Posthistoire
The term Posthistoire (French; [ pəʊst istwaʁ ]) denotes the time after the end of history . Posthistoire is not to be confused with postmodernism . If this calls for an end or a functional change in the philosophy of history , Posthistoire itself is to be interpreted as a concept of history and philosophy and a "historical experience of time". The term is intended to characterize an epoch mood.
Content and representatives
The concept of the posthistoire is u. a. used as a diagnosis of the present as a post-history ( Vilém Flusser ), as a new quality of culture in which the old worldviews and modes of action no longer apply and one has to look for new ones. Posthistoire does not mean that nothing more happens. But essentially nothing will change in the basic structure of Western society , for which there are no more upheavals. Posthistoric man enters the world stage in the posthistoire.
The most famous figuration of the Posthistoire, with simultaneous criticism of it, was provided by Friedrich Nietzsche in Zarathustra's doctrine of the “last man”. Representatives of the posthistoire are Oswald Spengler , Arnold Gehlen , Dietmar Kamper , Jean Baudrillard and Francis Fukuyama .
Postmodern vs. Posthistoire
The concept of posthistoire is to be distinguished from that of postmodernism. The postmodern philosopher Jean-François Lyotard discussed the question of whether it is still possible today to organize “events according to the idea of a general history of humanity”. Postmodernism in Lyotard's sense is thus to be understood as the departure of great narratives from the meaning of history as a linear model of progress. Postmodern philosophy thus contradicts Hegel's view of the course of world history guided by reason and inspired by the world spirit .
Criticism of postmodernism is directed against a certain conception of history, but not necessarily against history itself. Insofar as postmodernism calls for the end or the change in function of the philosophy of history, it thus differs from posthistoire. Its advocates often make use of historico-philosophical narratives in the understanding criticized by Lyotard, insofar as they proclaim the end of history under historical-philosophical premises. For example, the American political scientist Francis Fukuyama recently referred to Hegel's historical thought in his book “The End of History ” and outlined an evolutionary goal of world history. According to Fukuyama, he was convinced in the 1990s that this lies in the worldwide spread of liberal democracy . Fukuyama later revised this approach and stated that a different dynamic is at play in Islamic countries.
literature
- Oswald Spengler : The Fall of the West . Albatros / Bibliographisches Institut Mannheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-411-14503-4 .
- Arnold Gehlen : About cultural crystallization . In: Wolfgang Welsch (Ed.): Ways out of modernity. Key texts in the postmodern discussion. Weinheim 1988, pp. 133-143.
- Hans von Fabeck: Beyond history: To the dialectic of the Posthistoire , Fink, Paderborn / Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-770-54444-8 .
- Vilém Flusser : From the end of the story . In: Post-History. A corrected historiography. , Bensheim, 1993, pp. 282-290. ISBN 3-927-90137-7
- Dietmar Kamper : After the modern age. Outlines of an Aesthetics of the Posthistoire . In: Wolfgang Welsch (Ed.): Ways out of modernity. Weinheim 1988, pp. 163-174
- Jean-Francois Lyotard : missions on a general story . In: Postmodernism for Children. Vienna 1987, pp. 38-56
- Francis Fukuyama : The End of the Story. Where are we standing? Munich 1992.
- Martin Meyer : End of the story? . Munich 1993.
- Lutz Niethammer : Posthistoire. Is the story over? Reinbek near Hamburg 1989. ISBN 3-499-55504-2
- Wolfgang Welsch : Our post-modern modernity. Berlin 2002, p. 17f.
- Peter Sloterdijk : After the story . In: Wolfgang Welsch (Ed.): Ways out of modernity. Weinheim 1988, pp. 262-273
Individual evidence
- ↑ Marcus S. Kleiner (ed.): Medienheterotopien. Discourse spaces of a socially critical media theory. Bielefeld: transcript 2006, p. 374.