FICTIO OR THE PURPOSE OF HISTORICAL STATEMENTS

John Lukacs (1885-1971)

John Lukacs is among the most accomplished historians of his generation. He has written more than twenty books and hundreds of essays and reviews. In the essay Fictio or the Purpose of Historical Statements John Lukacs critically analyses about fiction, facts and truth. The same fact can be presented in different styles. By giving plausible (arguable) examples, Lukacs examines the ideas. According to Lukacs fact is dependent to other facts. No fact is absolute. Facts and truths are determined by purpose, context and expressions. For him, a fact is not separable from other facts

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Fact is supposed to base on reality and truth. A fact has to be compared and contrasted with other facts. The value of facts also depends on their relationship to accuracy. When a fact is more accurate, it becomes more theoretical. The third element that is required for fact is its association. When one fact is associated with other facts, it may be judged well. Lukacs explains that historians can’t reveal exact truth or fact. They reveal only a vision or only a part of truth. The value of fact is determined by ‘expression’. Facts are understood differently according to expression. According to Lukacs, fact is not separable from its expression. For him, “expression is not merely the clothing of the fact, but its flesh. It means expression is not only outlet but also determining factor of fact. For example, regarding Second World War, which began in 1939, some people may say that ‘world war was not really second world war but the second German war, or the First Atomic War, or European Civil War or Sixth Atlantic World War. They show that fact is merely an expression. It is a process of making statement.

Generally it is believed that fact and fiction are opposite terms. Such people believe that fact is very near to the falsehood. But even history contains fiction. To make history more interesting, we have to put fiction with it. It is fiction that makes history long lasting by adding imaginative ideas. When it became so, fiction and fact are inseparable. Truth is present everywhere but it is invisible. Every statement may be actually true and potentially untrue. Readers have to be convinced about the concept that there lies truthfulness and partially fictional element in fact.

In this way, Lukacs analyses fact linking it with different other dimensions. He relates facts with other concepts like comparison, association and relationship

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Q) Why does Lukacs say that fact is abstract rather than concrete?

Lukacs in the essay, Fictio or the Purpose of Historical Statements discusses about how fact is related to other concepts like fiction and truth. Fact is not concrete for the reason that it is possible to find out the fact only in relationship to other facts.

 Facts cannot stand in itself. To understand fact, it is necessary to compare, contrast, connect and generalize. It is so because facts are related to truth and fiction. It is impossible to find out the concrete forms by means of eyes. It is only possible to identify fact only by relating it with other facts. Moreover, it is possible to identify the fact by finding out the association. So facts are abstract not concrete.

Lukacs means to say that facts are invisible. They can only be realized by linking with other facts. For this reason facts are abstract.