The other side of the linguistic turn: theory of history and the negotiation of humanity

ABSTRACT We have witnessed in the field of theory of history an effort to come to terms with its past, namely, the linguistic turn and the specific narrativist debate that emerged after Hayden White’s Metahistory. However, ‘linguistic turn’ refers to a broader shift in twentieth-century Humanities. In the writings by Joan W. Scott, we find a paradigmatic intersection between theory of history, gender studies and a linguistic turn-stance of a specific poststructuralist kind. Reflecting on White’s and Scott’s work, I show how their criticisms of narrative and identity meet and how developments in the fields of feminist theory and history become relevant for those interested in moving forward discussions in theory of history. This paper aims at calling our attention to how marginalized groups' struggles have forced an ongoing negotiation of the terms of humanity within and beyond academia. I recall White’s thoughts around middle-voice, specifically his claim that we have to rethink the relationship between the agent of historical writing and its writing. I claim that feminist struggles and theorization allow us to refigure the idea of assuming a voice as a process that involves as much disidentification from, as rewriting of, our received identities: as middle voice writing.