Cultural History: A Concise Introduction

In this short and accessible introduction Alessandro Arcangeli introduces us to cultural history as a sub-discipline and suggests that cultural history should be defined by its approach, not by its object. Introducing the reader to the 'fuzzy' concept of cultural history, Arcangeli describes it as concerned with the sense men and women from the past gave to the world they lived in and to their action in it. He also explains how cultural and social history have been largely intertwined, but a story of love and hate, and summarises the relationship between them. In chapter 2 Archangeli reconstructs the key steps in the history of cultural history, from its nineteenth-century version onwards. The book then outlines some of the key categories that have functioned as research tools for specific historiographical traditions within the broader field, such as intellectual history, the history of ideas and concepts, of mentalities, of symbols and representations, of languages and discourses. And in the final chapter Archangeli maps the territory most effectively and characteristically explored by cultural historians from the respect of the topics they examine, uncovering unfamiliar objects of enquiry and shedding new light on old questions: for instance on gender, the family and sexuality; the body, senses and emotions; material culture and consumption; images, the media and communication. Including an appendix of biographies of a number of cultural historians and a further reading section, this is the perfect introduction for all students of cultural history.