Micro history

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Microhistory is a historical research direction that achieves its knowledge through very detailed analyzes of relatively small or manageable research units. The focus of the microhistorical perspective, however, is not the historical detail per se, but this is used in order to be able to make more comprehensive and well-founded statements about history in larger contexts on the basis of a closer examination of the smaller unit. Nevertheless, microhistory is not about denying the importance of smaller and structurally or quantitatively limited research such as local history or individual biographies and others, but rather placing them in a new, larger context of meaning.

History and method

History of origin

Micro-history originated in Italy in response to the prevailing trends in the French Annales school . Both ways of thinking shared the intention that the simple or forgotten people of Europe must be included in history. In doing so, they did not agree on which methodological path is best to achieve this. The microhistorians did not want to approach popular culture through the quantitative methods and historical demographics, instead they focused on the study of small units such as individuals, families, small communities or single events. Central figures of the microhistorical beginnings were among others Carlo Ginzburg , Giovanni Levi , Edoardo Grendi and Carlo Poni . The ideal context for the origin of the movement can certainly be described as political. Many historians of the Italian Microstoria were politically active on the left spectrum. They distanced themselves from Marxist historiography and refrained from thinking about large, collective actors, which led to a focus on the subjectivization of the actors.

The microhistorians disseminated their texts with the help of their journal Quaderni Storici and their own high-circulation book series Microstoria , which was published by Einaudi in Turin. In micro-historical historiography, there was never any school education, instead the sub-discipline was formed around a few central people and in particular around these two media channels Quaderni Storici and Microstoria . The Microstoria book series was not only aimed at a professional but also at a lay audience. The international networking was made possible by the early translations of the works, which started their rapid dissemination in the USA and Western Europe. In North American historiography in particular, microhistory was quickly received and appreciated. Driven by the rapid spread and adaptation to the prevailing historiographical traditions, microhistory differentiated itself in many different directions. Ultimately, the diversity and the differentiated conceptual framework have contributed significantly to the development of microhistory as it is known today in the humanities and social sciences.

method

Methodologically, different paths are taken in micro-historical studies, which only have a detailed consideration of a manageable object of investigation as a common denominator. Due to the often practiced concentration of microanalytical investigations on individuals ("actors") and smaller social networks and the extensive omission of historical structures ( structural functionalism ), there are great overlaps with everyday history and historical anthropology .

The micro story is known for an often narrative style of narration. Examples of this are the early classic The Cheese and the Worms (1976) by Carlo Ginzburg, in which Ginzburg lets the reader immerse himself in the securing of evidence that he himself experienced in processing the sources, or works by Natalie Zemon Davis and other works from Anglo-Saxon micro-history. In the Italian Microstoria , in addition to the narrative style, reflections on methodological and theoretical questions were always important. The aim was to test great narratives through microanalytical observation and, conversely, in Grendi's words, to draw conclusions about larger developments, structures and contexts through “the exceptional normal” (“eccezionalmente 'normal”). North American micro history, on the other hand, made a name for itself by placing people on the periphery at the center.

A subsection that has increasingly emerged in recent years is the so-called global microhistory , a combination of microhistory and global history . This term was coined by Tonio Andrade (2010). Previously, works were published that are now mentioned again and again in connection with discussions about Global Microhistory , such as the works of Jonathan Spence , including The Question of Hu (1988, German: Der kleine Herr Hu. A Chinese in Paris ). Although the sub- discipline Global Microhistory has largely established itself in recent years, many questions remain unanswered, such as what is meant by “micro” and what is meant by “global” or which topics and methods are part of global microhistory .

Micro history and macro history

Micro history is not an alternative to macro history . This difference in the research perspective, which is sometimes sharpened to a strategic research opposition, is largely constructed, as the former differs from local history precisely in that its view is not limited to the small research unit, but always refers to more general research questions or to larger research units. As a result, this means that micro and macro history are not complementary parts of an “overall history”, but research approaches that can and should overlap in parts.

Classical microhistorical studies

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Thomas Kroll: The beginnings of the microstoria. In: Jeanette Granda, Jürgen Schreiber (ed.): Perspectives through retrospectives: Economic history contributions. Festschrift for Rolf Walter on his 60th birthday. Böhlau Verlag, Cologne 2013, ISBN 978-3-412-21086-1 , pp. 280–281.
  2. Thomas Kroll: The beginnings of the microstoria. In: Jeanette Granda, Jürgen Schreiber (ed.): Perspectives through retrospectives: Economic history contributions. Festschrift for Rolf Walter on his 60th birthday. Böhlau Verlag, Cologne 2013, ISBN 978-3-412-21086-1 , pp. 284–287.
  3. Dr. Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon: Biography and projects In: Akademia. 2006.
  4. Martin Scheutz, Harald Tersch: Individualization Processes in the Early Modern Age? Notes on a concept. Wiener Zeitschrift zur Geschichte der Neuzeit 2001, pp. 38–59
  5. ^ Francesca Trivellato: Is There a Future for Italian Microhistory in the Age of Global History? In: California Italian Studies . tape 2 , no. 1 , 2011 ( escholarship.org [accessed September 1, 2019]).
  6. ^ Tonio Andrade: A Chinese Farmer, Two African Boys, and a Warlord: Toward a Global Microhistory . In: Journal of World History . tape 21 , no. 4 , 2010, ISSN  1045-6007 , p. 573-591 , JSTOR : 41060851 .
  7. ^ Hans Medick: Turning Global? Microhistory in extension . In: Historical Anthropology . tape 24 , no. 2 , 2016, ISSN  0942-8704 , p. 241-252 , doi : 10.7788 / ha-2016-0206 ( degruyter.com [Retrieved on September 1, 2019]).
  8. Lucas Haasis: Global Microhistory: Great Expectations? In: HSozKult. November 27, 2018, accessed September 1, 2019 .