The Place of the Past in English Culture c. 1890–1914 (original) (raw)

Englishmen and women experienced the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as times of great change. Among other things, these years saw the acceleration of technological advance, the acquisition of vast new imperial territories, the perceived 'democratization' of the political system, and the decisive transformation of England into a country whose population and economic activity were overwhelmingly concentrated in urban rather than rural areas. Awareness of rapid change, of a widening gap between past and present, was hardly a development peculiar to this point in time-a fact to which contemporary experience of the Renaissance and the French Revolution bears eloquent testimony. 1 But in England, as elsewhere in the industrialized world, the period around the turn of the twentieth century saw widespread and acute levels of concern with the speed of change and the passage of time. As consciousness of accelerating change deepened and developed at the Wn de siècle, what place did the past occupy in English cultural life? The prominent place of the past in the culture of the Wrst three-quarters of the nineteenth century has been well documented. In these years, antiquarianism Xourished, historical subjects were extremely popular with novelists and artists, and the celebrated 'Whig interpretation of history' achieved its apotheosis. In these years, also, a vision of a pre-industrial 'Merrie England' of the 'Olden Time' enjoyed wide currency. This vision, which Peter Mandler has discussed so ably, embodied vigorously Thanks to

Sign up for access to the world's latest research

checkGet notified about relevant papers

checkSave papers to use in your research

checkJoin the discussion with peers

checkTrack your impact

Sign up for access to the world's latest research

Victorian Britain and the Historical Continuum

A. N. Wilson once stated that the Victorian era was “the most radical transformation ever seen by the world.” This paper questions both the characterisation of the Victorian era as an era of radical change and progress, and the dated worldview that lies behind these claims. Instead, it is argued that the Victorian era was part of a longer historical continuum, one in which change was a constant, and not necessarily progressive, element. Please note: If you are a student at any University, and you wish to cite my essay, do so prudently. It has not been published in any journal or paper, and will not be considered a properly peer-reviewed source by your teachers. Instead, I would advise you to bounce off my ideas; use them to deepen your own inquiries into the topic.

A high road to the archives: Rewriting the History of Early Modern English Historical Culture

Storia della storiografia/History of Historiography, 1997

A critique of what might be called 'Whig' History of History, that is the history of historiography as a triumphal march of progress toward Rankean methodology in the 19th century. Builds on the same local English example explored at greater length from a different perspective in same author's 'Horizons of English Historical Culture' (1997) This article is reposted (Feb 22 2019) to replace a defective pdf previously posted.

Victorian negotiations with the recent past : history, fiction, utopia

2013

The challenges of contemporary-history-writing were brought into relief in Britain in the nineteenth century. Philosophical and pragmatic factors made the recent past a subject of discomfort for historians, but popular with novelists. Changing concepts of time and social value made it more difficult to draw boundaries on the remit of historiography, and to decide which individuals were worthy of inclusion. As a period still present in diverse living memories, the recent past was associated with multiplicity and particularity, in an era that valued grand and singular narratives, and looked to history to provide them. This was exacerbated in the later Victorian period by the establishment of history as a university discipline. Historians sought professional credibility, and thus avoided including the as-yet inconclusive recent past in their national histories. Those historians who did incorporate it often struggled to maintain a consistent tone, seeking overview while aware of their l...

Change and Continuity In English Historical Thought C. 1590-1640

1983

This is a survey and analysis of the writings of English historians in the half-century before 1640. It is based on manuscript as well as printed sources; an attempt is made throughout to connect English historiography with contemporary European works. The central argument is that while there was no radical break with medieval and Tudor historical thought, the meaning of the word 'history' had expanded by 1640 to include antiquarian and philological research, previously considered related and useful disciplines, but not regarded as 'history'. Attention is also drawn to the conspicuous rarity of historical debate in this period, to the problem of historical scepticism and to the historians' deterministic and teleological views of the past. The introduction briefly examines the words 'history' and 'historiography' and their Renaissance and modern meanings. Chapter I surveys the theoretical assumptions about history common in the period, of which Sir Walter Ralegh was a typical exponent. Certain Catholic authors dissented from the secular and sacred historical traditions accepted by most English protestants. Chapter II examines the theme of 'union' in early Jacobean historiography and offers detailed sections on the works of John Speed and William Martyn. Chapter III studies the historical thought of John Hayward and Samuel Daniel. Chapter IV discusses three antiquaries who also wrote narrative histories: William Camden, Francis Godwin and George Buck. Chapter V shows how history was used as a means of presenting advice to the king by Francis Bacon, Robert Cotton and William Habington. Chapter VI surveys the historiography of the ancient world, focusing on Degory Whear, Edmund Bolton, Peter Heylyn, Fulke Greville and certain other writers Chapters VII and VIII discuss the historical works of John Selden, whose Historic of tithes marks an important break with several common assumptions about the writing of history and about the past itself. The last chapter examines the historical thought of Lord Herbert of Cherbury and surveys the minor historical literature of the 1630s. The conclusion reiterates the most important findings. An appendix establishes the correct identity of Edward Ayscu, an early Jacobean historian who is usually confused with several namesakes.

The Liberal Anglican Idea of History

Thomas Hardy and History

This chapter introduces the Liberal Anglican philosophy of history, which Duncan Forbes analysed in his pioneering study of 1952. 1 It examines the leading ideas of its practitioners, predominantly Thomas Arnold and Henry Hart Milman. It concludes by tracing the legacy of these ideas in the movement of the 1850s known as the 'Broad Church'. It thus prepares the way for demonstration, in Chapter 3, that this philosophy of history influenced the writings of Horace Moule: his prize-winning essay on the early history of Christian oratory, his poetry and his journalism of the 1860s. Moule, as I will show in Chapters 3 and 4, passed these ideas on to young Thomas Hardy first, as Hardy recalled, in their conversation and further by recommending two works, Bagehot's Estimates and Essays and Reviews, in which leading Liberal Anglicans were both represented and criticised. In the final analysis of this study, these ideas will be shown to form the Liberal Anglican substratum of Hardy's philosophico-historical thought. 2.1 THOMAS ARNOLD AND THE SOCIAL PROGRESS OF STATES Arnold was convinced that the history of all civilisations was cyclical rather than linear. He found this ancient idea applied to the history of Rome in The New Science of Giambattista Vico 2 and developed it in an essay on 'the social progress of states'. 3 Duncan Forbes drew attention to the frequent use, in Arnold's essay and historical writings, of certain metaphors: the 'childhood', 'youth' and 'manhood', the 'spring', 'summer' and 'winter' of society. Such

Loading...

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.