheHistoricalImaginationin Nineteenth-Century
Europe(Baltimore,
1973), ix.
3. A. Danto, Analytical Philosophy of History (Cambridge, 1965); H. M. Baumgartner, Kon-
tinuitatand Geschichte:ZurKritikundMetakritikderhistorischenVernunft(Frankfurt,1972);F.
Ankersmit,NarrativeLogic:A SemanticAnalysisof the Historian'sLanguage(TheHague,1983);
Knowingand TellingHistory:TheAnglo-SaxonDebate,ed. F. R. Ankersmit,Historyand Theory,
Beiheft 25 (Middletown, Conn., 1986).
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JORN RUSEN
historical studies, I want to quote a small dialogue between King Henry IV and
his noble counselor Warwick:
King Henry:0 God! that one might readthe book of fate,
And see the revolutionof the times ...
... how chancesmock,
And changesfill the cup of alteration
With diversliquors!0, if this wereseen,
The happiestyouth, viewinghis progress
through,
What peril past, what crossesto endure,
Wouldshut the book, and sit him down and
die.
Warwick: Thereis a historyin all men'slives,
Figuringthe natureof the times deceased;
King Henry:Are these things then necessities?
Then let us meet them like necessities. . .4
From this small but profound dialogue we can learn what historical narration
is: it is a system of mental operations defining the field of historical consciousness. Here time is seen as a threat to normal human relations, casting them into
the abyss of uncertainty. The most radical experience of time is death. History
is a response to this challenge: it is an interpretationof the threateningexperience
of time. It overcomes uncertainty by seeing a meaningful pattern in the course
of time, a pattern responding to human hopes and intentions. This pattern gives
a sense to history. Narration therefore is the process of making sense of the experience of time.
In this way I understand Hayden White's statement about narration as a poetical act constituting historical knowledge.5 Narration is a process of poiesis, of
making or producing a fabric of temporal experience woven according to the
need to orient oneself in the course of time. The product of this process of narration, the fabric capable of so orienting, is "a history."With respect to the threat
of death, narration transcends the limits of mortality into a broader horizon of
meaningful temporal occurrences. This is one of the essential truths of the tales
of A Thousand and One Nights. Scheherazade knows that to narrate is to overcome death; narration is an act of de-mortalization of human life.6
But the Shakespearean answer to the question "what is historical narration"
is as ambiguous as poetry itself. It tells enough about narration to understand
it as a fundamental operation in the depths of historical consciousness; but since
not all narration is historical, it tells too little about this difference. And this is
HISTORICAL NARRATION
89
7. For a more detailed argumentation see J. Rusen, "Die vier Tbpen des historischen Erzahlens,"
BeitragezurHistorik,
ed. R. Koselleck (TheoriederGeschichte,
in FormenderGeschichtsschreibung,
vol. 4) (Munich, 1982), 514-605.
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JORN RUSEN
tions of historiography?
ToparaphraseKarlMarx:how can we ascendfromthe
abstractto the concrete?We can do this by the means of typology.
And so we havecome to the secondpoint of my paper,in whichI wouldlike
to give an outline of a generaltypology of historicalnarration,which should
In this typologyI try to
disclosethe wide and manifoldfieldof historiography.
stressthe specifichistoricalcharacterof makingsenseof the experienceof time
by narration.With this intention,which is similarto that of Johann Gustav
DroysenandFriedrichNietzsche,the followingtypologydifferssubstantially
from
that of HaydenWhite,whichinterpretshistoriography
as literatureanddoes not
at all recognizeits specificity.
So the point I startfrom is the functionof historicalnarration.As I havealreadymentioned,historicalnarrationhasthe generalfunctionof orientingpracticallife in timeby mobilizingthe memoryof temporalexperience,by developing
a concept of continuityand by stabilizingidentity.This generalfunction can
be realizedin fourdifferentways,accordingto thefournecessaryconditionswhich
mustbe fulfilledso that humanlife can go on in the courseof time:affirmation,
regularity,negation,transformation.
ThereforeI cansee fourdifferentfunctional
types of historicalnarrationwith correspondingforms of historiography.
