Reinhart Koselleck (23 April 1923 – 3 February 2006), a German historian widely considered one of the most influential European theorists of history and historiography in the twentieth century.
Constantly probing and transgressing the boundaries of mainstream historical writing, he created numerous innovative approaches and exposed himself to a large range of impulses from other academic disciplines. His writings responded to the work of German philosophers such as Martin Heidegger and Hans Georg Gadamer and of political thinkers such as Carl Schmitt. Koselleck’s thought also responded and added to the work of internationally renowned scholars such as Hayden White, Michel Foucault, and Quentin Skinner.
We are proud to offer a selection of texts and FREE access to Contributions to the History of Concepts journal concerning Koselleck’s essential contributions to the fields. Scroll down for details.
HISTORY IN THE PLURAL
An Introduction to the Work of Reinhart Koselleck
Niklas Olsen
“Befitting its subject, this book is a methodologically sound and theoretically sophisticated piece of scholarship. Niklas Olsen has done the English-speaking world a profound service by situating the work of Reinhart Koselleck—one of the most compelling theorists of history of recent memory—back into the many contexts out of which it emerged and which it eventually helped to transform over the course of a distinguished career…Koselleck’s meditations on the multi-faceted natures of both historical time and historical writing are more relevant than ever. And to these profound meditations History in the Plural will no doubt remain a trustworthy guide.” • American Historical Review
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BEYOND ‘HELLENES’ AND ‘BARBARIANS’
Asymmetrical Concepts in European Discourse
Edited by Kirill Postoutenko
Forty years ago, German historian Reinhart Koselleck coined the notion of ‘asymmetrical concepts’, pointing at the asymmetry between standard self-ascriptions, such as ‘Hellenes’ or ‘Christians’, and pejorative other-references (‘Barbarians’ or ‘Pagans’) as a powerful weapon of cultural and political domination. Advancing and refining Koselleck’s approach, Beyond ‘Hellenes’ and ‘Barbarians’ explores the use of significant conceptual asymmetries such as ‘civilization’ vs. ‘barbarity’, ‘liberalism’ vs. ‘servility’, ‘order’ vs. ‘chaos’ or even ‘masters’ vs. ‘slaves’ in political, scientific and fictional discourses of Europe from the Middle Ages to the present day. Using an interdisciplinary set of approaches, the scholars in political history, cultural sociology, intellectual history and literary criticism bolster and extend our understanding of this ever-growing area of conceptual history.
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CONCEPTUAL HISTORY IN THE EUROPEAN SPACE
Edited by Willibald Steinmetz, Michael Freeden, and Javier Fernández-Sebastián
“Taken together, these essays represent a landmark in conceptual history’s theoretical and methodological development. They are a testament to its practitioners’ creative and fruitful engagement with methods and approaches forged beyond the field of intellectual history. By adding layers of depth to our understanding of both concepts and the semantic fields in which they have operated, their authors go some way towards establishing a post-Koselleckian research agenda that can allow conceptual history to flourish as it expands its own horizons of possibility.” • Sehepunkte
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OF RELATED INTEREST:
THE MANY FACES OF CLIO
Cross-cultural Approaches to Historiography
Essays in Honor of Georg G. Iggers
Edited by Q. Edward Wang and Franz Fillafer
Born in Germany, Georg Iggers escaped from Nazism to the United States in his adolescence where he became one of the most distinguished scholars of European intellectual history and the history of historiography. In his lectures, delivered all over the world, and in his numerous books, translated into many languages, Georg Iggers has reshaped historiography and indefatigably promoted cross-cultural dialogue. This volume reflects the profound impact of his oeuvre.
Chapter 19. The Enlightenment on Trial: Reinhart Koselleck’s Interpretation of Aufklärung
Franz Leander Fillafer
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