24 Part I
su bject. the re is never theless a bro ad , tho ugh un exam in ed ag ree ment
abo ut what ap propriate d istan ce is and whe re its value lies: the modern ,
profession al co nsensus closel y identifies ge n uine historical kn o wled ge
with a position of relative detach me nt. This chapter challenge s th is
consensus by (a) no ting th a t historical d ista nce is not so much given as
construct ed, (b) defining several kin ds of d istan ce in historical represen ta tion (fo r ma l, affective, ideol ogi cal , and cog nitive) , and (c) p roviding
exa mp les of variati o ns in 'ap pr opriat e ' his torical distance. Byarticu lating and mapping this he ret o fore largel y im plicit di mension of hi storical
represen tati on , Ph illips opens up th e poss ibility of m or e d eli be rate use
o f distan ce as a var iable in th e study of historical co nsc io usne ss.
Towards a Theoretical Framework
for Comparing Hi storiographies:
Some Preliminary Considerations
CH RIS LORE NZ
Notes
ln ad di tio n to h is cha pte r in th is volum e. see also wensch. \0 ices OJCollectilll!
Remembering (New York: Cambridge Unive rsity Press , 2002 ) , esp. chap. 3.
'Co lle ctive M em ory: A Te r m in Search of a Mea ni ng.'
2 Wulf Kanstei ner; ' Find ing Me an ing in Me mo ry: A Method o log ical Cri tiq ue
of Me mory Stud ies,' History and Theory41 , no . 2 (200 2) : 179--97 ; Smart Ha ll,
'Encod in g/Decod ing,' in David Gra dd ol an d Oliver Boyd- Bar rett, ed s, Medi a
Texts: Authors and Readers (Clevedo n , Avo n , UK O p en Un ivers ity, 1994 ),
200-11.
3 In additio n to hi s chap ter in thi s volu me, see also Ru sen, Historisdu Orientierung: Ubtr die Arbeit des Gts~hicJwbro.rufltsri,u, sich in tier Zeit zu reduzufinden
(Koln : l!Ohlau, 199 4); Riise n , Historisches Lemen . Crundklgen und Paradigmm (Ko ln: Bohlau, 1994) ; Rusen , Zerbrechende znt: Uherden Si m der Ge!chichte
(Koln : Bohlau, 2001 ) ; Bodo von Bor ries and Jorn Ru se n , eds, Geschichtsbeurujitsein im intemulturellen Vergleich (Pfaffenweiler : Centaur u s, 1994) ; and Rusen ,
ed ., Geschichtsbeurufttsrin:PsychologischeGrundlagen; Enturicklungskonzeptt!, empni'CM &furnk (KOln: Bohlau, 2001 ).
In his recent book Making His/UT) in Tuen tieth-Century QJJebec, Montreal
hi storian Ron ald Rud in starts hi s introduc tio n with the followi ng somewha t paradoxical obse rva tion :
The p o int has o fte n been m ade th at hi stor y occ up ies a pri vileged p lace in
Quebec cu lture. Th e m otto of the province - Jeme souvirns (I reme mb er) is
but one indi cat or of thi s reve ren ce for th e p ast. An othe r is th e spe cial status
still rese rved in Q ucbeckcrs ' co llect ive me mor y for Abbe Groulx, th e firs t
full-ti m e u nivers ity professor of Quebec h isto ry, mo re tha n twe nty-five ye ars
after h is death . In spi te of this inte rest in th e past, h oweve r, n o sing le
volume h as ye t be e n d ed icat e d to a co m p rehensive analys is of Q uebec
historica l writing over th e co urse of the twen tieth ce nt ury. During thi s
period h istorical writi n g was in cre asingly carrie d out, through o ut m uch of
the Weste rn world, by people wh o viewe d th emselves as profession als engaged in a 'sc ie nt ific e nd eavo ur.' !
And th en , o f co urse , th e autho r inform s hi s re ad e rs that th e book th ey
are ab o ut to read is th e first book co ntaining thi s co mpre hensive analysis
of Quebec histo riog raphy.
