Postmodern Historiography

Purposes of Inquiry

Postmodern historiography is generally not a truth-seeking endeavor. In that way, the purpose of postmodern historiography is different from modern historiography, which subscribes to the assumption that the purpose of scholarly inquiry is the search for truth (or truths), and truth is the proper basis for knowledge. The search for truth(s) in modern historiography is made apparent in its attention to methodological rigor, evidence, validity, documentation, and predictive power. In contrast, postmodern historiography is conducted and evaluated on criteria other than those that have been established for truth-seeking approaches to inquiry.

Postmodern historiography complicates the search for truth(s) by using parody, irony, complexity, poetry, deconstruction, narrative analysis, and political critique. One alternative to the search for truth Wirkungsgeschichte, which Jürgen Habermas calls “critical history” and Mitchell Dean calls “effective history.” In Nietzsche's version of critical and effective history, the purpose of historical inquiry is neither to establish a version of truth, nor to correct errors in the historical record, but rather to dismantle dominant claims to truth and incite critical questioning. The purpose of such postmodern historiography is to provoke, inspire, and galvanize readers, so the genre of postmodern historical writing is less expository and more evocative.

Some critical curriculum theorists regard postmodern historiography as nihilistic because it dismantles truths without offering any replacement truths. At the same time, critical and effective histories do not usually claim that there is no such thing as truth; rather, postmodern historiography raises the possibility that historical inquiry may have worthwhile educational purposes other than the search for truth. For example, postmodern historiography may pursue justice, cultivate aesthetic pleasure, generate moral values, explore uncharted intellectual territory, or awake a human spirit. For proponents of postmodern historiography, the critical value of the postmodern approach is that it expands historical inquiry beyond the search for truth, thereby undermining the basis on which dominant knowledge has become exclusive and limiting.

In general, postmodern historiography is critical and provocative rather than realistic or explanatory. By implication, postmodern historiography has posed challenges to curriculum studies. For example, from the perspective of postmodern historiography, curriculum history can be evaluated on the basis of its methodological rigor and fidelity to established facts and on the basis of its political effects, literary merit, and the degree to which the history generates critical thinking or provokes political activism. The shift of purpose from truth-seeking to critique also contributes to curriculum theories that seek to explain various mechanisms of knowledge production. For example, in curriculum theory, postmodern historiography pushes definitions of knowledge to extend beyond the realms of science and cognition, and into realms of literature, aesthetics, ethics, politics, and power.

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