Heritage Noire: truth,history, and colonial anxiety in The Blair Witch Project

When watching the film The Blair Witch Project we seem to be witnessing through its clumsy, apparently uncrafted footage the unmediated documentation of 'reality' as it occurs. This article argues that the carefully crafted deceit of The Blair Witch Project may be understood as part of a subversive 'public history' project that uses modern history's own scientific motifs and methodologies against itself and challenges its basic tenets. If positive myths of the past are structured into what we tend to call heritage, i.e. shared narratives affirming a positive sense of self and region or nation, then this paper argues that The Blair Witch Project takes the same notion and subverts it, giving its chosen audience a dark and unsettling sense of its own history.     

Protagonists and politics in the Italian women's movement: a reflection on the work of Annarita Buttafuoco

This article retraces Annarita Buttafuoco's work as a historian of the women's political movement in Italy through a brief survey of her essays and books. These covered more than two centuries of history, ranging from the echoes of the French Revolution in Italy and the constitution of the Jacobin Republics to the struggles for female suffrage and emancipation in the liberal era down to the period after the Second World War and the founding of the Italian Republic. Emphasizing the originality of both the sources and the methodological approaches she used, the article offers a critical appreciation of Annarita Buttafuoco's research and her role in organizing and shaping collective research projects. It is focused on three specific issues: the history of women as conscious historical subjects, the history of women's political movements not only in their social and political contexts but also in relation to institutional networks and the practices of citizenship.     

The foreign policy of First Republic Italy: new approaches

This introductory article deals with the most recent contributions by Italian historians on the Italian Republic's international role. It aims mainly to demonstrate that a new generation of younger Italian historians is successfully offering new views and interpretations on First Republic Italy's role in the international system, and is also focusing on aspects such as the culture of Italy's political parties, the economic dimension, the role of public opinion, and the influence of external actors on domestic Italian politics – in short, that there has been a turn away from traditional diplomatic history based upon the archives of the Foreign Ministry.     

科学实证与文化阐释:中国新史学之双轨

中国新史学中最常见的两种历史研究方式是科学实证与文化阐释,前者旨在建立历史事实之真或寻求历史演变之理,后者则以探寻历史之意义或彰显切实之史识为目标,此二者可谓中国新史学之"双轨"。中国新史学正是沿此"双轨"向前发展的。从新史学之"双轨"着眼,并依据"新异性的标准",中国新史学界应有"八大家",他们分别是:梁启超、王国维、陈寅恪、胡适、顾颉刚、傅斯年、郭沫若和钱穆。科学实证与文化阐释,这两种不同的历史研究取径,展示了中国新史学研究的多元面相,二者之间是相互融通的,并无根本性的冲突与对垒,其在治史观念与方法上亦可做到相互补益,相得益彰。许冠三在《新史学九十年》中因陷入"科学"迷思的褊狭"新史学观",以科学实证拒斥文化阐释,故而未能将钱穆基于"文化"视角来研究历史的文化史学视为新史学。钱穆的新史学特质主要表现为:在继承中国传统史学遗产之基础上,注重历史研究主体与客体的统一,以文化为本位,以阐释为取径,其典型表现是"以士释史";以中国为立场,注重探寻本国历史文化之意义,探求与本国历史文化相符合之史识,强调历史学的经世致用功能。钱穆的新史学观与后现代主义在批判科学主义历史学、反对文化一元论和西方中心主义历史观等方面多有契合之处,但其以"于客观中求实证"为基础的历史认识论与走向历史虚无主义的后现代主义有着本质的区别。     

社会政治变动与西周晚期的历史表述

西周晚期至东周之初是早期史学发展过程中的一个重要节点。受西周晚期社会政治变动的影响,该时期的历史表述产生了诸多重要变化。其一为表述主题发生转变,由原来侧重表述天命、族群及周王朝的发展,转而侧重贵族家族或诸侯功业等主题,开东周诸侯国史述作之风。其二为历史表述的内容与主旨渐趋丰富多元。西周衰亡刺激时人反思历史,审视时政,开始就历史动因提出不同的解释模式,实即私人述史的一个开端。其三为述作群体扩大,人数较多的中下级贵族及普通士阶层开始成为历史表述的主体。部分贵族士大夫摆脱旧观念的约束,就历史与政治发表看法或讴歌主君,"君子作歌"之风由此而起,实为春秋家史兴盛局面的滥觞。     