Now, ass um ing fo r the m oment that Rud in 's o bservatio ns about Quebec are co r rect, he points to the remarkabl e fact th at at th e e nd of th e
twentieth ce n tury th e privil eg ed pla ce of history in Quebec do es n ot
imply a sim ilar pri vileged pla ce for Quebe c historiography (the hi story of
hi story writing ) .2 Rud in develo ps an ex plana tio n for this apparen t co n-
26
Ch ris Lorenz
trad ictio n , wh ich goes so methi ng like th is: the 'Q uie t Revolu tion ' that
has revo lutionized Quebec society since the 1950s has also revoluti onized Q uebec h isto riog ra ph y by pr oducin g 'revisio nist' h isto rian s. T he se
'revisionist' h istorians have been prom o ting th emsel ves as 'scientific
exp er ts,' meanwhil e profiting fro m the unprecede n ted expansion of the
un ivers ities. At the same tim e , however, th ey turned th e ir back o n
Quebe c' s specific traditions . Instead of em phasizing th e continuing
particul ari ty of ' th e Fren ch fact' in Anglo-Saxon North Ame rica . as
m ost of th ei r p red ecesso rs had d o ne , the re visio ni sts started stressi ng
Q uebec's essen tia l ' no r ma lity.' They replaced Quebe c's tra d ition al d isco urse o f di ffe re nce , whi ch e mphas ized la survivance, with a brand -new
di scourse o f no r ma lity, e m p has izing Quebec as a no rm a l mode rn ,
\Vestern society.
This change fro m a fixation o n Q uebec's d iffer ence to a fixation o n
Q uebec's essential normality was a real ' parad igm shift: and Rud in
interprets th is shift bo th as a pr o d uct and as a produce r of a new
collective id en tity of Quebec. Tradi tional Quebe c h isto r y, cen tred o n
the French period a nd the subseq uent defeats by the British , was pus hed
aside by th e hi sto r y of 'modern' Quebec, starting around th e 1850s and
centred on th e u n fol d ing process of industrialization, urbanizatio n , and
economic rati o n alizatio n.
At the end of h is boo k Rud in signals a recent but gr owing unease
among younger Quebec historians with this type of revision ist ap proac h ,
because th e rev isionists' apparen t o bse ssio n with Quebec's ' no rm ality'
obscures its pa rticular h istorical and cultura l characteristics. In addition ,
Rudin criticizes the revisio nists fo r the ir lack o f a sou nd re flec tion on
thei r own trade , Q uebec h isto riography itself. Their lack of refl exivity
manifests itsel f in a contrad iction: ifit is true. as the revisio nists say, that
Q uebec has been surprising ly ' no r ma l' and mod ern for at leas t o ne
ce n tury a nd a half, the n how ca n it be th at Quebe c has produced a
' no r m al' scie n tific h istoriog raphy only since the rise of revisionism. that
is. after th e 'Quiet Revolution '? T his last co nvic tio n has a lso been part
and parcel of revisio nist writi ngs : th at the pr edecesso rs o f revisionism
h ad been amate urs and par tisan historian s. wh ile th e revis ionists were
the fir st real 'scient ific' h isto rians of Q ue be c. Rudi n thus ends his book
by criticizing the revis io nist h isto rians fo r th e ir lack of self-reflection .
He re I have chosen Ru din 's analysis of r evisionist Queb ec h istor iograph y in o rder to introd uce so me ge neral problem s of co mparative h isto riography, which ar e rel evan t fo r th eo ri zing h istorical consciou sness.
However. I m ust info r m th e reader fro m th e o utset th at my re marks d o
Towards a Theo retical Framework for Comparing Historiograp hies 27
not constitute a theoretical framewor k in an)' str ing ent se nse. The most I
can offer a re som e cla rificatio ns of question s and concepts tha t m ay be
useful when co m pa ring historiograph ie s.? Most of the re al work is still
ahead , b ut th at is wha t researc h projects are abo ut.
No w, whi ch ge neral problems of comparative historiography am I
refer ring to? T he first ge neral them e brought u p by Rudin is the re lationship between hi stor ical co nsci ous ness in a broader societal and
cu ltu ra l sen se - sometimes id en tified by th e nebulous term co llec tive
memory (criticized in Joh n Torpey's contri buti on to thi s volu me) - on
the o ne side and professio na l h isto r y o n the o ther," Th is rela tion shi p
needs to be addressed because profession al histo rian s are far from be ing
th e on ly prod ucers of historical co nsc iousness . Fro m its beg inning professio nal hi story has be e n in co mpe titio n with several ot her representatio na l forms of h isto ry, suc h as myth , liter ar y fiction , a nd ' amate ur'
his to ry (i ncl uding the h isto ries han ded o ver from generation to generatio n in fami lies a nd 'Stammtisch'-h istori es) .5 Moreover, sin ce the sudden
rise of cultural studies, th e study of the pas t has also been p ractised by
pro fessio nals ot he r than historians, such as lite rar y critics a nd an th ropologists, a trend that ha s evo ked some alarmist reactio ns." Since tel evision and film have replaced the book as the most impo rta nt media of
information, th e no n-p rofessional forms of historical represen tati on have
be en gaining an ever-increasing influence on th e for mation of his torical
con sciou sness. In this are na no professional bo ok can co mpe te with films
such as JFK or Schindler'sList. Thus, the media of representation have had a
profound influence o n the content of represen tation of the past.
