Abstract

STEIMBERG, Darío G.. Complejidad o relativismo en Hayden White. Prismas [online]. 2015, vol.19, n.1, pp.35-45. ISSN 1852-0499.

Hayden White considerations around historical writing have had a strong impact on the contemporary debate about the relationship between History and Truth. The interest in the different levels that shape a History or a Philosophy of history, the emphasis on the importance of language and poetic devices and therefore the staging of the tension between the documentation of a set of facts and the conception of a sense for the past have been seen by some in line with a relativistic (and conservative) political ideology. This paper conducts an analysis of the fundamental hypothesis by White and some of the major criticisms they have received. The question about the relationship between Truth and History is not simply limited to the scope of researches in this discipline. Much of the social sciences and humanities rely on their studies, so that today it is essential to distinguish between a complex look and its alleged relativistic effects. Complexity should not be confused with relativism and that is why it is worth trying a separation of the analytical power of White's texts and the weakness of some of his proposals in relation to the present of historical research.

Keywords : Narrative; History; Truth; Complexity; Relativism.

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