Prof. Willibald Steinmetz (Bielefeld University)
Starting from the writings of Reinhart Koselleck and a small number of other foundational texts this course will, first, address major theoretical issues involved when approaching the study of conceptual history and historical semantics. We will then proceed to discuss current theoretical debates with a special focus on the problems of comparison and translation between different languages and conceptual worlds within and beyond Europe. Finally, the course will also be dealing with methods, i.e. the more practical aspects of how to do research in the history of concepts and historical semantics. The course will be conducted not as a lecture, but in a seminar-like style. Students are expected to raise questions, participate actively and draw connections between the issues addressed in the texts and their own experience as researchers. The texts to be discussed in the course and an additional list with suggestions for further reading will be made available well in advance of the course.
Readings
Monday, 19 February: Foundations of Conceptual History (Koselleck)
- 01. R. Koselleck, Introduction and Prefaces to the Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe, transl. by M. Richter, in: Contributions to the History of Concepts 6/1 (2011), 1-37
- 02. R. Koselleck, Social History and Conceptual History & Three bürgerlich Worlds, in: id., The Practice of Conceptual History: Timing History, Spacing Concepts, Stanford CA 2002, 20-37 & 208-217
- 03. R. Koselleck, The Historical-Political Semantics of Asymmetric Counterconcepts, in: id., Futures Past: On the Semantics of Historical Time, Cambridge MA 1985, 159-197
Tuesday, 20 February: Alternatives to Conceptual History (Skinner, Steinmetz, Freeden)
- 04. Q. Skinner, Interpretation and the Understanding of Speech Acts & Retrospect: Studying Rhetoric and Conceptual Change, in: id., Visions of Politics, Vol. 1: Regarding Method, Cambridge 2002, 103-127 & 175-187
- 05. W. Steinmetz, “A Code of its Own”: Rhetoric and Logic of Parliamentary Debate in Modern Britain, in: Finnish Yearbook of Political Thought 6 (2002), 87-104
- 06. M. Freeden, The Morphological Analysis of Ideology, in: id. and M. Stears (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Political Ideologies, Oxford 2013, 115-137 (in the print version)
Wednesday, 21 February: Extensions of Conceptual History – the Visual, the Emotional, the Digital (Reichardt, Pernau/Rajamani, Jussen/Schwandt)
- 07. R. Reichardt, Historical Semantics and Political Iconography: The Case of the Game of the French Revolution (1791/92), in: I. Hampsher-Monk/K. Tilmans/F. van Vree (eds.), History of Concepts: Comparative Perspectives. Amsterdam 1998, 191-225 and 272-276 (notes)
- [Additional Reading:] R. Reichardt, The French Revolution as a European Media Event, at: European History Online http://ieg-ego.eu/en/threads/european-media/european-media-events/rolf-reichardt-the-french-revolution-as-a-european-media-event
- 08. M. Pernau and I. Rajamani, Emotional Translations: Conceptual History Beyond Language, in: History and Theory 55 (2016), 46-65
- 09. B. Jussen/G. Rohmann, Historical Semantics in Medieval Studies: New Means and Approaches, in: Contributions to the History of Concepts 10/2 (2015), 1-6
- 10. S. Schwandt, Virtus as a Political Concept in the Middle Ages, in: Contributions to the History of Concepts 10/2 (2015), 71-90
Thursday, 22 February: Revisions of Conceptual History (Steinmetz)
- 11. W. Steinmetz, Forty Years of Conceptual History: The State of the Art (2008), in: M. Pernau and D. Sachsenmaier (eds.), Global Conceptual History: A Reader, London 2016, 339-366
- 12. W. Steinmetz, Multiple Transformations: Temporal Frameworks for a European Conceptual History, in: id., M. Freeden and J. Fernández-Sebastián (eds.), Conceptual History in the European Space, New York/Oxford 2017, 63-95