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Theorizing Early Modern Studies
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Schedule for TEMS “Koselleck Reading Group” – Spring 2009
Meetings will be held from 5:00 to 6:30
TEMS Studio – Nolte 335

  • We will be reading from the following texts, available at the University of Minnesota Bookstore:

    Koselleck, Reinhart. 2002. The Practice of Conceptual History: Timing History, Spacing             Concepts. Trans. Todd Samuel Presner. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Koselleck, Reinhart. 2004. Futures Past: On the Semantics of Historical Time. Trans.             Keith Tribe. New York: Columbia University Press.

  • Initial chapters will temporarily be available in .pdf form through the links below.

  • February 10th: Situating Koselleck’s Work

    1. “On the Need for Theory in the Discipline of History.” From The Practice of Conceptual History. Chapter 1, pp. 1-19.
    2. “Social History and Conceptual History.” From The Practice of Conceptual History . Chapter 2, pp. 20-37.
    3. “Historia Magistra Vitae: The Dissolution of the Topos into the Perspective of a Modernized Historical Process.” From Futures Past. Chapter 2, pp. 26-42.
    4. “Begriffsgeschichte and Social History.” From Futures Past. Chapter 5, pp. 74-92.

    February 24th: Concerning Temporality

    1. “Time and History.” From The Practice of Conceptual History. Chapter 6, pp. 100-114.
    2. “Concepts of Historical Time and Social History.” From The Practice of Conceptual History. Chapter 7, pp. 115-130.
    3. “History, Histories, and Formal Time Structures.” From Futures Past. Chapter 6, 93-104.
    4. “Representation, Event, and Structure.” From Futures Past. Chapter 7, pp. 105-114.
    5. During this meeting we also discussed E.P. Thompson's Past & Present.

    March 10th: Prophecy, Prognosis, & Expectation

    1. “The Unknown Future and the Art of Prognosis.” From The Practice of Conceptual History. Chapter 8, pp. 131-147.
    2. “’Space of Experience’ and ‘Horizon of Expectation’: Two Historical Categories.” From Futures Past. Chapter 14, pp. 255-275.
    3. “Historical Prognosis in Lorenz von Stein’s Essay on the Prussian Constitution.” From Futures Past. Chapter 4, pp. 58-71.

    April 14th: Crisis, Revolution, and Utopia

    1. “Historical Criteria for the Modern Concept of Revolution.” From Futures Past. Chapter 3, pp. 43-57.
    2. “’Progress’ and ‘Decline’: An Appendix to the History of Two Concepts.” From The Practice of Conceptual History. Chapter 13, pp. 218-235.
    3. “Some Questions Regarding the Conceptual History of ‘Crisis.’” From The Practice of Conceptual History. Chapter 14, pp. 236-247.
    4. “The Temporalization of Utopia.” From The Practice of Conceptual History. Chapter 5, pp. 84-99.

    May 5th: Remarks on Terror and the Ineffable

    1. “Terror and Dream: Methodological Remarks on the Experience of Time during the Third Reich.” From Futures Past. Chapter 12, pp. 205-221.
    2. “Daumier and Death.” From The Practice of Conceptual History. Chapter 16, pp. 265-284.
    3. “War Memorials: Identity Formations of the Survivors.” From The Practice of Conceptual History. Chapter 17, pp. 285-326.