Big History

Abstract

In 1979, Lyotard characterized postmodernism as “incredulity toward metanarratives,” focusing instead on small narratives. Since then, avoidance of “grand narratives” has been absorbed as one of the humanities’ intellectual norms. However, that reduces theatre historiography’s objectives to the description and the interpretation of events. Those activities, although necessary, miss the crucial issue: change, especially the explanation of change. Answering such questions requires attention to how events link to large historical processes and overarching social structures—what I am calling “big history.” Thus metanarratives come front and center‚ and with them‚ the possibility of understanding human agency‚ including political agency.