Hayden White’s Historical Theory: A Critical Analysis

Abstract

This study is an attempt to explore Hayden White’s approach to the philosophy of historiography. The article explores White’s work within the context of the cultural, existential, and linguistic evolution in intellectual and conceptual history in the western discourse. This study explores history on two fronts: the internal scrutiny of historical methodology and its external position vis-à-vis other disciplinary approaches. Moreover, this research tries to understand the deconstruction of social humanities, particularly historical studies, in the mid-twentieth century which further splits the question of meaning and representation in contemporary historical knowledge production. The study highlights White’s works to explore splits and shifts in the perspective of the evolution of liberal humanism and its possible fall in the form of anti-humanism, which later transformed into an alternative position of post-humanism. The study uses multidisciplinary methods to explore White’s historiographic approaches, concepts, and theoretical ideas which are claimed to be historical knowledge in the postmodern culture.