April 6, 1995 Contact: Barbara McKenna (408/459-2495)

TALK ON CARLYLE WILL EXPLORE PERSPECTIVES ON HISTORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--In an April talk on Victorian author Thomas Carlyle at the University of California, Santa Cruz, cultural historian Hayden White will discuss the view that history is not a reflection of facts as much as a reflection of the person writing about an event. In support of this theory, White will explore Carlyle's approach to historical writing.

The talk, "Carlyle and the Historical Fantastic," is being presented as the annual Norman and Charlotte Strouse Lecture on Thomas Carlyle and His Era. It takes place at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 21, in McHenry Library Special Collections, third floor. The talk is free and open to the public.

"What I mean by the historical fantastic is that the past is a place into which we project all kinds of fantasies. The past is interpreted differently by different generations and different groups," White says. For example, Carlyle's historical writings were highly respected in his day, but now, White says, "Carlyle is typically treated as a kind of madman whose work is regarded as a kind of enthusiast history in the romantic and sentimental mode. But he used the same operation for writing history as any other historian, it's just a different style."

A professor emeritus of history of consciousness, White is one of sixteen faculty throughout the University of California system selected as a University Professor. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, White has also served as a fellow of numerous other humanities organizations. He is author and editor of several books, including a groundbreaking book in the field of history of consciousness.

The Strouse lectures on Carlyle are given annually at UCSC to complement the Norman and Charlotte Strouse Collection of Thomas Carlyle, a rich holding of Carlyle's books, letters, manuscripts, and other items, established in 1966 and housed in Special Collections at the University Library. For more information on the talk, call (408) 459-2547.

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