This th em e, wh ich is explicitly add ressed by Christia n Laville in th is
volume. is an impo r tant o ne for a t least two reason s. T he first is tha t it
co ncerns the rel ation sh ip be twee n th e production and co nsum ption of
histo rical re prese nta tio ns (incl ud ing the schoolbook versio ns of professional history) . T he issue her e is th at we ca n o n ly dete rmine the in fluen ce of professiona l h isto riography o n historical co nscious ness in rel ation
to ot her in flue nces.' The second reason is tha t th e re lationship between
th e prod uct ion and co ns um ptio n of th e various sorts of h isto rical rep resentations ma y also te ll us so me thi ng im po rtant abou t the co n tents of
professio nal hi sto riography. It is my hypothesis th at o ne impo rtant problem of profession al hi sto ry n owadays is its neglect of severa l domains o f
human ex perience that are regarded as cr ucial for o ur modern age . I am
hinting at experiences of facing th e extreme, also labell ed as liminal,
catastrophic, an d trau matic ex pe r iences o r the experience of th e su o.
lim e. T hese d om ain s of exper ie nce se em to escape th e grips of ' norma l'
28
Chris Lore nz
p rofessional h istory. p ro b a bly because su ch types of experience usu all y
leave few co n trollab le d o cumentary traces - ex ce p t for the individual
stori es a bo u t them. This circ umsta n ce may ex p lain why the experie n ce
of tre nc h warfare has p rima rily been docum ented in (memoir) literatu re wri tten by former p articipants and not in ' nor ma l' history bo ok s.f It
m ay also ex p lain why th e experie n ces of modern co n ce n tr a tio n a n d
ex te r mi na tio n ca m ps h as be e n dominated by litera r y a n d n o t by h isto rica l represen ta tions."
H owever th is m ay be, ] sha ll argue th at th e rel a tionship be twee n
professional h isto rian s an d th eir soci e ties can be a nalysed in a fr uitfu l
way b y the co ncep t o f co llec tive id enti ty. Alth ough th e co n ce p t o f ide nti ty, includ ing coll ective id en tity, is also hotl y d eba ted. I think it is
fu n dam e ntal for th e ana lysis o f th e practical functions of hi story. '?
T h ro ug h the co n ce p t of iden tity, the th re e tim e dim en sion s of pas t,
present. an d future ca n pl au sibl y be co n nec ted . as also indicated b yJ orn
Ru sen , Jocelyn Le tourneau , a nd J ohn Torp ey in th e ir contributio ns to
th is volume. The basic id ea is th a t pr ofessional hi sto rians a re bo th
prod uc ts and producers of th e co llec tive id e n titi es of the cultures o f
wh ich th ey are part (the ve ry same idea th at Rudin formulated in
rel a tion to Quebec).
T he secon d general th e m e brought up by Rudin is the pract ical
fu nction of hi storiog ra phical di scourse. In id entifying b oth th e tr ad itional d iscourse of diffe rence a n d the revisio n ist d isco u rse of n ormali ty
in Q ue be c hi storiog raph y. he to uc hes o n th e rel a tion ship betw ee n histo r y a nd co llec tive id e nti ty. Diffe rence sim ply p re supposes sameness or
identi ty an d th e same holds fo r no rm ality. Now, wh e never th e n o r m ali ty
of a n a tio n or of a state turn s into a n issue, thi s is th e su res t indica tio n of
a Wid espr ead sus p icio n of its abnor mality. O nl y peop le wh o se n orm ali ty
is being questio n ed seriously - by them selves or by ot h ers - a re in clin ed
to d e bat e th e issu e . T he po st-war obsessio n ofGerma n y with its Normaliuit
is a paradigma tic e xa m p le .
T he sa me sto ry h olds for th e d isco ur se o f differ ence: whenever ind ividua ls a n d co llectives tr an sform their differe n ce into an issue, thi s is the
su rest indication that th ei r e xperie n ce of being di fferent is under th rea t.
