History, Theory, Text: Historians and the Linguistic Turn

by Clark

In this work of sweeping erudition, one of our foremost historians of early Christianity considers a variety of theoretical critiques to examine the problems and opportunities posed by the ways in which history is written. Elizabeth Clark argues forcefully for a renewal of the study of premodern Western history through engagement with the kinds of critical methods that have transformed other humanities disciplines in recent decades.

History, Theory, Text provides a user-friendly survey of crucial developments in nineteenth- and twentieth-century debates surrounding history, philosophy, and critical theory. Beginning with the "noble dream" of "history as it really was" in the works of Leopold von Ranke, Clark goes on to review Anglo-American philosophies of history, schools of twentieth-century historiography, structuralism, the debate over narrative history, the changing fate of the history of ideas, and the impact of interpretive anthropology and literary theory on current historical scholarship. In a concluding chapter she offers some practical case studies to illustrate how attending to theoretical considerations can illuminate the study of premodernity.

Written with energy and clarity, History, Theory, Text is a clarion call to historians for richer and more imaginative use of contemporary theory.

Genres: History, Academic, Linguistics, Nonfiction, Theory, Philosophy

336 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2004

Reviews

[Logan Prettyman]

A helpful overview on the history of historiography from a post structuralist perspective. A bit hard to follow, and the last chapter should be read before the first. It’s worth reading for any historian and especially for patristic scholars.

[Benjamin Phillips]

Post-war variations on a theme of “texts don’t represent reality directly so history isn’t empirically verifiable” with suggestions for what sort of feminist and post-colonial things that can do for Early Christian studies.

[Dan]

This book requires a great deal of pre-reading by its readers. If you haven't read Derrida, Foucault, or Geertz, then much of the book will feel like learning to swim by diving into the middle of the ocean. Otherwise, Clark covers a great deal regarding historiography and the social-scientific theories that have shaped the study of history over the last 100 years. The final chapter focuses on object lessons from her discipline of ancient Christian studies, which really is the best part of the book. It provides concrete examples, plus you get to read a renowned expert's own take on her field.

[Chandler]

"Many issues raised within literary theory, I conclude, have a better claim on the attention of scholars of premodern texts than do contextualism and interpretive methodology."

A very dense but immensely important text of historiography! Elizabeth Clark, a patristics scholar who taught at Duke during her lifetime, assesses the value and applicability of post-structural theory to early Christian texts. I am going to be dwelling on and wrestling with a lot of what she said for a long time. This book definitely has made a deep impact on me, even if there are certain points I disagree with. For instance, I am still unsure of Clark's view about the "realism" or what historians are "capturing" when they discuss historical texts and events. Still, Clark shows us that historians of early Christian studies need to wrestle with the implications of the linguistic turn in philosophy.

[Tyson Guthrie]

Very helpful for understanding post-structural historiography.
Written by a post-structuralist.
Great a doing what it does.
Doesn't do something great.

[Charlie]

There are (more than?) a few meta-history books out there. Some of them are simply lists of books and authors loosely arranged by friendship or enmity. This book has some of that too, as the occasion demands, but it is distinguished by two features.

First, the book actually has a thesis. This gives it more focus and more bite than would exist in a bloodless overview. Clark believes that the linguistic turn has quite a bit to offer historians.

Second, she cashes out her thesis in the final chapter, in which she details ways that her own field of "late ancient Christian studies" has been enriched by Theory. She refers in passing to some of her own works but concentrates on those of others.

I wish a bit more philosophical argumentation had been included. After surveying recent contributions to her field, shouldn't she make a philosophical argument that these works are, in fact, in some way better than previous works? Throughout Clark seems to judge various historians by how much they incorporated Theory, but surely whether or not to incorporate Theory and how to do so are still live questions.

[Zachary]

As with books that I review extensively on my own, my review here will be brief. Clark is wonderful, lucid, incisive, and a joy to read. I've never read through so much critical, dense material so quickly or so easily, but Clark clearly demarcates the terms of the debate, the major shifts, and what is at stake in the "history-theory" wars. Well-written, copiously and carefully footnoted, this book should be a principal introduction for pre-modernists to the central problems confronting their discipline. The epistemological presuppositions of "history" can no longer be ignored or presumed.

[Michael]

A bit boring in places, reads kind of 'listy' (with long lists of philosophers and historiographers), but I also learned a lot from this book. The last chapter is a gem where this Augustine scholar teaches you how to read Ancient (or at least premodern) texts in light of 20th century developments in philosophy. I wish to take what she says about friendship in the ancient world to heart!

[Eric Pecile]

A very well written book that clarifies many of the arguments of postmodern theory and the challenges historians have offered them. Unfortunately the book is very much a synopsis of arguments rather than a comprehensive critique or analysis. As such I found it a bit underwhelming.

[mahatmanto]

beli versi kindle.
saya suka pengantarnya: memberi peta pergulatan peran historian dalam berhadapan dengan objek studinya. emang baru baca sampai introductionnya ajah...