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.