The ‘Narrative Turn’ and Its Limits

Abstract This article explores the implications of the ‘narrative turn’ for the history of international law. It refers to the epistemological and methodological debate about narrative elements in historical writing and examines how claims about ‘history as fiction’ have been received in writings on the history of international law. It uses Reinhart Koselleck’s concept of the ‘veto power of sources’ as a means of addressing the ‘narrative turn’ and its implications. As an example, the article points to the methodological flaws of Vladimir Putin’s historical justification of Russian aggression against Ukraine.