Well, it seems I've been channeling Paul Ricoeur and Michel de Certeau in my musings on this (here). I've read some Ricoeur, but not Time and Narrative, which seems to be the thing to read. From what I've gathered there may be differences in our positions, but clearly overlaps which I ought to learn more about. de Certeau, for his part, seems to have discussed history functioning as our separation from The Real. More stuff to read. I said I was a novice at all this!
There's also a bit of a problem in my argument which comes about when I shift perspective, between viewing the 'ribbon of time' from the side and viewing it from below (between the 5th and 6th diagrams on that theme). That needs sorting out. Again - I just wanted to let you know I'm aware of this!
Bear with me. If nothing else, it's an insight into a sort of historian's exploration of what is (or ought to be) involved in the work of history.