On History and Literature: Annual Conference 2025

Historians face the daunting task of weaving narratives from scattered fragments, crumbling ruins, dusty archives and bulky manuscripts. Does their craft make them storytellers?

The sources they consult—be they archival or oral—often contain narratives of their own, refracted through the motivations of their authors. As Hannah Arendt noted, the ability to tell stories is how we become historical. It is perhaps time, then, to reimagine the traditional dichotomy between literature and history, or art and science, and to question the empire of history.

Traditional history textbooks often present a sterile chronicle of events—a dry, factual record that flattens human civilization into a single authoritative narrative. In contrast, literature provides a deeply personal, immersive perspective on the past, capturing the values, ideas, struggles and transformations of societies. Stories create spaces that have possibilities of sanctifying the truth of experience.

This conference seeks to explore a crucial question: Can literature serve as…