Postmodernism for Historians (INF)

"This is the first dedicated primer on postmodernism for the History student. Written by an enthusiast, it offers a step-by-step guide to postmodern theory, discusses how historians have used it in their research and writing, and assesses criticisms and ways of responding to them."."This book shows how postmodernism works for the historian and how the theory can be infused into what we do. It will enable students to apply postmodern theory in critical assessment of history books and articles, and to construct personal essay, dissertation or thesis topics. By empowering those frightened by postmodern theory and the very idea of it, the book is the ideal companion to courses on Historical Theory and Historiography. Designed for the beginner, written by an ordinary historian, Postmodernism for Historians is the essential postmodern starting point for the student of history."--BOOK JACKET. Read more... 1. Empiricism -- 2. Sign -- 3. Discourse -- 4. Poststructuralism -- 5. Text -- 6. Self -- 7. Morality -- 8. Criticism of postmodernism in history.

Postmodernism is the biggest thing to hit the History profession for almost 200 years. It offers a new intellectual foundation for understanding society, history, culture and psychology. Not limited to one creed or people, position or standpoint, it has in little over 15 years shifted all kinds of presumptions about the History subject and the historian’s craft. The result is that postmodernism has had a tectonic impact upon understanding the past.

This is the first dedicated primer on postmodernism for the History student. Written by an enthusiast, it offers a step-by-step guide to postmodern theory, discusses how historians have used it in their research and writing, and assesses criticisms and ways of responding to them. After opening chapters surveying the essential principles of postmodernism and the legacy of the Enlightenment, Brown distils postmodern down to six main themes of study - The Sign, The Discourse, Post/Structuralism, The Text, The Self and Morality. It includes brief biographies of the leading theorists, a glossary of usable definitions of postmodern terms, and guides to further reading and online searches.

Written in a clear and accessible manner, this book shows postmodernism works for the historian and how the theory can be infused into what we all do. It will enable students to use postmodern theory in critical assessment of history books and articles, and to construct personal essay, dissertation or thesis topics. By empowering those frightened by postmodern theory and the very idea of it, the book is the ideal companion to courses on Historical Theory and Historiography. Designed for the beginner, written by an ordinary historian, Postmodernism for Historians is the essential postmodern starting point for the student of history.

Callum G. Brown is Professor of Religious and Cultural History at the University of Dundee. He teaches and researches in the history of community ritual, personal memory and secularisation. He is author of The Death of Christian Britain (2000) and Up-helly-aa (1998).

Postmodernism isn't some kind of optional plug-in for your world view. It is a powerful explanation of how ideas work. If you want to explore ideas with an informed perspective on how they function, you need to understand postmodernism. This primer by Callum G. Brown is an excellent starting point for anyone, not just historians and/or historiographers. Brown begins by explaining "the two core principles of postmodernism": i) reality is ultimately unrepresentable; ii) therefore, there can be no authoritative account---of anything. This presents particularly strong challenges for the the study of history. Brown then introduces the working concepts of signs, discourses, structures, the postmodern concept of a "text" (which entails more than letters and words), meta-narratives, and deconstruction. These include discussions of structuralism, post-structuralism, and post-colonial studies. Brown also provides enlightening examples of how these concepts are being used to interact with historical narratives and to reject the notion of historical authority in favor of a more nuanced understanding not of the past, but of the idea of the past. A final chapter summarizes some of the counter-criticisms to applying postmodern theory to history and historiography. Brown provides numerous resources for additional reading at the end of each topical chapter and the writing is accessible throughout. Participants in the Information Age would be well served to think more carefully and critically about contextualizing their relationship to information in a structured way. Every gadget, every widget, every post, every message exists within and contributes to discourses and meta-narratives whether you're aware of them or not. Postmodernism is an essential approach to History. This is the first dedicated primer on postmodernism for the historian. It offers a step-by-step guide to postmodern theory, includes a guide to how historians have applied the theory, and provides a review of why its critics are wrong. In simple and clear language, it takes the reader through the chain of theory that developed in the 20th century to become now, in the early 21st century, the leading stimulant of new forms of research in History. With separate chapters on The Sign, The Discourse, Post/Structuralism, The Text, The Self, and Morality, this book will encourage a new critical awareness of Theory when reading books of History, and when writing essays and dissertations. Armed with the principal ideas of Saussure, Barthes, Foucault, and Derrida, the historians can formulate how to combine empirical History with the excitement of fresh perspectives and new skills, merged in the new moral impetus of the postmodern condition. Designed for the beginner this is the essential postmodern starting point. The first clear guide to the minefields and meanings of postmodernism for history students.The book provides a step-by-step guide to postmodern theory for undergraduate students of Historical Theory and Historiography courses ? often compulsory modulesShortest and clearest introduction available to this essential yet challenging topicIt provides examples of how historians have used postmodern theory in their research and writingIt summarises anti-postmodernist criticisms and gives ways of responding to them The book aims to empower those frightened by postmodern theory and the very idea of it.