2019, "Historical Conssciousness: What is it and How do we learn about it?", a review on Anna Clark and Carla L. Peck (eds) Contemplating Historical Consciousness: Notes from the Field, Berghahn Books, 2018 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Historical Consciousness and History Didactics in Jörn Rüsen’s Theory of History
Paideutika, 2024
La coscienza storica è il costrutto di maggior successo nell’ambito della didattica della storia a livello internazionale degli ultimi 20 anni. La sua definizione è oggetto di dibattito anche in considerazione delle moltepli-ci tradizioni culturali entro cui è stato utilizzato, la letteratura d’ambito storico-didattico, tuttavia, riconosce nella teorizzazione dello storico e teorico della storia tedesco Jörn Rüsen il riferimento principale. L’opera di Rüsen non è abbastanza nota in Italia, nonostante sia stata in parte tradotta in italiano e in inglese. Come contributo alla conoscenza del significato del costrutto entro l’ambito della didattica della storia, pro-poniamo in questo articolo una sintesi della teoria da lui elaborata negli anni ’80 del XX sec. e aggiornata negli anni ’10 del XXI sec., entro cui si colloca la coscienza storica come costrutto alla base della conoscenza e della formazione storica.
Journal of Curriculum Studies
This article explores an underlying tension between two understandings of historical consciousness. On one hand, the concept is often perceived as a specific ability to historicize the world and thus appears as a modern cultural achievement. On the other hand, it is also conceptualized as an anthropological universal as the ability to make sense out of time seems to be a basic feature in all human societies. The basic aim here is to analyse both positions as theoretical constructs with implications for educational research and curriculum making. In order to frame how these ontological positions on historical consciousness have consequences at an operational level, the Goertz framework for complex concepts is used. This framework is applied to two previous studies that explored students' historical consciousness. The methodical assumption is that both the studies serve as exemplary indicators for the two different positions. My analysis of the studies shows how their conceptualization of historical consciousness restricts how they define their research interests. In the concluding part of this article, the analysis is used as a stepping stone to a broad and normative discussion on how historical consciousness could influence history education.
‘The Rise of the Historical Consciousness’
Religion Compass, 2009
The rise of the historical consciousness' represents a grand narrative that is closely linked to other meta-histories, especially modernization and secularization. The idea that critical thought about history arose uniquely in a certain place ( Europe, particularly Germany) and at a certain time (the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century) is widespread and powerful. As an ideology this notion, which is also known as historicism, actually operates in two principal directions. First, it poses a direct challenge to other powerful epistemological systems of the West, especially those supporting the establishments of science and religion. Second, historicism is a key element in the imperialism, cultural and otherwise, by means of which European and American societies have dominated the rest of the world in the capitalist age. Finally, this dual operation of historicism means not only that it has come in for much criticism, especially in recent decades, but that such criticism has come from both ends of the very wide spectrum in contemporary cultural politics. Rather confusingly, historicism remains both the darling and the bête noire of both 'conservative' theological apologists and 'radical' postcolonial critics.
Learners, teachers, professors and historical conciousness
2007
Th e following main points will be covered: What is historical consciousness and why is it signifi cant?; • Th e level of development of historical consciousness among SA • learners; Possibilities of a historical consciousness approach to history • teaching; Obstacles in the way of closer co-operation in this regard between • stakeholders such as history professors, teachers and learners; Recommendations to try and forge a stronger partnership between • these stakeholders in the development of historical consciousness;
On historical consciousness and popular pasts
História da Historiografia, 2013
This article investigates the nature of historical consciousness-conceptualizations and constructions of the past outside academic history-and the way in which this has changed in parallel with developments in historical theory in recent decades. With the increased constructivist questioning of historical narratives as somehow objectively true, academic history is seen to have lost some of its authority regarding the past. It is argued that, in becoming more aware of its nature as interpretation as well as more sensitive to its motives and consequences, history now has the potential to become more pragmatic and presentist. At the same time, some theoretical discussions have turned to the less strictly historical questions of memory and presence, thus evading the call to responsibility. By examining historical consciousness in relation to these debates, the article suggests that, in line with the liberation of the past from the constraints of academic history, historical consciousness no longer needs to be as focused on the interpretations and knowledge provided by the institution of history but can be increasingly determined by popular understandings and the needs of consumers.
Learners, teachers, professors and historical consciousness
2016
Th e following main points will be covered: What is historical consciousness and why is it signifi cant?;• Th e level of development of historical consciousness among SA • learners; Possibilities of a historical consciousness approach to history • teaching; Obstacles in the way of closer co-operation in this regard between • stakeholders such as history professors, teachers and learners; Recommendations to try and forge a stronger partnership between • these stakeholders in the development of historical consciousness;
International Relations, 2015
Although most attempts to foster interdisciplinary dialogue are located outside mainstream International Relations (IR), this article seeks to problematize how the two dominant paradigms of IR theory, realism and liberalism, think historically. The argument proceeds by examining how the disciplines consider what historical knowledge is useful for, that is, how they think historically or are historically conscious. This constitutes a shift away from the dominant dialogue over how to ‘do history’ in IR. Historical consciousness is defined as the understanding of the temporality of historical experience or how past, present and future are thought to be connected. The analysis is set up to explore the extent to which both disciplines share a similar historical consciousness beyond merely treating history as instructive. To do so the article first examines the canon of European historiography to identify three genres of historical consciousness: history as teacher, history as narrative, ...