Where Is the Past Heading? Historical Facts and Historical Narrative

The nature of historical facts has been a constant source of concern for all those who have been interested in narrating, explaining, and – one way or the other – reviving the past. Their relationship to what came to be called historical facts has been shifting and in no way unilinear. The category of ‘historical facts’ has been zigzagging through ages and genres. Despite its seemingly obvious meaning, it has implied different things at different ages. Their consequences for our understanding of ‘historical facts’ have been and still are relevant.