Rethinking Historical Time: New Approaches to Presentism

Description

Is time out of joint? For the past two centuries, the dominant Western time regime has been future-oriented and based on the linear, progressive and homogeneous concept of time. Over the last few decades, there has been a shift towards a new, present-oriented regime or ‘presentism’, made up of multiple and percolating temporalities. Rethinking Historical Time engages with this change of paradigm, providing a timely overview of cutting-edge interdisciplinary approaches to this new temporal condition. Marek Tamm and Laurent Olivier have brought together an international team of scholars working in history, anthropology, archaeology, geography, philosophy, literature and visual studies to rethink the epistemological consequences of presentism for the study of past and to discuss critically the traditional assumptions that underpin research on historical time. Beginning with an analysis of presentism, the contributors move on to explore in historical and critical terms the idea of multiple temporalities, before presenting a series of case studies on the variability of different forms of time in contemporary material culture. Cover page Halftitle page Title page copyright page Contents List of Figures List of Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction Rethinking Historical Time Shifting notions of time The crisis of historicism and alternative temporalities The emergence of presentism and the Anthropocene Multiple temporalities Material temporalities Conclusion References Part One Presentism and New Temporalities 1 Out of Time? Some Critical Reflections on François Hartog’s Presentism Hartog’s presentism, the memory wars and the crisis of time Hartog’s presentism as the inversion of the modern regime of historicity Hartog’s two versions of presentism: Presentism no. 1 and presentism no. 2 Conclusion Notes References 2 Return to Chronology Chronology and the temporal turn Chronology as a challenge to history Turns and returns in the history of chronology: Grafton’s Scaliger Why chronology ended: Koselleck’s Kant Signs of the times: Wonders and progress Chronology as a knowledge practice Deep history and the dating of the Anthropocene References 3 Coming to Terms with the Present Exploring the Chrononormativity of Historical Time Presentism as a denial of otherness Rhodes must fall Presentism and erasure of history Chrononormativity and temporal conflicts The materiality of time Presentism as emerging presences of the past Note References 4 The Transformation of Historical Time Processual and Evental Temporalities The question of historical time today On the necessity of the philosophy of history A novel sense of historicity The transformation of historical time: Processual and evental temporalities References Part Two Multiple Temporalities 5 Revolutionary Presence Historicism and the Temporal Politics of the Moment Introduction Thinking the historical Historicity and authentic temporality Datability and the vulgar present Nihilism and the redemptive politics of the Augenblick Notes References 6 Time Outside History Politics and Ontology in Franz Rosenzweig’s and Mircea Eliade’s Reimagined Temporalities ‘It walks unperturbed through history’: Rosenzweig’s Jewish eternity ‘Condemned to history’? Eliade’s plural time The past without history: Rosenzweig’s and Eliade’s hermeneutic revolts Conclusion Note References 7 Pictorial Temporality and the Times of History On Seeing Images and Experiencing Time Entanglements between theories of history and concepts of the image Preliminary conclusions The temporality of pictures and its implications for historical experience Concluding remarks Notes References 8 Time as History in Twentieth-Century Photography Time in photography The heroic view The melancholic view The presentist view Conclusion Notes References Part Three Material Temporalities 9 Heritage and the Untimely Purifying time: On the modern construction of timeliness Folk museums from monuments of modernity to heritage and presentism Unsolicited heritage and the precarious achievement of stability The work of the untimely The pace of reconstruction and ‘glacial time’ The times of things Acknowledgements References 10 ‘Let’s Get Rid of That Old Stuff!’ Family Heritage Objects in France at the Age of Presentism Acquisition and transmission: A matter of social classes Heritage transmission undermined The collapse of the antiques market Presentist furniture: The ‘IKEA generation’ New antiques: The ‘vintage’ furniture New things that look old Conclusion Notes References 11 Death and Archaeology in the Present, Tense Some problems with presentism and the end of history An archaeology of contemporary death DIY death Green burial Conclusion Acknowledgements Notes References 12 Rewilding Time in the Vale do Côa Opening Temporalities of rewilding A river in time Aesthetic–causal alliances Acknowledgements Notes References Conclusion A Creed That Has Lost its Believers? Reconfiguring the Concepts of Time and History The crisis of the modern time regime Reconfiguring concepts of history and historiography Alterity of the past or continuity? Scales of time Historical experience and aesthetic representations The multiplicity of temporalities Notes References Index