Key Issues in Historical Theory

2. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-032-97462-0
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 198 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 408 g

Key Issues in Historical Theory is a fresh, clear and well-grounded introduction to a vibrant field of inquiry. With examples from novels, music, journalism and politics, the book expertly engages the reader in discussions of what history is, how people relate to the past and how they are formed by the past.

Over 11 thematically-based chapters, Herman Paul discusses subjects such as:

• history, memory and trauma
• historical experience and narrative
• moral and political dimensions of history

• historical reasoning and explanation

• truth, plausibility and objectivity

Key Issues in Historical Theory convincingly shows that historical theory is not limited to reflection on professional historical studies, but offers valuable tools for understanding autobiographical writing, cultural heritage and political controversies about the past.

This thoroughly revised edition is brought up-to-date with new examples, while also covering recent debates on presentism, post-truth and the Anthropocene. With text boxes providing additional focus on a range of key topics, this is an accessible and innovative guide to the field of historical theory.

Zielgruppe

Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Paul, Herman

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Pädagogik Geschichte der Pädagogik, Richtungen in der Pädagogik
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Weltgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Historiographie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. What is historical theory? (I) 2. What is historical theory? (II) 3. Relations with the past 4. The relational subject: shaping and being shaped 5. The aesthetic relation: historical narratives 6. The political relation: making history 7. The epistemic relation (I): historical reasoning 8. The epistemic relation (II): historical explanations 9. The epistemic relation (III): truth and plausibility 10. The moral relation: lessons from the past 11. Relations management: historians' professional ethics

Über Autor(innen)

Herman Paul is Professor of the History of the Humanities at Leiden University, the Netherlands, and an elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). He is the author of multiple books including Hayden White: The Historical Imagination (2011) and Historians’ Virtues: From Antiquity to the Twenty-First Century (2022).