The «Historical» Present Tense As A Discursive Function

Abstract

In the first section, we address some of the most important conclusions of traditional analyses of the "historical" present tense, including an examination of the significance of the transition from the past to the present, and vice versa, in the Arab-Islamic rhetorical heritage, within the phenomena of what has been termed "Iltifat". We also address two of the most prominent hypotheses in traditional "historical" present literature. In the second section, we highlight the characteristics of the "historical" present that cannot be understood outside of its function within the structure of narrative  discourse.