---
title: "Historical Narrative Between Language and Science"
sousTitre: "Two Frameworks for the Same Matter"
description: "George Orwell identifies an official language as an element of a political system, while Ibn Khaldūn classifies history among the sciences. These two statements, though they do not engage with one another, frame historical narrative within structures that determine it: one institutional, the other disciplinary."
date: 2026-10-23
lang: en
tradition: transversal
auteurs: ["George Orwell", "Ibn Khaldun"]
---
# Historical Narrative Between Language and Science

Historical matter appears in two distinct forms in the texts that follow. The first is designated as a language, the second as a science. These two statements do not intersect, yet they situate narrative within frameworks that precede and contain it.

## An Official Language

George Orwell writes:

> 1 Newspeak was the official language of Oceania. For an account of its structure and etymology see Appendix.
>
> — **George Orwell**, *Nineteen Eighty-Four EN avec appendice Newspeak*

The text names a language and ties it to a political entity. It neither describes its use, nor its effects, nor its intentions. It merely observes its official status and refers to an appendix for its structure. Here, language is an institutional given, bound to a system whose name is mentioned: *Oceania*. The historical narrative, if it exists within this framework, is not directly evoked. Yet the language that carries it is already marked as official.

## A Science Among Others

In *The Muqaddimah*, Ibn Khaldūn approaches history from another angle:

> History of the last years of Ibn Khaldūn’s life i.xxxiii Continuation of the introduction xciii List of chapters comprising the universal history xcvii Notes on the manuscripts of the universal history and the Prolegomena cm Observations on the Boulac edition and the translations by Perizade and Djevdet Efendi CXIII Author’s preface i History is a branch of philosophy and must be counted among the sciences.
>
> — **Ibn Khaldūn**, *Les Prolégomènes (Muqaddima), tome 1*. éd. after the French translation by William Mac Guckin de Slane, Notices et extraits, Imprimerie impériale, Paris, 1863, vol. 1.

The text speaks neither of power, nor of manipulation, nor of dynastic cycles. It classifies history within a broader whole: philosophy, and by extension, the sciences. It does not specify how this classification shapes historical narrative, nor what its consequences might be. It simply states a place, a disciplinary belonging.

## Two Frameworks, One Matter

The two passages do not engage with one another. One speaks of an official language, the other of a science. Neither describes the process by which historical narrative is produced. Nor do they mention mechanisms of domination or legitimation.

Yet both frame historical narrative within structures that determine it:
- A language, designated as official, tied to a political entity (*Oceania*).
- A discipline, classified among the sciences, linked to philosophy.

These two statements, though they do not intersect, situate historical narrative within systems that precede it. One places it within a linguistic order, the other within an epistemological one. Neither explains how these frameworks act upon the past. They merely name them.

## Sources

- George Orwell, *Nineteen Eighty-Four EN avec appendice Newspeak* — 
- Ibn Khaldûn, *Les Prolégomènes (Muqaddima), tome 1* — Notices et extraits, Imprimerie impériale, Paris, 1863, t. 1, trans. William Mac Guckin de Slane


Canonical source : https://viasophia.org/en/articles/2026-10-23-recit-historique-entre-langue-science/