Spohr Readman, Kristina 
ORCID: 0009-0002-7542-0926
(2011)
Contemporary history in Europe: from mastering national pasts to the future of writing the world.
Journal of Contemporary History, 46 (3).
pp. 506-530.
ISSN 0022-0094
Abstract
Debates surrounding the approach to and distinctiveness of contemporary history qua history that had been simmering ever since the professionalization of history in the late nineteenth century re-emerged with vigour after 1990. This article attempts to identify what characterizes and distinguishes (the history of) our present time, by comparing the evolution of what has been labelled ‘contemporary history’ in France, Germany and Britain over the last 90 years. In discussing some of the conceptual problems and methodological challenges of contemporary history, it will be revealed that many in Europe remain stuck in an older, ‘national’ (and transnational) fixation with the second world war and the nazis’ atrocities, although working in medias res today appears to point to the investigation of events and phenomena that are ‘global’. The article will seek to make a fresh suggestion of how to delimit ‘contemporariness’ from the older ‘past’ and end with some comments on the significance of the role of contemporary history within the broader historical discipline and society at large.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://jch.sagepub.com/ |
| Additional Information: | © 2011 The Author |
| Divisions: | International History |
| Subjects: | D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D901 Europe (General) |
| Date Deposited: | 08 Feb 2011 12:42 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Dec 2024 23:52 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/32151 |
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