A Companion to Western Historical Thought

This broad survey introduces readers to the major themes, figures, traditions and theories in Western historical thought, tracing its evolution from biblical times to the present. The volume comprises 24 chapters by leading historians who discuss conceptions of and approaches to the human past in the ancient, medieval, early modern and modern West, stressing the long-term patterns and traditions in historical thinking that survive to this day. Chapters range from overviews of eras in the history of historical thought, to discussions of new methods that historians have drawn from other disciplines and of new historical subjects, such as gender, sexuality, selfhood, and natural environments. The volume concludes with essays on contemporary challenges to classic, Western definitions of history that have emerged in global history, multiculturalism, post-colonialism, and new technologies. For students, this Companion provides the background they need in order to understand contemporary historical debates and approaches, while for researchers and teachers it will serve as a useful reference work.

Lloyd Kramer is Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. His previous publications include Threshold of a New World: Intellectuals and the Exile Experience in Paris, 1830-1848 (1988), Lafayette in Two Worlds: Public Cultures and Personal Identities in an Age of Revolutions (1996), and Nationalism: Political Cultures in Europe and America, 1775-1865 (1998).

Sarah Maza is Jane Long Professor of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She is the author of Servants and Masters in Eighteenth-century France (1983) and Private Lives and Public Affairs: The Causes Célèbres of Pre-Revolutionary France (1993).

List of Contributors

viii

Acknowledgments

xii

Introduction: The Cultural History of Historical Thought

Lloyd Kramer and Sarah Maza

1

(14)

PART I THE PRE-MODERN ORIGINS OF WESTERN HISTORICAL THOUGHT

1 Historiography in Ancient Israel

John Van Seters

15

(20)

2 Historical Thought in Ancient Greece

Philip A. Stadter

35

(25)

3 Historical Thought in Ancient Rome

J.E. Lendon

60

(18)

4 Historical Thought in Medieval Europe

Gabrielle M. Spiegel

78

(21)

5 Historical Thought in the Renaissance

Paula Findlen

99

(24)

PART II THE SHAPING OF MODERN WESTERN HISTORICAL THOUGHT

6 Historical Thought in the Era of the Enlightenment

Johnson Kent Wright

123

(20)

7 German Historical Thought in the Age of Herder, Kant, and Hegel

Harold Mah

143

(23)

8 German Historical Writing from Ranke to Weber: The Primacy of Politics

Harry Liebersohn

166

(19)

9 National History in the Age of Michelet, Macaulay, and Bancroft

Thomas N. Baker

185

(20)

10 Marxism and Historical Thought

Walter L. Adamson

205

(20)

PART III PATTERNS IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY WESTERN HISTORICAL THOUGHT

11 The Professionalization of Historical Studies and the Guiding Assumptions of Modern Historical Thought

Georg G. Iggers

225

(18)

12 The History of Armed Power

Peter Paret

243

(19)

13 Total History and Microhistory: The French and Italian Paradigms

David A. Bell

262

(15)

14 Anthropology and the History of Culture

William M. Reddy

277

(20)

15 The History of Science, Or, an Oxymoronic Theory of Relativistic Objectivity

Ken Alder

297

(22)

16 Language, Literary Studies, and Historical Thought

Susan A. Crane

319

(18)

17 Psychology, Psychoanalysis, and Historical Thought

Lynn Hunt

337

(20)

18 Redefining Historical Identities: Sexuality, Gender, and the Self

Carolyn J. Dean

357

(15)

19 Historicizing Natural Environments: The Deep Roots of Environmental History

Andrew C. Isenberg

372

(21)

PART IV CHALLENGES TO THE BOUNDARIES OF WESTERN HISTORICAL THOUGHT

20 The New World History

Jerry H. Bentley

393

(24)

21 Postcolonial History

Prasenjit Duara

417

(15)

22 The Multicultural History of Nations

Donna R. Gabaccia

432

(15)

23 New Technologies and Historical Knowledge

James M. Murray

447

(19)

24 The Visual Media and Historical Knowledge

Robert A. Rosenstone

466

(16)

Consolidated Bibliography

482

(13)

Index

495

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A Companion to Western Historical Thought

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials