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The Value of Narrativity in the Representation of RealityAuthor(s): Hayden WhiteSource:
Critical Inquiry,
Vol. 7, No. 1, On Narrative (Autumn, 1980), pp. 5-27Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1343174
Accessed: 01/05/2010 14:53
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TheValueofNarrativitynthe
RepresentationofReality
HaydenWhite
To raise thequestionofthe natureofnarrativeisto invite reflectionontheverynature of cultureand,possibly,even onthe natureofhumanityitself. So naturalistheimpulsetonarrate,soinevitableisthe formofnarrative foranyreportof thewaythingsreallyhappened,thatnarrativitycouldappear problematical onlyinacultureinwhichitwasabsent-absentor,asinsome domains ofcontemporaryWesternintellectual and artisticculture,programmaticallyrefused.Asapanglobalfact ofculture,narrative andnarrationarelessproblemsthansimplydata.Asthelate(andalready profoundlymissed)RolandBarthesremarked,narrative"issimplythere likelife itself. .international,transhistorical,transcultural."'Far frombeingaproblem,then,narrativemightwellbeconsidereda solutiontoaproblemofgeneralhumanconcern,namely,theproblemof howtotranslateknowingintotelling,2theproblemoffashioninghumanexperienceintoa formassimilable tostructures ofmeaningthataregenerallyhumanratherthanculture-specific.Wemaynot be ablefullytocomprehend specificthought patternsof anotherculture,butwe haverelativelylessdifficultyunderstandingastorycomingfromanotherculture,however exotic that
1.RolandBarthes,"Introduction totheStructuralAnalysisofNarratives,"Music,Image,Text,trans.StephenHeath(NewYork,1977),p.79.2. The words"narrative," "narration,""tonarrate,"and so onderiveviatheLatingnarus("knowing,""acquaintedwith,""expert,""skilful,"andsoforth)and narroi"relate,""tell")fromtheSanskritrootgnrd"know").The same rootyieldsyv•pLqow("knowable,""known"):see EmileBoisacq,Dictionnaireitymologiquedelalanguegrecque(Heidelberg,1950),under theentryforthisword.Mythanksto Ted Morris ofCornell,one of ourgreatetymologists.
?1980byTheUniversityofChicago.0093-1896/80/0701-0006$02.21
5
 
6HaydenWhiteTheValueofNarrativityculturemayappeartous.AsBarthessays,"narrative ...istranslatablewithoutfundamentaldamage"inawaythatalyricpoemoraphilo-sophicaldiscourseisnot.Thissuggeststhatfarfrombeingonecodeamongmanythat aculturemayutilizeforendowingexperiencewithmeaning,narrative isametacode,ahumanuniversalon the basisofwhichtransculturalmessagesabout thenature of asharedrealitycan betransmitted.Arising,asBarthessays,between ourexperienceofthe world andoureffortstodescribe thatexperienceinlanguage,narrative"ceaselesslysubstitutesmeaningforthestraightforwardcopyof theeventsrecounted." And itwouldfollow,on thisview,thattheabsence ofnarrativecapacityor arefusalofnarrativeindicates anabsenceorrefusal ofmeaningitself.Butwhatkindofmeaningisabsent orrefused?Thefortunes ofnarrativeinthehistoryofhistoricalwriting giveussomeinsightintothisquestion.Historiansdonot havetoreporttheirtruthsaboutthe realworldinnarrativeform;theymaychooseother,non-narrative,evenanti-narrative,modes ofrepresentation,suchasthemeditation,theanatomy,ortheepitome.Tocqueville,Burckhardt,Huizinga,andBraudel,3tomentiononlythemost notablemasters ofmodernhistoriography,refusednarrativeincertain oftheirhistoriographicalworks,presumablyontheassumptionthatthemeaningof the eventswithwhichtheywishedto dealdidnot lenditselftorepresentationinthenarrative mode.Theyrefusedto tell astoryaboutthepast,or,rather,theydidnot tellastorywithwell-markedbeginning,middle,andendphases;theydidnotimposeupontheprocessesthatinterestedthemtheformthatwenormallyassociate withstorytelling.Whiletheycertainlynarratedtheiraccountsof therealitythatthey perceived,orthoughttheyperceived,to existwithinor behindtheevidencetheyhadexamined,theydidnotnarrativize thatreality,didnotimposeuponitthe formof astory.Andtheirexample permitsustodistinguishbetween ahistoricaldiscoursethatnarrates,on theoneside,and adiscoursethat
3.SeeAlexisdeTocqueville,DemocracynAmerica,trans.HenryReeve(London,1838);JakobChristophBurckhardt,TheCivilizationoftheRenaissancenItaly,trans. S. G.C.Middlemore(London,1878);JohanHuizinga,TheWaningoftheMiddleAges:AStudyoftheFormsof Life,Thought,and ArtinFranceandtheNetherlandsntheDawnoftheRenaissance,trans.F.Hopman(London,1924);andFernandBraudel,TheMediterranean andtheMediterraneanWorldntheAge ofPhilipII,trans.SiainReynolds(New York,1972).SeealsomyMetahistory:TheHistoricalImaginationinNineteenthCenturyEurope(Baltimore,1973)andHansKellner,"DisorderlyConduct:Braudel'sMediterraneanSatire,"HistoryandTheory18,no.2(May1979):197-222.
HaydenWhite,professorintheprograminthehistoryofconscious-ness attheUniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruz,istheauthor ofTheTropicsofDiscourse:EssaysinCulturalCriticism,The Greco-RomanTradition,andMetahistory:TheHistoricalImaginationinNineteenthCenturyEurope.
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