Between the 1970s and the 1990s, discussions regarding the epistemo-
logical status of historiography acquired centrality in some academic
circles. Politics, rhetoric, science, and memory were not alien to those debates. More than being resolved, those tensions were put aside: most historians continue to seek ways to approach the reality of the past, while most of their critics continue to believe that, by doing so, they are prisoners of an illusion. The following article presents some of the central themes regarding the problem and argues both about the necessity of facing its challenges and the consequences of some of the proposed solutions.