I wouldliketo illustratethe typesof examplesdrawnfromthe fieldof women's
history,a subject-matter
whichtodayfocusesthe discussionon the fundamentals
of historicalstudies.8
(1)Everyformof humanlife is necessarilyorganizedbytraditions.Theycannot
be deniedtotally,otherwisepeoplewouldlose the groundundertheirfeet. The
firsttype takes this into account.Traditionalnarrativearticulatestraditionsas
necessaryconditionsfor humansto findtheirway.Traditionalnarrativesin the
field of women'shistoryare veryrare,but monumentsare a traditionalway of
historicallymakingsenseof the experienceof time. I found a good examplein
Grahamstown(SouthAfrica) in the Main Streetleadingfrom RhodesUniversity to the cathedral.Herethereis a monumentwhichis dedicated"to Pioneer
women"and inscribedas follows,representinghistoricalmeaningas traditional
narrativesdo: "Keeptheirmemorygreenand sweet/ they smoothedthe thorns
with bleedingfeet."
To say it in the generalizingwayof theory:traditionalnarrativesremindone
of the originsconstitutingpresentsystemsof life; they constructcontinuityas
permanenceof originallyconstitutedsystemsof life, and they form identityby
affirming given- or more precisely, pre-given- cultural patterns of selfunderstanding.Otherexamplesare:storieswhichtell about the originand the
genealogyof rulers,in orderto legitimatetheirdomination;withinreligiouscommunities,storiesof their foundation;storieswhich are told at the occasion of
centennialsand otherjubilees(in Bostonyou can evenwalka traditionalnarrative followingthe FreedomTrailpaintedas a red line on the pavement).In all
these stories,time gains the sense of eternity.
8. Cf., e.g., Weiblichkeitin geschichtlicherPerspektive, ed. U. A. J. Becher and J. Risen (Frankfurt, 1988), forthcoming.
91
HISTORICAL NARRATION
Typologyof historicalnarration
traditionally constituting
present forms
narrative
of life
permanence
of originally constituted forms
of life
af f irming
of self-under-
sense of time
time gains the
sense of
eternity
standing
cases
validity of
demonstrating
exemplary applications
exemp~~~ary
of
narrative general rules
.of conduct
critical
narrative
alteration
of given ideas
of continuity
conduct
denying
given patterns
of identity
judgment
proper ones
_m
ferent
tension
problematizing
present forms
of life
transformations of alien
narrative.forms of life into
narrative
_______
or
devia tions
genetic[
L
generalizing
experiences of
rules covering
to rules of
tep gal dfenttime
development
mediating
in which forms of
permanence
and change to
a process of
self-definition
of
temporalization
ically
92
JORNRUSEN
that he himself . .. did not know what was going on in the black townshipsis cause
for concern.
Weall knowthat the Germanpeoplewerenot informedaboutthe terribleconditions
in the ghettos and prisoner of war camps or the extermination horror camps .
. and
at the end, their answerto all this was:"wedid not know."Some terribleparallelscan
be formedwhich could apply in the South African contextand will we, at the end of
the day, also say "wedid not know"?
The core of the logic of exemplary narration is formulated by the old prase:
historia vitae magistra (history is the teacher of life). Stories of the exemplary
type open up the field of temporal experience beyond the limits of tradition: time
gains the sense of spatial extension.
(3) The third type is critical narration. It is based on humans' ability to say
no to traditions, rules, and principles, which have come down to us. This "no"
stands before each intended alteration of the cultural patterns of historical understanding. It clears the space for new patterns.
In women's history this type of narration is abundant. Well known are the
depressing stories relating the suffering of women in the long career of patriarchal domination. By these stories feminist historians shake the validity of traditional patterns of womanhood, thus opening minds for alternatives.
To say it in terms of theory: critical narrativesremind one of deviations which
make the present conditions of life problematic; they schematize continuity only
indirectly, namely by dissolving or destroying culturally effective ideas of continuity. On the line of continuity these stories live on what they destroy. They
form identity by denying given patterns of self-understanding: it is the identity
of obstinacy.
Other examples of this type are the historical works which follow Voltaire's
motto: "When reading history it is but the only business of a healthy mind to
refute it."9 Critical narratives are anti-stories. These stories call temporal experiences before the tribunal of the human mind: time gains the sense of being
an object of judgment.