This ci rc u m sta n ce may ex p lain why the discussions ab o u t identity issu es
are un evenly distributed in space and time. T h us, both the discourses of
n o rma lity a n d the d isco urse of difference are sympto m s of p er ce ived
threa ts to id en ti ty. Fr om a co m parative poi nt of view it ma y be wort hwhil e to n o te th at we find these d iscourses not o n ly in Quebec h isto riogra p hy, b ut a lso in Engl ish-Cana d ian h istori og raphy - in th e di scu ssion
Towards a Theor etical Fram ewo rk for Co m paring Historiograph ies 29
abou t ' lim ited ide ntities ' - and ext e nsivel y in German histo riograp hy,' !
So Rudin 's secon d the m e leads to q uestions a bo u t th e relat ion b etween
history and id entity.
I shall deal with th e relation betwee n h isto r y and iden tity in two steps.
First. I shall dwell o n some of th e co ncep tu al charact eristics of the
slippery n o tion of iden tity in o r de r to eluc id a te its fu ndam e n ta lly
multiple charac ter. T h is multi pli ci ty is esse n tial for our u nd e r sta nding
of multipl icity in hi st ori og raphy. In th e secon d ste p I sha ll fill the
co ncep t of h isto rical id en ti ty wit h so me mate rial co n te nt, add ressi ng
th e rel ati onship between d iffe re n t for ms of collective ide ntity, es p ecially national id entity. religio us ide ntity. and clas s id e ntity. Further I
sha ll identify some categories an d problems that a ppear u se ful when
co m p a ri ng hi sto ri og ra phies.
The Concept of H istorical Identity
When we are refer rin g to th e id enti ty of in dividuals a nd co llectives, we
refer to the p ropertie s that make th em different from eac h o the r in a
particular frame of reference. It is o n the basis of their partic u lar set of
properties th at we ca n identify th em as in d ividuals and tell th em apart.
Id entity or sam eness a n d differen ce or othe r n ess, therefore , p res u p po se
each other: with ou t ide n tity th e re is no d ifference an d with o ut di ffere nce the re is no identity. For e xample, the n oti on o f pe rso naJ id en ti ty or
ofa 'self pr esu p po ses th e notion of the ' non-self o r the 'o th e r.' Therefore. there ca n be no Othe r in a ny absolu te se nse. because the co nce p ts
o f the Sel f an d of the Other are co nce p tually re lat ed .J2 Id entity a n d
d iffere nce a re thus fun d am en ta lly rel ational co nc epts an d are , as suc h,
fundamen tall y o pposed to essen tialist co ncep ts (wh ich im p ly th a t,
for in stan ce. n at io nh o od a n d e thn ici ty a re in va riant esse n ces) . Sam
Win eburg 's e n lig h te ni ng location of h istorical unders ta ndi ng be twee n
th e poles offam ilia rity a nd strange n ess ca n d irectly be co nnec te d to th e
dichotomy of Se lf (fa mi liarity) a n d Othe rness (str a nge ne ss) .'3And the
fundamental m u lti plic ity of descr ip tions o f identity ca n a lso be connected to its relati on al quality, because o ne can relate an y Sel f to various
Others (as is observed inJames Wer tsch 's co n tr ib u tio n to thi s volu m e on
the function o f 'a lie ns' in Russian sel f-defi n itions, and also in Pe ter Lee's
co n trib u tio n) .
This relation al qu ali ty. of cou rse . a lso h ol d s for th e n o tion of co llective
identity. We ca n ldennfy a n ' in -grou p' - a ' we' - o n ly in rel at ion to an
'out -gr o up' -a ' t hey: T he re can o nly b e inclusio n in a co lle ct ive if there
30
Ch ris Lorenz
is at the sam e tim e exclusion . The notion of a ' lim ited identity,' which
has popped up in the Eng lish-Can ad ian discu ssion, is th er efo re a category mista ke becau se iden tity is lim ited by d efinition . Th e abdication of
thi s no tion by Ram say Cook was ce r tain lyjustified .
