Liquid Spaces in Modern Historiography

Abstract

It is astonishing how much the ranges and spaces of history have changed and extended in the past generation of historical research. In what follows I will present, and attempt to explain, some key categories of recent historical writing in ‘the West.’ In hindsight, they document a tendency toward spatial concepts and disciplinary boundaries becoming more and more liquid. These are, in order of their appearance: the history of everyday life, the comparative history of nations, international history, history of international organizations, history of globalization, colonial history, transnational history, entangled history, global history, universal history, area studies, glocalization, and finally big history. My discussion will be conducted from a Central European viewpoint, and, I admit, this may narrow or confine my scope. To conclude, I will add some observations about the intersections of general and cultural histories, and will dare to look upon what appears to be relevant in the near future with regard to methodology and to contents.