David Engels

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David Engels (2018)

David Engels (born August 27, 1979 in Verviers ) is a Belgian ancient historian .

Life

After completing school and high school in Eupen, David Engels studied history , philosophy and economics at RWTH Aachen University . There he submitted his dissertation The Roman Sign System (753-27 BC) to Raban von Haehling in 2005 after receiving a doctorate from the German National Academic Foundation . Sources, terminology, commentary, historical development , which he defended in 2006 and published in 2007. Engels has been an assistant at the Chair for Ancient History at RWTH Aachen University since 2005.

In 2008 he was offered a professorship at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), where he has held the Chair of Roman History ever since.

In 2009 he also became editor of the section for Roman history of the ancient scholarly journal Latomus , then edited by Carl Deroux , later editor-in-chief, and from 2012 to 2017 also director and publisher. Engels' main research interests are in the field of Roman religious history, the Seleucid state and comparative historical research. Further fields of activity are reception history and history philosophy. At the same time, he speaks frequently on questions of European daily politics in the French-speaking media, v. a. on atlantico.fr. or in the Belgian weekly Le Vif / L'Express, where he has been leading a monthly column since autumn 2016, as well as in regular articles for German-language magazines such as Cicero , Cato or Die Tagespost . Since 2020 he has also written a weekly column in the Polish online newspaper Tygodnik Solidarność.

Engels has led several research projects since 2007, each of which resulted in the publication of interdisciplinary and diachronic themed volumes. From 2007 to 2008 he led the research project Ille operum custos together with Carla Nicolaye . Cultural-historical contributions to the ancient symbolism of bees and their reception , which was concluded in 2008 with the publication of the research results dedicated to Raban von Haehling. In 2008, Engels, together with Lioba Geis and Michael Kleu, took on the management of another research project entitled Between Ideal and Reality. Dominion in Sicily from ancient times to early modern times , the results of which were published in 2010. Since 2009, Engels, together with Didier Martens and Alexis Wilkin, has been in charge of a research project ( La destruction dans l'histoire. Pratiques et discours ) located at the ULB and dedicated to the cultural-historical phenomenon , which was concluded in 2013 with the publication of a themed volume. As part of the first Belgian Workshop in Ancient History , which was held at the end of 2010 and was dedicated to the competition between religions in antiquity, Engels and Peter Van Nuffelen published an anthology with the individual conference contributions in 2014 . In 2015, a thematic volume on the ancient and occidental philosophy of history followed, entitled From Platon to Fukuyama , which emerged from a lecture series organized by Engels at the ULB. The ancient historian, who comes from the German-speaking community of Belgium , is also actively involved in researching regional history there and, together with Carlo Lejeune, was responsible in 2015 for the publication of the first volume of Grenzerfahrungen , a history of the German-speaking community of Belgium (here for the eras ancient and medieval) . In 2017, Engels then published the results of his previous research on the Seleucid Empire in the Studia Hellenistica series under the title Benefactors, Kings, Rulers ; Closely related thematically is the anthology Rome and the Seleukid East published by Engels in 2019 together with Altay Coskun .

In 2013 Engels published in the Paris “éditions du Toucan” a culture-critical monograph on the current identity crisis of the European Union, anchored in the historical-philosophical tradition of Oswald Spengler and Arnold J. Toynbee , aimed at a broader audience, entitled Le déclin . Engels uses twelve indicators to compare different aspects of the construction of identity in the European Union with the symptoms of the crisis in the late Roman Republic. In 2014, Europa Verlag Berlin published a significantly expanded version of the book, which was translated into German by the author himself, entitled Auf dem Weg ins Imperium , which the Süddeutsche Zeitung and Norddeutscher Rundfunk voted for the “best non-fiction book in September 2014”. A Croatian and a Hungarian translation of the work followed in 2017, and a Dutch translation in 2020. Since 2013, Engels has been presenting his ideas as part of lively lectures in front of various civil society, scientific and political bodies (e.g. before the European Social Democrats or the European People's Party ).

The interest in a philosophy of history based on Oswald Spengler was also reflected in the publication of an anthology supervised together with Max Otte and Michael Thöndl on the occasion of the 100th birthday of the first publication of The Fall of the West . This publication is an anthology representing the first output of the international “Oswald Spengler Society” founded in 2017 by Engels, Otte and Thöndl. The current president of this society is Engels. The Spengler Society was then to become familiar with the award of a “Spengler Prize” to a wider public in 2018, when this prize was awarded to the French novelist Michel Houellebecq and the lectures given at this ceremony were published. In 2020 the first volume of the scientific journal of the "Spengler Society" was published under the direction of Engels.

