ABSTRACT
A phalanx of postmodern thinkers, led by philosophers, cultural historians and
literary critics, have challenged the traditional epistemological contrast between
the fictional (literary) and the historical (cognitive) narratives of the past. The
challenge rests on a philosophy of language which denies language referential
access to the world, asserts the language-dependent status of facts and empha-
sizes pragmatic relativity of the concept of truth. Roland Barthes1 was the first
to spell out this position and Hayden White2 provided its most elaborate justifi-
cation. Later, the double equation ‘‘historical narrative = literary narrative =
fictional narrative’’ (often in a simplified form ‘‘history equals fiction’’) has
become a dogma, repeated without new arguments by a large postmodern
chorus. The Zeitgeist speaks through the chorus.