Keith Jenkins (1943) is a British

historiographer Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians hav ...

. Jenkins studied medieval and modern history as well as political theory at The University of Nottingham. Like

Hayden White Hayden V. White (July 12, 1928 – March 5, 2018) was an American historian in the tradition of literary criticism, perhaps most famous for his work '' Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Europe'' (1973/2014). Career ...

and " postmodern" historiographers, Jenkins believes that any historian's output should be seen as a story. A work of history is as much about the historian's own world view and ideological positions as it is about past events. This means that different historians will inevitably ascribe different meanings to the same historical events. Nevertheless, all historians are constrained by the common body of historical evidence (or "artifacts"). Jenkins consistently works to undercut and move readers beyond "traditional" and "moribund" histories. He believes that history is "promiscuous" and therefore lends itself to each historian's interpretation. Therefore, history ought to end, and Jenkins desires "the era or the raising of consciousness of the aporia... of the undeniability of the decision and incredulity towards metanarrative". However, despite arguing for the end of history, Jenkins also accepts the possibility of experimental histories written "beyond the limits of the academic genre". He further acknowledges that history will neither be quick nor easy to let go. He is the author of ''Re-thinking History'' (1991) and ''On "What is History" : From Carr and Elton to Rorty and White'' (1995), edited ''The Postmodern History Reader'' (1997), and is the author of ''Why History? Ethics and Postmodernity'' (1999). With Alun Munslow he co-authored ''The Nature of History Reader'' (2004), in which key pieces of writing by leading historians are reproduced and evaluated, with an explanation and critique of their character and assumptions. "Re-thinking History" is simultaneously his first and best-known book. A theme issue of the journal ''Rethinking History'' was dedicated to his work and a critical account has been published by Dr. Alexander Macfie in June 2012 in ''Reviews in History'', a publication of the

Institute of Historical Research The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) is a British educational organisation providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is part of the School of Advanced Study in the University of London and is located at Senate Hou ...

. Jenkins retired from the position of professor of historical theory at the

University of Chichester , mottoeng = By teaching, we learn , type = Public , established = 2005 , administrative_staff = 600 , vice_chancellor = Jane Longmore , city = Chichester, West Sussex , country = England, UK ...

in 2008.

Bibliography

* Re-thinking History (1991) * On "What is History" From Carr and Elton to Rorty and White (1995) * The Postmodern History Reader (1997) * Why History? Ethics and Postmodernity (1999) * Refiguring History (2003) * The Nature of History Reader (2004) * At the Limits of History (2009)

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Dr Keith Jenkins
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Further reading