Chapter 9: Cultural Turn in Historical Studies

Cultural Evidence and the Cultural Turn 🎨

What is Culture?

Culture is a complex and multifaceted concept that has various meanings in different contexts. In common parlance, culture refers to artistic and literary activities, such as high culture, which requires education, taste, and leisure to appreciate. However, in academic discourse, culture has a broader definition.

Dimensions of Culture

There are several dimensions of culture, including:

• High Culture: refers to artistic and literary activities that require education, taste, and leisure to appreciate.

• Popular Culture: refers to cultural forms that are accessible to the ordinary population, such as popular religious images, chapbooks, and mass culture.

• Visual Culture: refers to the study of visual artefacts, such as paintings, sculptures, and material objects.

The Cultural Turn

The cultural turn refers to a significant shift in the priorities of historians, where culture is seen as a crucial aspect of historical experience. This shift has led to a reorientation in the way historians approach their subject matter.

Art History

Art history is a discipline that studies the visual arts, including paintings, sculptures, and material objects. There are two main approaches to art history:

• Connoisseurship: focuses on the technical skills required to understand and appreciate art

• Iconography: focuses on the intellectual and literary content of art

Art History for Historians

Historians can benefit from studying art history, but they may not have the technical skills or expertise to engage in detailed analysis of art. However, art can provide valuable insights into historical events and cultural meanings.

Key Figures

• Erwin Panofsky: a German art historian who developed the idea of iconography

• T.J. Clark: a socialist scholar who reacted against the tendency to abstract art from its social context

• Peter Burke: a historian who defined culture as a system of shared meanings, attitudes, and values## 📚 The Role of Art in Historical Reconstruction 📚

The Value of Art in Historical Research

Historians like Peter Burke argue that art provides valuable evidence for historical research, particularly in the case of documentary images. The detailed topographical engravings made by Wenceslaus Hollar in the 1640s, for example, offer a unique glimpse into the appearance of the City of London before the Great Fire of 1666.

Art as Propaganda

Art can also serve as a tool for propaganda, as seen in the case of the Nazi regime. Official propaganda combined crude slogans with effective images to promote the regime's ideology. Similarly, satirical attacks on the regime can provide valuable insights into the play of political forces in Germany during the 1930s.

Interpreting the Bayeux Tapestry

The Bayeux Tapestry, a 70-meter-long embroidered narrative of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, is a prime example of the importance of visual evidence in historical reconstruction. The tapestry was likely commissioned by William the Conqueror's half-brother to establish an official version of events.

The Cultural Turn

The cultural turn in historical research emphasizes the importance of understanding art and culture within its historical context. This approach, advocated by historians like T.J. Clark, involves placing art in its economic, social, and cultural milieu.

Popular Culture: Pre-Literate and Modern

Popular culture holds a recognized place in historical and cultural studies. In pre-literate societies, images played a crucial role in disseminating information and ideas.

The Impact of Printing on Popular Culture

The invention of printing in the 15th century revolutionized the dissemination of information and ideas. Printing enabled the mass production of images, making it possible to reach a wider audience, including the illiterate.

Reformation Germany: A Case Study

In Reformation Germany, images played a crucial role in promoting the Protestant cause. Martin Luther recognized the power of images in conveying complex ideas to a broad audience.

Music Hall and Imperialism

In late Victorian Britain, music hall performances often reflected the attitudes of the working class towards imperialism. While the Conservative press promoted an aggressive, flag-waving triumphalism, music hall performances were more muted in their enthusiasm for the Empire.

Photography and film are valuable sources of historical evidence, offering a unique window into the past. They provide a visual record of events, people, and places, allowing historians to gain a more nuanced understanding of historical contexts.

The Rise of Photography

Photography became more widely accessible in the 1880s with the arrival of cheaper cameras and faster shutter speeds. This led to the rapid spread of photojournalism and the recording of daily life by amateur photographers.