(4) But critical narrative is not the last word of historical consciousness. Its
dynamic of negation is not sufficient; it only replaces one pattern with another.
The pattern that finds the change itself meaningful and significant is still missing.
This pattern defines the fourth type: that of the genetical narrative.
Stories of this type give direction to the temporal change of humans and the
world, to which the listeners must accordingly adjust their lives in order to cope
with the challenging alterations of time.
In women's history stories of this type of narrative overcome the alternative
of affirmation or negation, of defining or refusing given traditions and principles
of womanhood. They replace the abstract antithesis by stressing the element of
dynamic structural change and using gender as an historical category. It is this
element of structural development which mediates the anticipation of alterna-
HISTORICAL NARRATION
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JORN RUSEN
HISTORICAL NARRATION
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consciousnessfromearlypre-neolithicculturesto pre-industrialculturesand to
modernsocieties.
In this evolutionthe acceptanceand significanceof timeitself is transformed.
In the firstperiodthe courseof time becamearrestedin eternity;in the second
period,whichin our culturecan be tracedfromHerodotusto Voltaire,this eternity acquiredthe qualityof supertemporally
validprinciples,and the courseof
time widenedto a multitudeof experiences;in the thirdperiod, which began
in the secondhalf of the eighteenthcentury,11
time is temporalized:humanselfunderstandingis no longerseen as a rejectionof varietyand chance,but rather
as definedby change and variety.The sphereof real historicalexperiencebecomes infinite.
Butthe typologynot only givesus generalperiodizationof the historyof historicalthinking;it also givesspecialperiodizationswithinparticularepochs.As
I havesaid,the fourtypesarealwayspresentin historicaltexts;one is dominant,
the otherssecondary.The dominantform establishesa generalepoch;the relationshipamongthe secondaryones and betweenthem and the dominantmay
define subperiods.
Thesetheoreticalconsiderationscanleadto conceptualframeworksof empirical researchand interpretation.The epoch of the late Enlightenment,for instance,can typologicallybe describedas a structureshift fromexemplaryto geneticalnarrationas dominantformsin the deepstructureof historicalnarration.
ReinhartKoselleckdepictedthisshiftas a dissolutionof thetoposhistoriamagistra
vitaeat the outsetof the movetowardsmodernhistory.12 It wouldbe worthwhile
to look for the analogous shift from traditionalto exemplarynarrationas a
foundingformof historicalthinking.I assumethat this shift took placeduring
the rise of ancientcivilizations.
Thereis anotheruse of the typology which I only wantto point to without
dealingwithit in detail.It is still a veryhypotheticalone. Weknowscarcelyanything about the structuraldevelopmentof historicalconsciousnessin the process of individualizationand socialization.But the temporalinterpretationof
the logicalorderof the four typeswouldlead to an hypothesisaboutthis development.It seemsworthwhilefor furtherdifferentiationand empiricalinvestigation to conceptualizethe ontogeneticaldevelopmentof historicalconsciousness
as a structuralprocesswhichbringsabout narrativecompetencein a sequence
of the four types along with the stagesof developmentin other fieldswe know
much more about, as for instancethe stagesof moraldevelopmentaccording
to Piaget and Kohlberg.
11. Peter Reill illuminated the German part of this beginning: The German Enlightenment and
the Rise of Historicism(Berkeley,1975);cf. VonderAufklarungzumHistorismus:ZumStrukturwandel des historischen Denkens, ed. H. W. Blanke and J. Rusen (Historisch-politische Diskurse,
vol. 1) (Paderborn, 1984).
12. "DieAuflosung des Topos im Horizont neuzeitlichbewegterGeschichte."R. Koselleck, "Historia
magistra vitae: Uber die Auflosung des Topos im Horizont neuzeitlich bewegter Geschichte,"in Vergangene Zukunft: Zur Semantik geschichtlicher Zeiten (Frankfurt, 1979); cf. J. Rusen, "Von der
Aufklarung zum Historismus: Idealtypische Perspektiven eines Strukturwandels,"in VonderAufk-
larungzum Historismus,15-58.
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JORN RUSEN
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