Historical Imagination
eBook - ePub

Historical Imagination

  1. 150 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Historical Imagination

About this book

Historical Imagination examines the threshold between what historians consider to be proper, imagination-free history and the malpractice of excessive imagination, asking where the boundary between the two sits and the limits of permitted imagination for the historian.

We use "imagination" to refer to a mental skill that encompasses two different tasks: the reconstruction of previously experienced parts of the world and the creation of new objects and experiences with no direct connection to the actual world. In history, imagination means using the mind's eye to picture both the actual and inactual at the same time. All historical works employ at least some creative imagination, but an excess is considered "too much". Under what circumstances are historians permitted to cross this boundary into creative imagination and how far can they go? Supporting theory with relatable examples, Staley shows how historical works are a complex combination of mimetic and creative imagination and offers a heuristic for assessing this ratio in any work of history.

Setting out complex theoretical concepts in an accessible and understandable manner and encouraging the reader to consider both the nature and limits of historical imagination, this is an ideal volume for students and scholars of the philosophy of history.

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Yes, you can access Historical Imagination by David J. Staley in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Teaching History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
Routledge
Year
2020
Print ISBN
9781138689381
eBook ISBN
9781000336146

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. Dedication Page
  6. Contents
  7. List of figures
  8. Acknowledgments
  9. Introduction: imagination in history
  10. 1 Imagination in the archives
  11. 2 Insertions
  12. 3 The modal mood in historical writing
  13. 4 The historian’s fancy
  14. 5 What if?
  15. Conclusion
  16. Glossary
  17. Bibliography
  18. Index