The Use of Photography and Film in Historical Research

Historians have made use of photography and film in various ways:

• Primary sources: Photography and film are considered primary sources, providing direct evidence of the time in which they were created.

• Visual record: They offer a visual record of events, people, and places, allowing historians to gain a more nuanced understanding of historical contexts.

• Documentary film: Documentary film became a recognized genre in the 1930s, often loaded with a social or political message.

The Limitations of Photography and Film

While photography and film are valuable sources of historical evidence, they also have limitations:

• Selective representation: Photographs and films often present a selective representation of reality, reflecting the biases and perspectives of the photographer or filmmaker.

• Contextualization: Historians must consider the context in which photographs and films were created, including the social, cultural, and historical contexts.

The Impact of Photography and Film on Historical Research

The discovery of new photographs and films can significantly impact historical research:

• New perspectives: New visual evidence can offer new perspectives on historical events and contexts.

• Challenging existing narratives: New evidence can challenge existing narratives and interpretations of historical events.

Writing Cultural History 📚

Cultural history is a vast and absorbing field, embracing everything from formal belief through ritual and play to the unacknowledged logic of gesture and appearance.

The Shift to a Cultural Perspective

The shift to a cultural perspective involves:

• Moving beyond social history: Cultural history moves beyond the study of institutions and social structures to examine the meanings and values that underlie human behavior.

• Examining collective meanings: Historians study collective meanings, rather than individual experiences or events.

Theories of Cultural History

There are several theories of cultural history, including:

The Annales School: A Historical Psychology?

The Annales school, founded by Lucien Febvre, called for a history of mentalities, examining the emotional, instinctive, and implicit areas of thought that have often found no direct expression.

Key Concepts

• Mentalities: The emotional, instinctive, and implicit areas of thought that have often found no direct expression.

• Historical psychology: The study of the mental frameworks and values of different historical periods.

• Collective meanings: The shared meanings and values that underlie human behavior in different historical contexts.## Psychohistory and the Cultural Turn 🔄

The Role of Psychoanalysis in History

Psychoanalysis, developed by Sigmund Freud, is a theory that explains human behavior and emotions through the study of the unconscious mind. Historians have applied psychoanalytic theory to understand historical personalities and events.

Key Concepts:

• Unconscious: the part of the mind that contains thoughts, feelings, and memories that are not currently present in our conscious awareness

• Repression: the process of pushing uncomfortable or traumatic memories into the unconscious mind

• Projection: the process of attributing one's own thoughts or feelings to someone else

Psychohistory: A New Approach to Biography

Psychohistory is a method of historical analysis that applies psychoanalytic theory to understand historical personalities and events. This approach emphasizes the complexity and inconsistency of human behavior, rather than portraying historical figures as rational and purposeful.

Examples of Psychohistory:

Criticisms of Psychohistory

While psychohistory offers a valuable perspective on historical personalities and events, it is not without its criticisms.

• Lack of evidence: Historians may not have access to the same kind of personal material that psychoanalysts use in their work, making it difficult to apply psychoanalytic theory to historical figures.

• Cultural parochialism: Psychoanalytic theory may not be applicable to all cultures and time periods, and historians must be careful not to impose modern psychological concepts on historical figures.

Literary Theory and the Cultural Turn 📚

Deconstruction and Discourse Theory

Deconstruction and discourse theory are critical approaches to understanding texts that emphasize the complexity and multiplicity of meaning.

Key Concepts:

• Deconstruction: a critical approach to understanding texts that emphasizes the complexity and multiplicity of meaning

• Discourse: a system of language and communication that shapes our understanding of the world

The Impact of Literary Theory on History

Literary theory has had a significant impact on the field of history, encouraging historians to think more critically about the texts they use as sources.

• Close reading: a method of reading that emphasizes the close analysis of language and meaning

• Reading against the grain: a method of reading that seeks to uncover the underlying power dynamics and cultural assumptions that shape the meaning of a text

Linguistic Discourse and the Language of Politics

Language plays a crucial role in shaping our understanding of politics and power.