In hi stor y we ca n observe th e relational charac te r of co llect ive identity
co nc retely because we can tra ce th e demarcati on s of in-gro ups from o utgroups in statu n ascendi. T he d isco urses on national id entity are a case in
point. For instance, th e d iscourse on Ger ma n n at ion al iden tity in th e
ea rly ninet een th ce n tury was cond uc ted by o pposing characteristics o f
th e Ge r ma ns to charac teristics of the Fren ch . In th e d isco ur ses on Dut ch
identity, to ta ke a nother exam ple, we o bse rve a cha nge fro m o pposi ng
th e Dutch to th e Fre nch in th e ea r ly ninet eenth ce ntu ry to opposing th e
Dut ch to Ge r mans fro m th e lat e nineteenth ce n tu ry o nwa rds . Sim ilar
ob ser va tion s per ta in to th e di scourse on th e Ca na d ian id entity, wher e
the Un ited Stat es ofte n fu nc tio n s as the identity ex rngatil'o. So we can
obse rve th a t represe nta tion of collective id enti ty is close ly rel ated to
other part icular co lJective identities in a negative way. Id en tity is co nstruct ed by negation, as Sp in oza, Hegel, and Foucaul t argued so me time
ago. This also hold s for th e special cases in whi ch a new ide n tity is
constructed by negatin g o ne's own former identity. Th is ph en om enon is
not unusual in th e afte rmath of traumatic experien ce : bo th ind ivid ua ls
and coll ectives m ay tr y to start a 'new life' by adopting a new ide n tity.
This transform atio n is usu ally accompanied by publicly ackno wled ging
past 'm ista kes ' and by try ing to make up for th em. The Federal Republic
of Germany offe rs a clear historical example beca use it defined itse lf
pol iticall y as th e d e mo crat ic ne gation of totalitarian Nazi Ge r many.
Because un d oing th e past is impossible by defin ition , material reparati ons for past m isdeeds a nd mo u rn ing - Trauer -: is all tha t is le ft in the
e nd.
In hist ory, th is nega tive bo nd be twee n co llec tive identities is ofte n
co n nec ted to some sense o f be ing under threat and is the refore embe dd ed in power rel ati on s. The Ge r ma ns an d th e Dutch in th e early nin eteen th ce n tury, for instance. had re cently had bad experiences with
France , bu t late r ill the ce n tury many Dutch started worrying mo re
serio usly abou t th e expan d ing Ge r man empire. Since m igh ty neigh bo ur s
ar e u sually per ce ived as (at least potentially) threate ning, the nega tive
aspects of co llec tive ide nt ities are probably most outspoken among th e
less power ful co llect ives. And because pow er re latio ns may change over
time, we ca n also expect par allel changes in the d isco ur ses of national
identities.
T oward s a Theoretical Framework for Co mparing Hlstori ographies
31
Th is negative bond between differen t co llective id en tities - th is need
of a ' n ega tion' in articulating on e 's own identity - also h elps to exp lain
an o ther im po rtant h istorical ph en om en on , th at of the coll ecti ve exclusio n o f m in orities by maj orities - ranging from dis crimination to expulsion and an nihilation - especiaJJy in peri o ds of cr isis. Such m in ori ties are
usua lly re prese n ted as some kind of aliens o r strangers who pose a th re at
to th e ver y identity of th e m aj o rity.l! Fro m th is angle. the simulta ne o us
rise of natio nal ism an d of p opular anti-Semitism in the ni net een th and
twentie th cen tu r ies is not acci de ntal, no r is th e fact that anti-Se mi tism
was es pecially vir ulen t in reg ion s with su p presse d fo r ms of nation alism ,
like in eas t-cen tral Europe. As we sha ll see in th e second part of my
co n tribut ion , weak nati on s ma y also adapt to m ig hty ne ighbou rs in
ano ther way by d efining th emselves as 'ble nds' of neigh bouring cultures
o r as in te r na tio na l mediators. T he ir co llective id entity is th en defined
not pri ma rily by negat ing other identi ties but ins tea d by absorbing
them. IS Nevertheless, the n eed to specify th e co re identity in the mix of
o thers still remain s.
Befo re we tur n to the concept of hi stori cal ide nt ity, it is important to
keep in m ind that historical identity is just one type of iden tity among
o thers. Individuals, for instance, can al so be ide nt ified through their
biological id entity, that is, their DNA profile . Moreover, in a not so
di stan t past, serious attempts have been m ad e in o rde r to identify collectives in terms of racial identity. Thus, th e ide ntification of individuals
and co llec tives in terms of historical ide ntity is no t self-evide nt and
th er efore requires an ex p lanatio n . Many h istori an s a re inclined to forget
th is fact, becau se it means that d o in g hist ory needs a n ex planatio n and a
justification . In thi s volume th e chapters by To rpey and Rusen address
th is issue , so I sha ll not deal with it here .l''
Be that as it may, whe n we are talking about th e histori cal identi ty o f
ind ividu als and co llec tives, we refe r to a type of iden tity th at is d efin ed by
its d evel opment in tim e. The paradi gm case of h istorical identity can
th er efo re be co nceived o n th e mod el of per son al ide ntity (a ltho ug h we
m ust always be ver y careful not to a ttr ibu te th e propert ies of individu als
to co llec tives) . T he ide ntity of a su bject consists of th e set of charac teristics that the subject dev elops over tim e in in teract ion with its enviro nme nt and that se t it ap ar t from simil ar subjects. This set of charac teristics
is no t ra ndom, if we are talking about h isto rical and pe rso nal ide nti ty,
but mu st rel ate to importan t charac te ristics. It is also poss ible in principle to id en tity indiv id uals th ro ug h th ei r finge rprints or iris, but we
would not associate personal id entity with pr op er ties of that kind.
