The degradation of American history / David Harlan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harlan, David (David Craig)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

History--Methodology.

History.

United States--Historiography--Moral and ethical aspects.

United States.

United States--History--Methodology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (326 p.)

Place of Publication:

Chicago, Ill. : University of Chicago Press, 1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

American historical writing has traditionally been one of our primary forms of moral reflection. However, David Harlan argues that in the disillusionment following the 1960's, history abandoned its redemptive potential and took up the methodology of the social sciences. In this provocative new book, Harlan describes the reasons for this turn to objectivity and professionalism, explains why it failed, and examines the emergence of a New Traditionalism in American historical writing. Part One, "The Legacy of the Sixties," describes the impact of literary theory in the 1970's and beyond, the rise of women's history, the various forms of ideological analysis developed by historians on the left, and the crippling obsession with professionalism in the 1980's. Part Two, "The Renewal of American Historical Writing," focuses on the contributions of John Patrick Diggins, Hayden White, Richard Rorty, Elaine Showalter, Henry Louis Gates Jr., and others. Harlan argues that at the end of the twentieth century American historical writing is perfectly poised to become what it once was: not one of the social sciences in historical costume, but a form of moral reflection that speaks to all Americans. "[A] wholly admirable work. This book will be talked about for years."-Library Journal

Contents:

Front matter

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION ''It Hath No Relish if Salvation in It"

CHAPTER ONE. Deeper into the Wilderness

CHAPTER TWO. A People Blinded from Birth

CHAPTER THREE. Doubts and Dispossessions

CHAPTER FOUR. After Looking into the Abyss

CHAPTER FIVE. The Return if the Moral Imagination

CHAPTER SIX. A Choice of Inheritance

CHAPTER SEVEN. The Dream if a Common History

CHAPTER EIGHT. Love and Objectivity

Epilogue

Notes

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 215-277) and index.

ISBN:

9786612069901

9781282069909

128206990X

9780226316154

0226316157

OCLC:

646808765