Abstract

This study attempts to determine the essence of history as a literary genre by exploring its meaning from perspectives inspired by Hans-Georg Gadamer's Truth and Method. The analysis is predicated on the assumption that the meaning of this genre is to be found in the way that works considered historical are understood, rather than in some quality of the texts themselves such as theme or style. By assuming that genre has an implicit connection to understanding as a mode of man's being, this study attempts to forge a more direct relationship between the interpretation of literature and the interpretation of the human condition, and works towards the view that literature is a source of practical knowledge. ;Specifically, this study attempts to substantiate the thesis that the genre of history presumes in all cases that such a work is understood as having to do with facts about what has been, that these facts suggest possible ways of being for any particular interpreter, and that it is through the realization of these possible ways of being that the truth of a work emerges in the life of an interpreter. This thesis is developed in three parts. In the first part the validity of assuming that the foundation of historical genre must be found in historical understanding is explored. The second part examines the claim that the genre of history has to do with facts. The third part argues that these facts open up possibilities for the interpreter's life. The conclusion examines truth as that which emerges through this relationship between facts and possibilities. The claims in the second and third parts of this study are supported through an analysis of the assumptions that have been central to the historical interpretation of two works of English literature: The Battle of Maldon and Richard II. ;As a result of this study, intention, meaning, and truth are substantiated as the three constitutive elements of any genre, factuality, possibility, and historicality are substantiated as constitutive of the genre of history, and a new direction is projected for the exploration of other literary genres