History theory

[Moira Day]

	I feel like a bit of a fool asking this, but I was talking today
with  one of my students about somebody's theory of history that stressed
that the past, far from being rigid and set was a dynamic, growing organism
that constantly shifted, changed and grew as one's understanding of the
present and future changed - with our understanding of human identity,
personal and communal coming out of that tension between the three - and
discovered to my chagrin that the author and source had completely slipped
my mind at a time when I needed to give it to him. Can anyone help me with
this? I know it was someone fairly canonical working more out of a
mythic/archetypal/anthropological perspective than a postmodern one.

Thanks.

Moira