Parahistory and the Popular Past

Acts of Historical Production

Parahistory and the Popular Past challenges the tired debate over historical fact versus fiction by focusing on what really matters: how different forms of representation create meaning and establish responsibility. This book is essential reading for historians, literary scholars and anyone interested in how we make sense of the past.

Parahistory and the Popular Past challenges the tired debate over historical fact versus fiction by focusing on what really matters: how different forms of representation create meaning and establish responsibility. Moving beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries, this book diagnoses a fundamental tension between history’s objectives and the generic forms available to achieve them. It develops a pragmatic, present-minded historical consciousness that foregrounds ethical responsibility while engaging with contemporary communicative realities.

Through detailed investigations of narrative conventions, genre and historical experience, the book distinguishes between the historical and practical past. Theoretical insights are deepened through sustained analyses of works like Josef Škvorecký’s The Engineer of Human Souls, Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive and George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo. With these analyses, the book develops reading practices to deal with the autonomy of artistic works, demonstrating how they construct complex meanings and reshape audience responsibility. By reconceptualizing the field in terms of a broad history culture, it positions professional history and parahistory as related meaning-making practices, shifting focus from boundary-policing toward the ethical implications of representation for contemporary readers and publics.

This book is essential reading for historians, literary scholars and anyone interested in how we make sense of the past.

UK Delivery:

• Free delivery on all orders of £10 or more.
• £1.49 delivery fee on orders below £10.
• UK orders are shipped via Royal Mail 2nd Class.

International Delivery:

• Flat rate delivery charges vary by country.

Dispatch and Delivery Times:

• All orders are shipped from our warehouse in Northampton, UK within 48 hours of receipt during working hours.
• UK mainland orders typically arrive within 3-5 working days via Royal Mail 2nd Class.
• International estimated delivery times:
• Europe & Channel Islands: 7 to 10 working days
• USA: 7 to 15 working days
• Rest of the World: 9 to 21 working days

View our full delivery infomation here.