What is microhistory? Theory and Practice

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What is microhistory? Theory and Practice is a book by István M. Szijártó and Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon , published in 2013 by Routledge publishing house in London . It examines the various currents within microhistory .

Authorship

István M. Szijártó and Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon are both micro-history advocates. Magnússon is chairman of the Center for Microhistorical Research at Reykjavik Academy and editor of the Journal of Microhistory. Szijártó is Associate Professor of History at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest and founder of the Microhistory Network , an international group of historians working on microhistory.

Cognitive interest

What is microhistory? has a twofold aim. On the one hand, the most important developments in micro-historical thinking are summarized and the similarities between various works and tendencies are shown. On the other hand, it points out fundamental differences and highlights the difficulties and uncertainties inherent in such generalizations . The fundamental aim of the authors is to highlight the multiple possible points of view from which micro-history can be judged.

content

Although there is no generally applicable definition of the discipline, the authors try to show what can be understood under the term microhistory . In this book you present a number of different works and authors and try to compare and classify them. István M. Szijártó and Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon endeavor to summarize the main features of microhistory, to include the area of ​​contemporary history and, in a broader sense, to relate them to more recent research in the humanities and to each other.

The first four chapters basically have a historiographical character. They use both geographic and problem-based approaches. First, the various currents of microhistory are presented from a geographical point of view. Szijártó writes about the Italian Microstoria , referring to the two examples of Giovanni Levi's The Intangible Heritage and Carlo Ginzburg's The Cheese and the Worms . He then deals with the analysis of the third and fourth generation of the French annals , everyday German history and the famous essay by the American historian Robert Darton Great Cat Massacre . Chapters 5 to 8, written by Magnússon, are case studies, with the exception of Chapter 7, which deals with contemporary debates within microhistory, in particular the influence of ideas from postmodernism and poststructuralism on microhistory and its future development.

The first part of the book, by István M. Szijártó, catalogs not only Western (Italian, German, French and Anglo-Saxon) books and articles, but also studies by Russian and Hungarian historians. Szijártó tries to answer the question in the title by looking at three basic characteristics of micro-historical works. First, he defines microhistory as an intense, historical investigation of a well-defined smaller object or a single event. According to Szijártó, this little analysis does not imply that microhistorical works are just case studies, or that their main aim is merely the exhaustive study of a particular local phenomenon. The second fundamental characteristic of microhistory is the use of synekdoches , the study of seemingly unimportant phenomena by which historians attempt to answer great historical questions. The third peculiarity of microhistory is related to the previous one and sheds light on the ideological and political interests of microhistory. According to Szijártó, for microhistorians people who lived in the past are not puppets of great historical forces, but are considered conscious actors. The second characteristic of microhistory does not imply that the events at the micro level are merely miniature copies of "great historical processes". In addition to the main authors and studies on microhistory, Szijártó examines a few movements that do not seem strictly microhistorical, for example German everyday history or Anglo-Saxon event analysis. One of Szijártó's most interesting analogies relates to fractal theory and the fractal character of micro-historical investigation. Szijártó sees a microhistorical event as a synecdoche of the representation of the historical reality that exists in the mind of a historian and brings microhistory closer to the poetic and fictional aspects of postmodernism, as he strongly emphasizes the linguistic and poetic aspects of the work of microhistorians.

The second part of the book, by Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon, deals with three case studies. The first deals with the everyday life of the rural population in Iceland in the 19th century , in particular with the attitude of the population towards death. The second deals with one of the most cited micro-historical works, The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davis . Magnússon's third case study is both a meta and a microhistorical essay about the author's personal love life and the texts he has created from written documents and private memories about a special love relationship. The second part of the book therefore does not attempt to cover the entire micro-historical corpus, but rather focuses on concrete examples. These special case studies illustrate Magnússon's conception of the goals and possibilities of microhistory. The microhistorical approach, he argues, works very differently from higher-level studies in that it uses different methods and sources, and tends to draw different conclusions than does macro-level analysis. The microhistorical approach is singular in that it examines events in their direct context, and this singularity of history means that microhistorical works cannot connect to major historical questions or metanarratives . The central possibility of the microhistorical approach, in the author's view, is to give up the intention to answer big questions and instead concentrate exclusively on the micro level, on the events themselves and the people who produced and / or endured them.