Since 2018, Engels has been released from his Brussels chair in order to accept a call for a research professorship at the Instytut Zachodni in Poznan , where he is responsible for questions of Western intellectual history, European identity and Polish-Western European relations. In this context, Engels published the thematic volume "Renovatio Europae" in 2019, in which he coined the term "hesperialism" for the first time, which should be synonymous with a "patriotic [n] commitment to a united Europe, which is not just universalistic, but should also be based on conservative values ​​[…]; a term that is derived from the Greek term for the extreme west of the known world and is supposed to form the counter-term to 'Europeanism', by which one usually means uncritical support for the current European Union […] ”.

In addition to “Renovatio Europae”, which was subsequently also published in English, Polish and French, the book “Que faire” was published a few weeks later (in French), the title of which was based on the novel of the same name “Was tun” by Chernyshevsky , and in which Engels provides a systematic diagnosis of what he regards as the "decline of Europe". While “Renovatio” outlines the political answer to this problem, “Que faire”, which has a comment by Michel Houellebecq on the blurb, is intended to cover the private level and is intended as a kind of “individual survival aid for Europe lovers” (“guide de survie à l'usage des amoureux de l'Europe ”), as Engels explained to the newspaper Le Figaro . In 2019 a Spanish translation was published, in 2020 the slightly extended German version prepared by the author under the title "Was tun?"

Publications (books only)

