Abstract

Hayden White, in Metahistory, rejects the psychological basis of language and, rather, emphasizes its formal characteristics. However, White assumes the existence of psychological phenomena such as "levels of consciousness" and imagination, which effectively undermines his synthetic principle. Another problem in White's theory is that he only describes the four phases of transition in public moods. His theory, then, suffers from the lack of a dynamic principle of change. In addition, his concept of "dialogical tension" appears a "catch-all" device for dealing with inconsistencies rather than a comprehensive analytical tool. The four typologies themselves assume a deep structure which provides heuristic value at the price of causal explanation. Finally, White attempts to use the trope of Irony as a dynamic principle. However, Irony has no formal restrictions and seems itself founded on disagreement rather than ultimate generative principles. His analysis would have been more convincing if it were limited to a description of literary subcultures rather than assuming theoretical coherence