Periodization as a Tool of the Historian with Special Reference to Islamic History
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Fred M. Donner
Abstract: The article discusses periodization and spatialization – delimiting a particular length of time, a particular region of the globe, or both – as necessary strategems for studying history, since the seamless web of human life cannot be analyzed in toto. It discusses different notions of periodization, in particular those advanced by Fernand Braudel and others of the Annales School and the concept of “Zeitschichten” proposed by Reinhart Koselleck. It surveys some of the periodizations that have traditionally been applied specifically in the realm of the history of the Islamic Near East and a number of essays discussing the periodization of Islamic history (especially those of S. D. Goitein and M. Morony). It argues that the notion of an “ideal” or “perfect” periodization of history (or of any subsection of it) that meets all needs is futile. Periodization must be seen, rather, as a tool employed by the historian that highlights a particular set of developments in a society, so that many different periodizations are possible and, indeed, desirable depending on what the historian wishes to understand. The historian must consider what development she wishes to articulate from the past and choose or fashion a periodization that most clearly illuminates that development.
© De Gruyter 2014
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelseiten
- Nachruf auf Ernst J. Grube (1932–2011)
- Introduction – What is in a Period? Arabic Historiography and Periodization
- Periodization as a Tool of the Historian with Special Reference to Islamic History
- Vanishing Syria: Periodization and Power in Early Islam
- Al-Jāhiliyya: Uncertain Times of Uncertain Meanings
- Dynastic Periodization and its Limits: Historiography in Contemporary Arab Monarchies
- Frames of Time: Periodization and Universals in the Works of Abdallah Laroui
- Silence and Nostalgia: Periodizing the Past in an Algiers Neighborhood
- Reviews
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelseiten
- Nachruf auf Ernst J. Grube (1932–2011)
- Introduction – What is in a Period? Arabic Historiography and Periodization
- Periodization as a Tool of the Historian with Special Reference to Islamic History
- Vanishing Syria: Periodization and Power in Early Islam
- Al-Jāhiliyya: Uncertain Times of Uncertain Meanings
- Dynastic Periodization and its Limits: Historiography in Contemporary Arab Monarchies
- Frames of Time: Periodization and Universals in the Works of Abdallah Laroui
- Silence and Nostalgia: Periodizing the Past in an Algiers Neighborhood
- Reviews
