Beyond history

This invited essay was to be autobiographical. An so it is, but with a difference from traditional autobiographical writing that I discuss as part of the essay. History is the genre of modernity; it underwrites much of what we practice and assume in education, in politics, in personal life. So I am very interested in exploring the implications of postmodernity: a critique of modernity that is widely disseminated and cannot be wished away. What does postmodernity offer int he way of new options, and what does it foreclose upon that we once took for granted, during the era of modernity when representational conventions flourished in politics, arts and elsewhere? History, I never tire of repeating, is in the interesting position of discovering its own historicity. This does not necessarily condemn the 'doing' of history, but it does condemn the unself-conscious doing of it. 'The past' and the nature of sequence itself both have new functions in narrative. Historians should consider them; it is even possible that good may come of experiment. The catch is, that the approach to such problems and such questions must be interdisciplinary, and that requires both humility and courage on the part of writers.