Monograph by Ina Pukelytė Žydų Teatras Tarpukario Lietuvoje (Jewish Theatre in Lithuania During the Interwar Period)

Abstract

There are (at least) two approaches that guide every historiographical endeavour. One type of historian is metaphorically led by Leopold von Ranke and his call for representation of historical events “as they truly were”, i.e., representation must be backed by all possible empirical, material, and documental evidence. Another type of historical thinking produces historiographical works that are usually referred to as post-positivist or rhetorical. In this case, discursive strategies—i.e., methodological and theoretical ways, means, and frameworks of representation of past realities—are emphasized. The bifurcation of these approaches becomes especially evident in the multiplicity of historiographies of late 20th century, when historiographical research begins to incorporate cultural and linguistic studies, feminist, and post-colonial studies in all their shapes and directions. As a guiding principle, these historiographies often pursuit to voice silenced histories of agents traditionally not included in mainstream cultural memory and its metaphorical archive.