32
Chris Lorenz
The same holds for the concept of historical identity. In both cases,
identity does not just mean telling individuals apart from each other
(l.e ., describing numerical id entity) ; rather, it means a characterization
of individuality (i.e ., describing a qualitative id entity). It is no accident,
th e refo re, that th e bi ography, in which an individual develops a personal
id e ntity in tim e, h as often been regarded as the paradi gm of doing
hi story (by Dilthey, for instance ) .
H istorical id entity thus has a pa ra doxical quali ty, be cause it is identity
through c ha nge in time. \Vh en we are referring to the hist orical identi ty
of Ca n ad a , we a re thus referring to a collective that retained a particular
id entity over tim e in its interactions with its environment - alth o ugh this
same Canada changed at the sa m e time. H istorical identity is therefore
essen tiall y persisten ce through c ha nge or th e identity o f ide n tity and
non-identi ty, to quote the apt Hegeli an formulati on ofOdo Marquard.' ?
Historical Identity between Particularism and Universalism
The fact that individuals and co lle ctives ca n be described in terms of
particular ch aracte ristics, co ns titut ing unique iden titi es. d o es not of
co u rse mean that co llective id en tit ies can b e d escribed in j us t o n e way.
T he mode of description is always dependen t o n the frame o f reference
th at is used by th e historian. Through the fram e of referen ce the historian co n str u cts implicit or explicit relations be twee n his cas e a nd others.
Within the framework o f Canad a, for instance. Quebec can be d escribed
as the province with a Fren ch-sp eaking maj ori ty o r as th e o n ly province
with a formal sta tus as a 'distinct so cie ty' - thus co n str uc ting a co n tras ting rel ation between Quebec a n d th e other p rovinces of Ca na da. Within
the framework o f th e new n at ions, h owever, Quebec ca n sim u lta n eous ly
be d escribed as the o n ly new n a tion in th e Ne w \\-'orld that did no t a tta in
poli tical sovere ign ty (as C erard Bouchard rece n tly a rgued ).18 Bouchard
thus co n str u cts a co n tr as tin g rel ation betwee n Quebec and new nations
lik e New Zealand an d Australia . History itsel f does not for ce a historian
to us e the former o r the latter fra m e of reference. It is. rath er, the other
way aro u n d : wh a t h isto ry looks like is more o r less defined by its representations (a lt hough . of course , history in turn defines th e ra n ge of
plausible represen tation s). The frame of referen ce in representations is
entirely dependent o n the choice of the hi stori an (althoug h th e choice
m ay be an uncon scious one . wh en the historian lacks th e im agin ation to
see th e past differently from th e way he o r sh e d oe s j.'?
The fact th at individuals a n d co llec tives ca n be descri bed in terms o f
T owards a Theoretical Framework for Comparing Historiographies
33
unique identities does not imply th at they canno t be described as similar.
