History in times of unprecedented change : a theory for the 21st century / Zoltán Boldizsár Simon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Simon, Zoltán Boldizsár, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Historiography--Methodology.

Historiography.

Historiography--21st century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (225 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2019.

Summary:

"Our understanding of ourselves and the world as historical has drastically changed since the postwar period, yet this emerging historical sensibility has not been appropriately explained in a coherent theory of history. In this book, Zoltán Simon argues that instead of seeing the past, the present and the future together on a temporal continuum as history, we now expect unprecedented change to happen in the future (in visions of the future of technology, ecology and nuclear warfare) and we look at the past by assuming that such changes have already happened. This radical theory of history challenges narrative conceptualizations of history which assume a past potential of humanity unfolding over time to reach future fulfillment and seeks new ways of conceptualizing the altered socio-cultural concerns Western societies are currently facing. By creating a novel set of concepts to make sense of our altered historical condition regarding both history understood as the course of human affairs and historical writing, History in Times of Unprecedented Change offers a highly original and engaging take on the state of history and historical theory in the present and beyond."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Contents:

Acknowledgements

Preface: On Novelty

Living in Times of Unprecedented Change: A Prologue

Part I - On Historical Change

1. A Quasi-Substantive Philosophy of History

2. The Dissociated Past

3. The Unprecedented Future

Part II - On Historiographical Change

4. The Expression of Historical Experience

5. Encountering the World

6. The Step towards Historical Sense-Making

The Unprecedented and the Crisis of the Political: An Epilogue

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Compliant with Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Content is displayed as HTML full text which can easily be resized or read with assistive technology, with mark-up that allows screen readers and keyboard-only users to navigate easily.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781350095083

1350095087

9781350095069

1350095060