  • The Roman omens (753–27 BC). Sources, terminology, commentary, historical development. (= Potsdam Classical Studies , Vol. 22). Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-515-09027-8 . ( Review (PDF; 86 kB), H-Soz-u-Kult , 2007).
  • David Engels and Carla Nicolaye (eds.): Ille operum custos. Cultural-historical contributions to the ancient symbolism of bees and their reception. (= Spudasmata, vol. 118). Olms Verlag, Hildesheim / Zurich / New York 2008, ISBN 978-3-487-13606-6 .
  • David Engels, Lioba Geis and Michael Kleu (eds.): Between ideal and reality. Rule in Sicily from ancient times to the late Middle Ages. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-515-09641-6 .
  • Le déclin. La crise de l'Union européenne et la chute de la République romaine. Quelques analogies. Éditions du Toucan, Paris 2013, ISBN 978-2-8100-0524-6 . ( Review In: Le Monde . 2013) (German translation by the author: On the way to the empire. The crisis of the European Union and the fall of the Roman Republic. Historical parallels. Europa Verlag Berlin, Berlin / Munich 2014, ISBN 978 -3-944305-45-5 ( review by Franziska Augstein, SZ 21.1.2015 ); Croatian translation by M. Bašić: Zalazak. Kriza Europske unije i pad Rimske republike - nekoliko povijesnih analogija. Litteris, Zagreb 2017, ISBN 978 -953-7250-86-7 ; Hungarian translation by M. Horváth and R. Csősz: A Birodalommá válás útján. Az Európai Unió válsága és a Római Köztársaság hanyatlása . L'Harmattan Kiadó, Budapest 2017, ISBN 978-963- ISBN 978-963- 414-114-3 ; Dutch translation by H. van der Liet and B. de Wit: Op Weg naar het Imperium. De crisis van de EU en de ondergang van de Romeinse republiek - historical parallels , Blauwe Tijger, Groningen 2020) .
  • David Engels, Didier Martens and Alexis Wilkin (eds.): La destruction dans l'histoire. Pratiques et discours. Peter Lang Verlag, Bern / Berlin / Bruxelles / Frankfurt a. M. / New York / Oxford / Vienna 2013, ISBN 978-2-87574-006-9 .
  • David Engels and Peter Van Nuffelen (Eds.): Religion and Competition in Antiquity. Éditions Latomus, Brussels 2014, ISBN 978-2-87031-290-3 .
  • From Plato to Fukuyama. Biologistic and cyclical concepts in the philosophy of history of antiquity and the west. Éditions Latomus, Brussels 2015, ISBN 978-90-429-3274-6 .
  • With Carlo Lejeune (Ed.): Grenzerfahrungen, Volume 1: Villas, Villages, Castles. A history of the German-speaking community of Belgium , Grenz Echo-Verlag, Eupen 2016, ISBN 978-3-86712-104-0 .
  • Benefactors, Kings, Rulers. Studies on the Seleukid Empire between East and West , Peeters, Leuven, 2017, ISBN 978-90-429-3327-9 .
  • David Engels, Max Otte and Michael Thöndl (eds.): The long shadow of Oswald Spenglers. One hundred years of the fall of the West . Manuscriptum, Lüdinghausen and Berlin, 2018, ISBN 978-3-944872-71-1 .
  • Michel Houellebecq , David Engels, Gerd Morgenthaler, Max Otte : Michel Houellebecq, Oswald Spengler and the fall of the West. Speeches on the occasion of the awarding of the Oswald Spengler Prize to Michel Houellebecq. Brussels, October 19, 2018 , Manuscriptum, Lüdinghausen / Berlin, 2019, ISBN 978-3-944872-91-9 .
  • Altay Coşkun , David Engels (Ed.): Rome and the Seleukid East. Selected Papers from the Seleukid Study Day V , Brussels, 21-23 August 2015 , Editions Latomus (Collection Latomus 360), Brussels, 2019, ISBN 978-90-429-3927-1 .
  • (Ed.): Renovatio Europae. Plea for a new hesperialist building in Europe , Manuscriptum, Lüdinghausen / Berlin, 2019, ISBN 978-3-948075-00-2 . (Polish translation by A. Peszke: Renovatio Europae. O hesperialistyczną reformę Europy , Instytut Zachodni, Poznań 2019, ISBN 978-83-61736-96-7 ; English translation by the author: Renovatio Europae. For a Hesperialist Renewal of Europe , Blue Tiger Media, Groningen 2019, ISBN 978-94-92161-85-7 ; French translation by the author: Renovatio Europae. Plaidoyer pour un renouveau hespérialiste de l'Europe , Éditions Le Cerf, Paris 2020, ISBN 978-2-204-14035-5 ).
  • Que faire? Vivre avec le déclin de l'Europe , Blue Tiger Media, Groningen, 2019, ISBN 978-94-92161-83-3 . (Spanish translation by CJ Blanco: ¿ Qué hacer ?: Vivir con la decadencia de Europa , EAS, Alicante 2019, ISBN 978-84-120626-0-1 ; German translation by the author: What to do? Live with the decline of Europe , Renovamen, Bad Schmiedeberg 2020, ISBN 978-3-95621-142-3 ).
  • (as editor-in-chief) Journal of the Oswald Spengler Society 1 / 2018-2019: Oswald Spenglers Geschichtsmorphologie heute , Manuscriptum, Lüdinghausen / Berlin 2020, ISBN 978-3-948075-17-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David Engels | Atlantico.fr
  2. ↑ See the column C'est le moment de (re) lire… in the editions of September 9, 2016, p. 18; October 6, 2016, p. 18; November 4, 2016, p. 16; January 26, 2017, p. 60; February 23, 2017, p. 69; March 24, 2017, p. 63; April 21, 2017, p. 61; May 19, 2017, p. 69; June 16, 2017, p. 75; September 1, 2017, p. 118; October 13, 2017, p. 125; February 15, 2018, p. 105; March 29, 2018, p. 94; April 26, 2018, p. 110; 6 July 2018, p. 93.
  3. ↑ S. Cicero 2016.5, 78-82; 2016.11, 21-30; 2018.5, 94-101; 2019.4, 28–29.
  4. ↑ S. Cato 2017.1, 6-8; 2018.1, 88-91; 2018.3, 43-46; 2018.5, 72-76; 2019-3, 24-28.
  5. ↑ S. Daily Mail March 29, 2018, 17; 5.7.2018, 18; October 25, 2018, 18; April 18, 2019, 17.
  6. ↑ David Engels: "The fiery tear of Mary". The daily mail of April 17, 2019
  7. ↑ Tysol.pl. Retrieved August 17, 2020 (Polish).
  8. ^ The SZ / NDR non-fiction books in September
  9. ↑ Conférences données. Retrieved April 24, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Jaarplan 2014 Landelijke PvdA-werkgroep Europe. January 17, 2014, accessed April 24, 2019 (Dutch).
  11. ↑ German-speaking Christian Democrats: "Defend Europe and stand firm". Accessed April 24, 2019 (German).
  12. ↑ Axel Rüth: Houellebecq & Spengler: Wombs as hope for the West . October 21, 2018 ( welt.de [accessed March 7, 2019]).
  13. ^ S. the page of David Engels at the Instytut Zachodni. Retrieved March 7, 2019 .
  14. ^ David Engels: Renovatio Europae. A hesperialist future for Europe? In: David Engels (ed.): Renovatio Europae. Plea for a new hesperialist building in Europe . Manuscriptum, Lüdinghausen / Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-948075-00-2 , pp. 18 .
  15. ↑ David Engels: "Le déclin de l'Occident n'est pas un accident de parcours". August 2, 2019, accessed August 5, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Engels, David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian ancient historian
DATE OF BIRTH August 27, 1979
PLACE OF BIRTH Verviers