Actually. this emphas is on similarity instead of on particularity was dominant in Enlightenme nt historiography, when th e diversi ty o f so-cal led
' n a tio na l characters' \\'3.5 basicall y se e n as va riety with in a common
hum an species. The va rie ty of ' n a tio n al ch ar acters' was b asicall y interpreted as the vari e ty o f thei r loc a tion on th e d evelopmen tal p at h o f
'ci viliza tio n.' Only after th e Enlightenment. under th e influence of
Romanticism , was th e particulari ty o f ea c h 'nati onal chara cte r' a n c hore d
in a p articular lan gu age; next thi s particular lan guage was tr an sformed
into a nation's es sence. What th e various <n a tion al characters' h ad in
common - their common human ity - then faded into the b ackground
(only m aking its comeback in our 'post-national ' rediscovery o f universal
human rights) . The politically e m a nci pa to ry co n te n ts of the id ea of th e
nation also evapo ra ted a fte r 1815; afte r all , th e idea o f the nati on had
be en th e justificati o n of modern represen ta tive d e m o cr acy a n d was
criti cized by conserva tives precisely for that reason . Only in th e secon d
hal f o f the n ine te en th ce n tu ry was n a tio n alis m d iscovered by co nse r vatism as a n effect ive id eol o gy in its str ugg le against unive rsalisrn a nd
dem ocracy,
To all appearan ces, the opposition between th e universalist o utlook of
the Enlightenment an d the particul a ristic outlo ok of Romanticism is still
with u s in historiog raphy today. T h is opposition m ay be lo cated in the
vari ous weights a h istori an attributes to the factor of e th n icity wit h in the
nation . Ci vic representations of nati onhood a re a direct offspring of
Enlightenment unlversalism , whil e e th n ic represen tati ons o we more to
th e particu larism of Ro manticism. P' T he sa me tensio n ca n be lo ca ted in
the debate about so-ca lle d post-nati o nal identities (like th e 'Europ ean
id entity' a n d perha ps eve n a 'NAITA id e n tity ') , a n issue brou gh t up in
Laville' s co n trib u tio n to this vo lu m e .
Wh en we stick to th e represen ta tion of n at ion al identity, th e case of
Canad a offers an exa m p le . One ca n write a hi story of Canad a as the
history o f the Canadian nation - the only legitim a te way to wri te Canadian hi story accord in g to historian s like Grana tstein . By contrast, many
Quebec hi storians see m to prefer to write the hi stor y of Canad a as the
history o f a federation originating in two n ati ons - the Bri tish a nd th e
Fr en ch . According to o th ers - a nd Margaret Co nrad is am o ng th o se this repre sentation o f Ca na da is in ad equate , because the First Na tio n s
were here long before th e French a nd the Bri tish a r rived . Therefore, the
hi story o f Ca n ada is th e histor y o f a m u ltitu de o f e th ni c gruups an d ca n
be tte r b e written as th e History of the Canadi an Peoples- in th e plura!. 2t
34
r
T owards a Theo retical Fram ework for Co mpari ng Historiographies 35
Chris Lorenz
Ca n ad a 's past can thus be represented from a national, a bi-national,
a nd a multi-ethnic perspective o r frame of re ference, ea ch with its own
blend o f universalism and particularism. Therefore, in historiography
we a re fac ed with th e pr oblem o f ho w to integr at e the differe nt perspectives, if we are not satis fied with th e observation that hi sto rical nar rati ves
just lo o k d iffe re nt. As a gr ound rule, represe n tat ion s th at in teg ra te m ore
re leva n t p ersp ectives than co mpeti ng represen ta tions in a co he re n t and
balan ce d mann er are to be pre ferred. T he more d istinct voices o f
rel evant 'Others' a re included in a co llec tive id enti ty, th e better is th e
quality o f its r e p resentation . To be brief, ] ca n introduce my view on
mul tiple perspect ives in histo riography with th ree observa tio ns.
First, the fundamental fa ct th at historian s are faced with a choice
a mong differe nt pe rspectives d oes n ot mean that th is choice is free from
e m p irical consid e rati ons, th at is, fre e from th e e vidence. It o n ly means
tha t a lt h o ug h h isto r ical evide nce d oes n o t d et ermin e the choice of
perspective in hi story, the evidence re stricts the ch oices. Second, the
rol e of e m p irical co nsi derations does n ot m ean th at th e choice of
p ersp ecti ve is free fro m nor mative co ns ideratio ns. This would be ver y
im pl au sibl e a pri o ri, be cause representations o f id e n tity o ffe r a n o rien ta tion in time (as Rusen rightly e m p has izes) an d ti m e implies p ast , presen t,
an d futu re . Th e ch o ice amon g p e rsp ec tives ca n therefore u sually b e
co n nec ted to th e ide n tity politics of the histo ri an (and neither the 'end
of ide ology' n o r 't he end of h istory' has changed this fu ndamen tal fac t
o f hi storiograph y, as Torpe y a nd Le to u rneau h ave rightly obse rve d in
thei r con tri b u tions) . As Ru sen sta tes in hi s c ha p te r, hist ori cal iden tity is a
m atte r bo th of factual a nd of n o r m a tive a rgu m e n ts at the sanu time.
