Continuity and Expansion: Trends in German History Research from 2021 to 2022

Abstract

In an endeavor to systematically elucidate the characteristics of German historical scholarship spanning the time frame of 2021-2022, this article delineates these intellectual pursuits as bifurcated realms: “continuity” and “expansion”. The demarcation between the two remains blurred, given the underlying premise that “expansion” is often interwoven with, and in some instances predicated upon, the foundational elements of “continuity”. For the sake of analytical expediency, though, this article situates within the “continuity” category an array of subject matters encompassing the trajectory of unification and European integration, history education and public history, memory studies, the Korean-German entanglements, migration narratives, and also the research on the medieval and Early modern German history. These thematic arenas have continually emerged as salient focal points in German historical research over the preceding decade. Within this “continuity” category, the prism of memory studies conspicuously stands out.BR On the other side of this scholarly spectrum, the “expansion” envelopes geographical, climatic, and environmental dynamics, urban historical trajectories, the burgeoning realm of digital historiography, and the historical exploration of emotion.