Urs Bitterli

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Urs Bitterli (born November 28, 1935 in Gränichen ; † April 21, 2021 in Aarau ) was a Swiss historian .

Life

Urs Bitterli obtained his primary school teacher certificate in 1955 at the Wettingen cantonal teacher training college . He studied history as well as German and French literature at the Universities of Zurich and Paris . In 1964 he was at Max Silberschmidt in Zurich with a dissertation on "Thomas Mann's political writings on National Socialism" doctorate . Bitterli then taught history and German at the Swiss Alpine Middle School in Davos for two years, was assistant at the history seminar of the University of Zurich and spent research stays in London (1967/1968) and in Paris (1969). In 1970 he completed his habilitation at the University of Zurich with the text "The discovery of the black African". Then he was the main teacher of history and German at the Aarau teachers' seminar (later called Neue Kantonsschule Aarau ).

Bitterli taught from 1978 as an associate professor (with limited teaching duties) and from 1995 as a full professor for general history of modern times at the University of Zurich. In 2001 he retired. Bitterli published mainly on the history of discovery and colonialism as well as on important historians. He died in April 2021 at the age of 85 in Aarau Cantonal Hospital .

Cultural contact

In his book Old World - New World , first published in 1986 , Bitterli developed a typology of contacts between European and non-European cultures for the period from European expansion up to the Industrial Revolution, which he traced back to three basic forms, which differ in duration and violence:

  1. Cultural contact describes the meeting of a group of Europeans with local representatives of a limited duration, be it for the first time or with longer interruptions.
  2. He calls cultural collision the reversal of peaceful cultural contact through direct or allegedly provoked use of force.
  3. Cultural relationship describes a permanent relationship of reciprocal contacts on the basis of a balance of power.

For the mixed colonial societies that emerged in the subsequent phase of European dominance from the middle of the 19th century and were characterized by acculturation and mixed, Bitterli suggested cultural interdependence as a further type .

Fonts

Monographs

  • Thomas Mann's political writings on National Socialism: 1918–1939. Zurich 1964 (also dissertation at the Philosophical-Historical Faculty of the University of Zurich, 1964).
  • The discovery of the black African. Attempt to create an intellectual history of European-African relations on the Guinea coast in the 17th and 18th centuries (= contributions to colonial and overseas history. Vol. 5). Atlantis, Zurich / Freiburg in Breisgau 1970 (also habilitation thesis at the University of Zurich, 1970).
  • Malraux, Conrad, Greene, Weiss. Writers and colonialism. Benziger , Zurich / Cologne 1973, ISBN 3-545-36183-7 .
  • The “savages” and the “civilized”: the basics of an intellectual and cultural history of the European-overseas encounter. CH Beck, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-406-06136-2 .
  • Old world - new world: Forms of European-overseas cultural contact from the 15th to the 18th century. CH Beck, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-406-31271-3 .
  • The discovery of America: from Columbus to Alexander von Humboldt. CH Beck, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-406-35467-X .
  • Golo Mann : authority and outsider - a biography. Kindler, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-463-40460-5 .
  • Jean Rudolf von Salis : historian in turbulent times. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-03823-477-7 .
  • Light and shadow over Europe 1900–1945. A slightly different cultural history. Neue Zürcher Zeitung Libro, Zurich 2016, ISBN 978-3-03810-151-2 .

Editorships

  • The discovery and conquest of the world. Documents and reports. 2 volumes. CH Beck, Munich 1980/1981, ISBN 3-406-07881-8 , ISBN 3-406-07954-7 .
  • (with Hugo Loetscher ) Portugal. History on the edge of Europe: Portugal and overseas from 1415 to 1515. Federal Office for Cultural Maintenance, Bern 1983.
  • The Swiss discover America: travel reports from two centuries. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 1991, ISBN 3-85823-332-3 .
  • (with Irene Riesen) Herbert Lüthy . Collected Works. 7 volumes. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 2002–2005.
  • (with Irene Riesen) Jean Rudolf von Salis. Selected letters 1930–1993. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 2011, ISBN 978-3-03823-669-6 .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Martin Ebel: History must also be told. In: Tages-Anzeiger , April 23, 2021, p. 33 ( e-paper ; Tagesanzeiger.ch ).
  2. ↑ Urs Hafner: Gränichen, America. On the retirement of the historian Urs Bitterli . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of February 8, 2001.
  3. ↑ a b Manfred Papst : Curiosity and composure: the historian Urs Bitterli turns seventy. In: NZZ Online . November 28, 2005, accessed March 13, 2019.
  4. ↑ Thomas Maissen : A Swiss Pioneer in Colonial History - on the death of Urs Bitterli , NZZ.ch, April 23, 2021, accessed on April 23, 2021.
  5. ↑ Urs Bitterli: Old World - New World: Forms of European-overseas cultural contact from the 15th to the 18th century. CH Beck, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-406-31271-3 . Pp. 17-54
personal data
SURNAME Bitterli, Urs
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss historian
DATE OF BIRTH November 28, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Graenichen
DATE OF DEATH April 21, 2021
PLACE OF DEATH Aarau