History and Belief: The Foundations of Historical Understanding / Edition 1

by Robert E. Frykenberg

Overview

This is a print on demand book and is therefore non- returnable.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802807397
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	06/13/1996
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.85(d)

About the Author

Professor emeritus of history and South Asian studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Table of Contents

	Introduction: Historical Understandings and World Views	1
1.	History as History: A Double Definition	19
2.	History as Memory: A Primal Necessity	38
3.	History as Story: A Narrative Art	62
4.	History as Anecdote: A Vital Essence	96
5.	History as Antiquity: A Mythic Legacy	123
6.	History as Classicity: A Critical Criterion	149
7.	History as Theodicy: A Redemptive Event	191
8.	History as Description: An Ambiguous Science	242
9.	History as Destiny: An Interpretive Quest	261
10.	History as Rhetoric: A Disputed Discourse	278
	Conclusion: History as Belief: A Perpetual Predicament	304
	Bibliography	337
	Index	358

Editorial Reviews

Daniel H. Bays
—University of Kansas
"This is a thoughtful treatise in the realm between history and philosophy, the product of mature reflection on the part of a historian who has himself struggled for decades with the issues of historical understanding and writing honest history, Robert Eric Frykenberg shows us many different functions of 'history — including memory, mythic legacy, anecdote, narrative, classicity, and theodicy (as 'redemptive event'). But he is at his sharpest in the chapter titled 'History as Rhetoric,' in which he boldly assaults the ideologically charged bastions of postmodernism, post-Orientalism, subalternism, and other manifestations of the literary theory of 'culture studies' approach. Overall, this book reinforces eloquently the truth that deep-seated religious or ideological beliefs inform the very conceptualization of history and are inextricably intertwined with historical understanding."

Stanley G. Payne
—University of Wisconsin-Madison
"This important new work provides a penetrating guide to historical knowledge and its structure and limits. The treatment given to the origins of historical understanding, its epistemology, and its character in various world civilizations is impressive. Most importantly, this book gives us one of the best introductions that we have to the relationship between knowledge, belief, and faith in historical study, helping to elucidate the historical grounding of belief and the search for meaning."

Lamin Sanneh
—Yale Divinity School
"Building upon four decades of his own scholarly work in the field of history, Frykenberg presents a notable achievement for clarifying the rich overlap between facts and theory, evidence and belief, history and religion, East and West. He deserves to be commended."

From the Publisher

The hallmark of Frykenberg's story is the complexity and messiness of history, a complexity that is mirrored by the compledity and difficulty of his own book....Like many good books, History and Belief raises at least as many questions as it answers.
— Books & Culture: A Christian Review

C. Stephen Evans