安克斯密特在《叙事的逻辑》一书中提出了叙事实体理论,它由历史陈述组成,本身却包含了超出所有历史陈述的观点。安克斯密特认为,过去是混沌的一片,本身没有意义,历史学家按照一定的逻辑将支离破碎的历史残片组织起来,构建出叙事实体,从而使过去得到合理性说明,为人们所理解。叙事实体这一作用的发挥主要通过三个基本形式:首先,它提供了一个观察过去的视角,不同的角度使读者看到历史的不同面相;其次,它是认知过去的一个手段,采用隐喻的方法,通过已知来认识未知,体现了西方认识论传统;最后,它是关于过去的一个解释,是探寻真理的漫长道路上的一个阶段。
Frank Ankersmit is an eminent contemporary historical theoretician. He puts forward the theory about ' narrative substance' , which is made up of individual statements but indicates more beyond. For the historian, ' Narrative substance' is a linguistic construct by which he arranges the chaotic reality and imposes meanings upon it. For the reader, 'narrative substance' is a perspective, through which to perceive the past, or a metaphor, by which to know the strange, or as a tactic to interpret the past.