Beyond the timeline: Wo to write History (for example of the Middle Ages)
in different ways
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As this workshop had to be postponed because of Covid19, here is the new date with the new deadlines:
The workshop takes place: 8/9 September 2021
Applications with suggestions for papers: 15 February 2021
Location: Erfurt, Germany, Internationales Begegnungszentrum (IBZ),
Michaelisstraße 38, 99084 Erfurt
The workshop takes place: 8/9 September 2021
Applications with suggestions for papers: 15 February 2021
Location: Erfurt, Germany, Internationales Begegnungszentrum (IBZ),
Michaelisstraße 38, 99084 Erfurt
Organiser: Professur
für Mittelalterliche Geschichte, Universität Erfurt, Prof. Dr. Sabine
Schmolinsky, Julia Seeberger, Prof. Dr. Markus Vinzent, Max-Weber-Kolleg Erfurt/King’s
College London, Marie Anne Vannier, Université Metz, und Prof. Dr. Dietmar Mieth, Leiter
der Meister-Eckhart-Forschungsstelle Erfurt
It is part of human experience that developments happen from earlier to
later stages. Hence, the courses of these developments are usually written from
the time that has longer gone to those times that are closer to us. Such a
chronologically progressing historiography is generally accepted, though
theoretically and methodologically admit that researching narrating the past
always happens from a present by looking backwards into the past. The question
than can be raised to what extent it is reflected, that such a chronological
account implies a kind of causally determined history of reception in addition
to the impact our own, contemporary view points have.
The historian of early Christianity and the medieval times, Markus
Vinzent has recently criticised this type of historiography of reception of the
past. In his book of the year 2019 Writing
the History of Early Christianity. From Reception to Retrospection (Cambridge
University Press) Vinzent introduces the perspective of retrospection as a
criticial method of historiography and exemplifies this by several showcases from
the ‘beginnings’ of Christianity. One of the basic ideas of retrospection is that
writing history must by necessity be progressive (as all out thinking and
writing is progressive), while its (re-)construction is always done in a
regressive mode, working anachronologically against the timeline. If this is recognised, continuities and linearities disappear. Vinzent‘s historiographical method of
retrospection dissolves the difference between sources (or an original,
authoritative reference text) and secondary literature and questions past authorities
(auctoritates). Retrospection rather
foregrounds the author of the historiographical production as subject of
history which targets different objects of the past.
Does retrospection mean, we should simply turn back the timeline and
alter the direction of writing history, or what changes when we approach
history deliberately anachronologically? Can we give up – without the loss of a
critical instance – the difference between sources and interpretations? Are not
timelines and chronologies essential elements of the work of historians?
Beyond a chronologically oriented historiography, the workshop will
explore examples from the Middle Ages (not only, however) to discuss several
methods and forms of historiography. Potential topics
could be:
(1)
Into which direction of time
should we write?: What impact
does the timeline have in narrating history? Can we, and if so, how can we
alter the direction of writing history?
(2)
Beyond the timeline: What is the meaning of time in
historiographical concepts? What differences does retrospection make in
historiography? How can one write retrospectively? Writing retrospectively, does it lead to novel
forms of history (particularly of the Middle Ages)?
(3)
Narrativity and time: What additional insights do we get from
narrative elements in historiographical productions? What is the meaning of
Flashbacks and Flashforwards in narrating history? What do
we learn from contrafactual or virtual
history? What happens, if historians become agents of history?
The workshop invites contributions from historians, literature, cultural
studies, philosophy, religious studies, cultural anthropology, sociology and
related subjects. We particularly invite young scholars to the workshop.
The workshop will be based on pre-circulated
papers. In these contributions which will be distributed to the conference
participants at the latest a fourtnight before the workshop. During the
workshop the papers shall be
introduced by their authors and will then discussed. The evening lecture will
be given by Prof. Dr. Markus Vinzent who is going to present his new book.
Please submit your paper prosal with an abstract (ca. 500 words). Abstracts
and papers can be presented in German and English and will be discussed in both
languages.
We are working towards a thirdparty funding of the workshop.