Examples of Linguistic Discourse:

Discourse analysis is a method used to study the way people think, reflect, and act politically within the boundaries of particular discourses. It examines how these discourses are subject to contestation, adaptation, and sometimes total rupture.

National Identity

National identity is a category traditionally used by historians, but it is not a fixed or given concept. Instead, it arises from specific historical circumstances that change over time.

The Role of Print Capitalism

Benedict Anderson's book "Imagined Communities" (1983) highlights the importance of print capitalism in the growth of nationalism since the sixteenth century. Print capitalism allowed for the dissemination of cultural symbols and selective renderings of the national past to a mass audience.

The Power of Metaphors

Metaphors used to express national identity have great potency and become a battleground between rival conceptions of the political order.

The Language-Led Approach to Texts 📚

Historians are now paying attention to the literary form or genre in which their sources are written. This approach recognizes that the interpretation of a text may need to be modified in the light of the genre to which it belonged.

Letters of Remission

Natalie Zemon Davis studied letters of remission submitted to the French courts in the sixteenth century. She realized that these letters could not be regarded simply as direct personal statements, but were drawn up by notaries in an avowedly literary way.

Anthropology and the Study of Collective Mentality 🌍

Anthropology has been a fertile source of ideas for historians studying collective mentality. The study of small-scale societies of the present day can provide insights into the range of mentalities found among people who are vulnerable to the vagaries of climate and disease.

Thick Description

Clifford Geertz's concept of "thick description" refers to the detailed analysis of symbolic behavior, such as a naming ceremony or a rain-making ritual. This approach recognizes that symbol and ritual can express a complex range of cultural values.

The Limitations of Anthropology

While anthropology can provide valuable insights into collective mentality, historians must recognize the limitations of the approach. Historians are often thrown back on oblique and ambiguous evidence of what went on in the minds of ordinary people.

The Impact of the Cultural Turn 🔄

The cultural turn has had a significant impact on the way historians approach their subject. Twenty years ago, most social history and much political history was written in terms of coherent collectivities such as class and nation.

The Shift in Perspective

The cultural turn has led to a shift in perspective, recognizing that history is not just about trends and structures that can be observed from the outside, but also demands an informed respect for the culture of people in the past.

The cultural turn in historical studies refers to a shift in focus from social and economic structures to cultural and linguistic practices. This shift has led to a reevaluation of the way historians approach their subject matter.

The Social Paradigm

The social paradigm, which dominated historical studies until the 1970s, viewed social identities such as class, nation, and religion as having a material reality that drove forward grand narratives of progress or revolutionary destiny.

The Annales Historians and the Emphasis on Collective Mentalities

The Annales historians, led by Fernand Braudel, emphasized the importance of collective mentalities in shaping historical experience. They argued that mentality was the fundamental level of historical experience, and culture its principal expression.

The Impact of Textual Theory

Textual theory, which emerged in the 1980s, challenged the social paradigm by arguing that language and symbols are not reflections of reality, but rather constructions that shape our understanding of the world.

The Postmodernist Attack on Grand Narratives

The postmodernist attack on grand narratives, led by historians such as Patrick Joyce, challenged the idea of a single, objective truth and instead emphasized the fragmented and subjective nature of historical experience.

The Consequences of the Cultural Turn

The cultural turn has led to a shift in focus from the study of social and economic structures to the study of cultural and linguistic practices. This has resulted in a greater emphasis on the study of representation and the construction of meaning.

The Benefits and Limitations of the Cultural Agenda

The cultural agenda has enriched the field of historical studies by emphasizing the importance of cultural and linguistic practices. However, it has also been criticized for undermining the traditional agenda of historians and for being overly focused on representation.

Theories of the Mind, Text, and Culture

Theories of the mind, text, and culture provide the conceptual underpinning for the cultural agenda. These theories emphasize the importance of understanding the cultural context in which historical events took place.