耿淡如与中国的西方史学史研究

耿淡如先生是现代中国历史学家 ,新中国成立后 ,以治世界中世纪史名闻史坛 ,晚年又致力于西方史学史的教学与研究工作。他培养本专业的研究生、主编《外国史学史》、译介诸多的外国史学名著 ,撰写学术论文 ,是中国的西方史学史学科建设的先行者与奠基者。他关于历史研究的求真精神、史学史的基本概念、西方史学的新陈代谢、学术批判的工作原则、标本与模型兼备的研究方法等许多真知灼见 ,都是可供后人借鉴的思想遗产 ,也是他对西方史学史研究的具体贡献     

实录体起源、发展与特点

实录的直接源头是起居注 ,实录仅是名称借用 ;实录体的编年性 ,是由起居注的编年性所规定的。编年体与实录虽问为编年史 ,但记录单位不同 ;前者是多帝多朝史 ,后者是一帝一朝史 ,单位更小 ,内容更详。最初出现的实录为“今上实录” ,唐代始逐步向“前上实录”过渡 ;五代、宋、元、明、清的实录编纂 ,完全规范化 ,是清一色的老皇帝实录。实录体有两种模式 ,一有大臣附传 ,如唐、宋、明 ;一是大臣传单独成书 ,如元朝与清朝。实录是最基本的皇家历程史长编 ,实录的传播与否 ,直接决定民间当代史撰修活动的兴衰。     

Blood-brothers: a ritual of friendship and the construction of the imagined barbarian in the middle ages

This article analyses the history of blood-covenants in the middle ages. Appearing in various historiographical and literary texts from antiquity onwards, these covenants have hitherto mostly been interpreted by modern authors as a typical feature of pre-modern or even ‘primitive’ societies. A closer inquiry into the context of the existing source-material reveals, however, that this motif can be characterised as a part of discriminatory narrative strategies which aim at the exclusion of foreign and non-Christian cultures. The analysis of the medieval texts, which were mainly produced from the twelfth century onwards, clearly shows a tendency to attribute this ritual of blood-brotherhood either to representatives of the so-called ‘Saracens’ or allegedly heterodox cultures, like the Byzantines or the Irish, which populated the margins of the Latin west. Not only does this topical use of the motif invalidate part of the texts' factual source value, but it also proved misleading for the interpretation of pre-modern societies by modern historians. While an older tradition of classical political history mainly tended to note the ritual as a cultural curiosity, more recent studies of ritual structures are in danger of misrepresenting the cultures they focus on.     

"That Food of the Memory which Gives the Clue to Profitable Research": Oral history as a source for local, regional, and family history in the nineteenth and early twentieth century

Numerous local, regional and family historians in the nineteenthand early twentieth century collected oral narrations and conductedinterviews as a form to document information that otherwisemight have never been preserved. Family historians, in particular,not only practiced interviewing relatives for family histories,but also encouraged the practice in how-to-do manuals amongtheir peers. While advocating the practice, family historiansalso reflected about the value of "traditionary evidence" collectedthrough interviews and other means. These reflections by familyhistorians mirrored the discussions about the value of traditionsand memories as historical sources among several professionalhistorians at the time. These reflections were shaped by a modernizedunderstanding of tradition, which combined a reverential approachto the authoritarian element of tradition with a critical approachquestioning the validity of tradition. In this context, oralhistory was both a tool to negotiate the value of traditionand a mirror to the contemporary understanding of tradition.     

科默·V·伍德沃德与美国南部史学

科默·V.伍德沃德在美国是享有盛誉的南部史专家,同时也是一位非常活跃的社会活动家。在长期的学术实践中他形成了注重史学的社会功能、强调历史发展的非连续性和善用反讽的史学研究风格。他以自己对美国南部历史与现实的深切关怀,积极推动了南部史的研究。其贡献既表现在对新的史学领域和问题的开拓,也体现在围绕他的著述所展开的学术商榷、学术批评中,以及由此而形成的良性的学术研究氛围上。