Overview

At a time when rapidly evolving technologies, political turmoil, and the tensions inherent in multiculturalism and globalization are reshaping historical consciousness, what is the proper role for historians and their work? By way of an answer, the contributors to this volume offer up an illuminating collective meditation on the idea of ethos and its relevance for historical practice. These intellectually adventurous essays demonstrate how ethos—a term evoking a society’s “fundamental character” as well as an ethical appeal to knowledge and commitment—can serve as a conceptual lodestar for history today, not only as a narrative, but as a form of consciousness and an ethical-political orientation.

Full Product Details

9781805393207

Table of Contents

Reviews

“With eleven engaging and well-written chapters, The Ethos of History offers a substantial contribution to contemporary debates about the role of history in our present cultural condition. A diverse group of writers, from junior researchers to established scholars such as Joan W. Scott, Aleida Assman and Hans Ruin, bring a wealth of thoughtful perspectives from philosophy, gender studies, literary and cultural theory.” • Philosophy of History “This volume offers much and important food for thought by describing the variety of the historical-theoretical debate and pointing out numerous open questions. It suggests focusing especially on concepts of time as well as ontological and epistemological uncertainty in historical thinking and perhaps to learn to appreciate these.” • Geschichte für Heute “This well-written volume offers plenty of material for cultural and literary studies as it explores how to live with the past, and how the past lives in us.” • Jouni-Matti Kuukkanen, University of Oulu, Finland “This book is very useful for understanding the relationship between ethos and temporality. In showing how ethical questions blur the boundary between past, present, and future, it represents an important contribution to the literature.” • Harry Jansen, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Author Information

Stefan Helgesson is Professor of English at Stockholm University. He is the author of Writing in Crisis: Ethics and History in Gordimer, Ndebele and Coetzee (2004) and Transnationalism in Southern African Literature (2009), has edited volume four of Literary History: Towards a Global Perspective (2006), and is co-editor (with Pieter Vermeulen) of Institutions of World Literature: Writing, Translation, Markets (2015).

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