Transcultural History [electronic resource] : Theories, Methods, Sources /
Herren, Madeleine.author.
Rüesch, Martin.author.
Sibille, Christiane.author.
For the 21st century, the often-quoted citation ‘past is prologue’ reads the other way around: The global present lacks a historical narrative for the global past. Focussing on a transcultural history, this book questions the territoriality of historical concepts and offers a narrative, which aims to overcome cultural essentialism by focussing on crossing borders of all kinds. Transcultural History reflects critically on the way history is constructed, asking who formed history in the past and who succeeded in shaping what we call the master narrative. Although trained European historians, the authors aim to present a useful approach to global history, showing first of all how a Eurocentric but universal historiography removed or essentialised certain topics in Asian history. As an empirical discipline, history is based on source material, analysed according to rules resulting from a strong methodological background. This book accesses the global past after World War I, looking at the well known stage of the Paris Peace Conferences, observing the multiplication of new borders and the variety of transgressing institutions, concepts, actors, men and women inventing themselves as global subjects, but sharing a bitter experience with almost all local societies at this time, namely the awareness of having relatives buried in far distant places due to globalised wars.
Description based upon print version of record.
Transcultural History; Theories, Methods, Sources; Preface; Acknowledgments; Contents; Introduction: What is Transcultural History?; 1 Paris 1919: A Perturbingly Interconnected World beyond National Histories; 2 Paris 1919 in the Historians ́ Eyes; 3 Gaining a Global Picture: Analytical Concepts; 4 Transcultural Issues; 5 Methodological Key Elements of Transcultural History; 5.1 Establishing and Crossing Borders, Limits, Thresholds, Frontiers; 5.2 ``Ce n ́est pas une pomme ́ ́: Denying Borders by Claiming Authenticity; 6 Transcultural History beyond Paris 1919; Part I: Theories and Concepts
1 Introduction2 Historiography; 2.1 The Mechanics of History; 2.2 The Framing of History as an Academic Discipline in the Nineteenth Century; 2.3 Differences between the Social and the Academic Function of History; 2.4 The Nineteenth Century: How the World Acquired a Western Past and Historiography Dismissed a Global Scope; 2.4.1 Establishing and Following the ``Master Narrative ́ ́ of the Nation; 2.4.2 Weltgeist versus Serendipity; 2.4.3 The Asian Start of Global Historiography; 2.4.4 The Shifting of Global Topics from Research to Education
2.4.5 Popular Interest in the World and the De-Historisation of Non-Western Areas2.5 Which Discipline is Truly Global? Competitive Scientific Discourses and Internationalism; 2.5.1 International Professional Associations and the Search for Border Crossing Topics; 2.5.2 Internationalism and International Organisations: The Merging of Science and Politics; 2.5.3 The Concept of Internationalism; 2.6 How World War I and Propaganda Prepared New Grounds for Global Approaches; 2.6.1 The End of the European Westphalian Order and the Beginning of Global Cooperation
2.6.2 Disciplines with a Global Approach after World War I2.6.3 Paris 1919: The Development of Dense Global Networks; 2.6.4 The Growing Importance of International Organisations and the Impact of War; 3 Transcultural History; 3.1 Culture and Historiography; 3.1.1 The Impact of Culture; 3.1.2 Historiography after the Cold War Ended: Subaltern Studies and Historicities; 3.1.3 Multiculturalism and Critical Theory in the Dispute Concerning Cultural Integrity and Guarantees of Diversity; 3.2 Why Transcultural History: What is New? What is Different?
3.2.1 Transculturality: Combining Culture and Border Crossing3.2.2 The Renaissance of Transculturality in a Newly Shaped Global History; 3.2.3 The Role of East-West Relations and the Shifting of Culture from Civilisation to Globality; 3.2.4 Searching for Examples of East-West Discourse after World War I; 3.2.5 Transcultural Topics; 3.2.6 Historical Assumptions and Claims of a Transcultural Historiography; 4 Fighting Zombies: Methodological Challenges of Transcultural History; 4.1 From Spatial Storage to Flows of Information; 4.1.1 Storage and Research; 4.1.2 Transcultural Collections
4.1.3 The Political Value of Information and its Forms of Presentation
Includes bibliographical references and index.
For the 21st century, the often-quoted citation ‘past is prologue’ reads the other way around: The global present lacks a historical narrative for the global past. Focussing on a transcultural history, this book questions the territoriality of historical concepts and offers a narrative, which aims to overcome cultural essentialism by focussing on crossing borders of all kinds. Transcultural History reflects critically on the way history is constructed, asking who formed history in the past and who succeeded in shaping what we call the master narrative. Although trained European historians, the authors aim to present a useful approach to global history, showing first of all how a Eurocentric but universal historiography removed or essentialised certain topics in Asian history. As an empirical discipline, history is based on source material, analysed according to rules resulting from a strong methodological background. This book accesses the global past after World War I, looking at the well known stage of the Paris Peace Conferences, observing the multiplication of new borders and the variety of transgressing institutions, concepts, actors, men and women inventing themselves as global subjects, but sharing a bitter experience with almost all local societies at this time, namely the awareness of having relatives buried in far distant places due to globalised wars.
History.
Culture—Study and teaching.
History, general.
Regional and Cultural Studies.
Transcultural Research – Heidelberg Studies on Asia and Europe in a Global Context