In summary, the two authors answer the question “What is Microhistory?” As differently as their writing strategies. While Szijártó takes a broader approach to include this (sub) discipline in the larger area of historical studies, Magnússon focuses on specific works and events and emphasizes the unique character of micro-historical investigations.

reception

In his comment on What is Microhistory? for The Hungarian Historical Review , emphasizes Tamás Kisantal:

“The book takes full advantage of the possibilities of dual authorship. Since both authors are (micro) historians and their special national and cultural backgrounds (one is Hungarian and the other Icelandic) result in extraordinary perspectives, together they cover almost the entire spectrum of microhistory. Accordingly, their viewpoints offer a broader perspective than books written by authors belonging to one or the other of the leading schools of microhistory. Your approaches don't seem to be tied to any particular theory or methodology. The fundamental aim of the authors is to highlight the many possible points of view from which micro-history can be judged. "

- Tamás Kisantal

Richard D. Brown of the University of Connecticut considers the two authors' parts separately in his review of the book. He describes the large-scale overview of the works and authors that Szijártós text gives as the strength of his essay. Nevertheless, he also cites the criticism that Szijártó cannot do justice to all of the works due to the large number of works presented and that he made minor errors in the contents.

Brown describes Magnússon's approach as unusual. In his opinion, Magnússon's part lacks comprehensible objectivity, as he includes many examples from his own private life and, above all, critically examines his own scientific work. Brown is very critical of whether these personal examples can already be called “history” and therefore have relevance for such a text. Still, Brown praises Magnússon's insights into the possibilities and limits of microhistory as original and seductive.

Veronika Korínková sees the book's strength in the fact that it initiates a new debate about the position of microhistory within historiography. It is a good introduction to micro-history and covers the main approaches to the subject. She also praises the authors for not imposing their view of micro-history on the reader, but rather presenting different approaches, although the book is fundamentally shaped by pro-micro-historical views. She shares Brown's opinion that Szijártó's part is a good overview and that Magnússon's part is more based on his personal opinion and experience. In Szijártó's essay, she emphasizes the danger that the reader might become somewhat confused by Szijártó's initial definition of microhistory and his subsequent will not to forget any work in his enumeration that could be associated with microhistory, even if the Works sometimes do not fit into his definition. Korínková describes Magnússon's approach of placing the focus on the objects of investigation themselves and placing “great historical questions” in the background as postmodern. She sees this as the strength to solve problems related to the representation of the subject. Still, she admits that his approach may seem too radical for many historians because it implies a fragmented picture of history.

pads

  • English original edition: Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon, István M. Szijártó: What is microhistory ?: theory and practice. Routledge, London 2013, ISBN 0-415-69208-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon: What is microhistory? theory and practice . Routledge, 2013, ISBN 978-0-203-50063-7 , pp. 9 .
  2. ↑ Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon: What is microhistory? theory and practice . Routledge, 2013, ISBN 978-0-203-50063-7 , pp. 4 - 7 .
  3. ^ Sigur? Ur G. Magn? Sson .: What is microhistory? theory and practice . Routledge, 2013, ISBN 978-0-203-50063-7 , pp. 4 - 11 .
  4. ↑ Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon: What is microhistory? theory and practice . Routledge =, 2013, ISBN 978-0-203-50063-7 , pp. 7 - 9 .
  5. ↑ Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon: What is microhistory? theory and practice . Routledge, 2013, ISBN 978-0-203-50063-7 , pp. 13-62 .
  6. ↑ Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon: What is microhistory? theory and practice . Routledge, 2013, ISBN 978-0-203-50063-7 , pp. 79-134 .
  7. ↑ Tamás Kisantal: Review of What Is Microhistory? Theory and Practice . In: The Hungarian Historical Review . tape 4 , no. 2 , 2015, ISSN  2063-8647 , p. 512-517 , JSTOR : 24575830 .
  8. ↑ Tamás Kisantal: Review of What Is Microhistory? Theory and Practice. In: The Hungarian Historical Review . tape 4 , no. 2 , 2015, ISSN  2063-8647 , p. 512-517 , JSTOR : 24575830 .
  9. ^ Richard D. Brown: Review of What is Microhistory. Theory and Practice. In: The American Historical Review , Volume 119, No. 3, 2014, ISSN  0002-8762 , pp. 840-841.
  10. ↑ Veronika Korínková: Review of What is Microhistory. Theory and Practice. In: The English Historical Review , Volume 131, No. 549, 2016, ISSN  0013-8266 , pp. 516-518.