Metahistory: before and after
This article tries to place Hayden White's Metahistory between two trends: one before and one after 1973. The first is the trend towards studying the rhetoric of history: a trend that goes back to classical antiquity itself, was revived at the Renaissance and – following the moment of positivism – enjoyed a second revival in the age of the linguistic turn. The second trend, after 1973, is essentially the story of responses to White's book, whether negative or positive. Particular emphasis is given to attempts to extend his rhetorical analysis to more historians or to utilize his approach in other disciplines, among them anthropology, geography and international relations.