"The Historical Text as Literary Artifact" by Hayden White - Chapter Summary
White, Hayden. "The Historical Text as Literary Artifact." Narrative Dynamics: Essays on Time, Plot, Closure, and Frames. Ed. Brian Richardson. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 2002. 191-210. Print. White explores the inherent problem of objectivity in historical accounts. Fiction and history have been treated as distinct genres; White argues that historical accounts are narratives and ought to be analyzed as one does fiction rather than science. The writing down of historical events is not regulated by a universally agreed upon set of criteria like science and thus must be subject to interpretation. Historical accounts are essentially stories pieced together from facts and chronologies, and some are highlighted as more important than others. Furthermore, they are emotionally colored by the preferences and culture of the historian. For example, a historical situation is not inherently tragic or comic. Its painting as such may even be necessary for a culture, especially if des