The choice between multiple perspectives, th e refore, is not arbi trary;
n or d o es th e p ossibil ity of choice mean th at one pe rspect ive is as go od as
another. The "u n d e rd e re rrnin a tio n' o f th e perspe ctives by th e e vid e nce
and the rol e of normative considera tio ns only implies th at h isto rians a re
fo rced to justify th eir perspecti ves explicitly by arg u m e nts. This, again ,
can o n ly be don e by arguing for o n e perspective in relatio n to others.
Since history h as lost what we co u ld call its 'e p istemological in noce n ce ' that is, the ide a that hist ori a ns are ca pa b le of J ust telling it lik e it reall y
was' - historian s a re forced to beco me self-r efl ec tive , wh e ther th ey like it
o r not. ' Do ing h isto r y' has become more 'ph ilos o p h ical' in this sense ,
because represen tin g history implies presentin g a d ebate , tha t is, p re
se nti ng the va rious ways in wh ich th e p ast has been re presented in
tim e . The borderli n es between ' p lain ' hi stor y an d hi stori og raphy h ave
th e refore b ecome m o re porous than before.
Third, and last, respect for the evidence (and for the methodological
rules) re m ain s paramount as long as historical re p rese n ta tions cla im to
be scientific, that is, a re presented as claims to knowledge with a universal valid ity.22This claim to unive rsal vali d ity is th e basis o f a ll scie ntific
historical d ebates. Although hi stor y is abou t id e ntity, th erefore , 'i de ntity
hi story is n o t en o u gh,' to quo te Eric Hobsbawm .P So m uch fo r th e
proble m of multiple p erspectives in hi storio graphy for th e m oment.
Bouch a rd 's d escr ip tion of Q u ebec as th e o n ly new nati on that did not
a tta in sta te h ood, by th e way, o ffers a co nc re te illu str ation of wh at I h ave
said ea r lie r on ab ou t th e role of n egat ion in th e co n str u ctio n of co llective ide n tity. Boucha rd's description of Quebe c is a clear example of a
coll ecti ve that is charac te rized in terms of a n egati ve property, tha t is, in
terms o f what a co llec tive is lacking in co m pa riso n ( 0 o th ers; in Bo uc hard' s
case, sta te hood . Here th ere is a re m arkable p ar all el between Quebec
an d Ge r m an hi storiography, because Ge r many h as long be en charac terized by hi storians like H ans- Ul rich Wehler as th e only m od ern society in
th e West th at d id n o t d e velop so me kind of p arli am e n tar y d emo cra cy on
its 0""'11 . In th is se nse Ge r many is contrasted with o ther ' moder n ' co u ntri es, like Fra n ce, En gl and, a n d th e U n ite d Sta tes , In stead o f a d emo cra cy. Ge r m a ny d e vel oped aggressive auth ori ta ria n regim es. lik e the
German e m p ire o f 1871 and, last but not least, th e Third Re ich . 24
This co m p ar iso n be twee n the hi storiography of Quebec an d o f Germany sug gests th at when a co llec tive id e n tity is e xp lici tly ch a ra ct e rized in
terms o f a ' m issing' prope rty, thi s is a proper ty th at is hi ghly valued by
th e h istorian - sta te hood in Bo u ch a rd 's hi story of Que be c a nd p arliam en tar y d emoc ra cy in We hl er's histo r y o f m odern German y. In both
cases th e 'm issing' property is represented as a co nse q ue nce o f a ' false '
d evelopment in co mpariso n wit h 'good' devel op ments el sewh e re. So
both cases show n icel y how th e cons tr uctio n o f a collec tive id entity is
ne gativ el y related to o th e r co llec tive identi ties a nd is thus based on
compar isons - im pli cit or explicit. Both cas es illustrate that history
writing may be comparative. even wh en it is conce rned with o ne p articul ar case.
Historical Identity: Ingredients for th e Comparison
of Historiographies
4
I co me n ow to the seco nd part of m y con tri b ut io n , whic h co ncer ns the
empirical forms o f hi storical ide n tity as we co nfront them in hi storiog ra ph y. H ere I want to ad d ress the q u esti on of h ow we can bring some o rd e r
36
Chris Lorenz
to the multiplicity of historical representations. In order to do so we have
to develop some framework in whi ch h lstoriographies can be ' m arked'
an d compared to ea ch other. For this task we need some ways to classify
historiographics a n d thus some kind o f conceptual matrix. My a im is to
suggest some d imensions for su ch a matrix and to identify some o f th e
problems we ar e likely to fa ce .25 Alas, we sh all so on dis cover th a t there
a re quite a few o f th o se .
For re asons of effi ciency, I shall take n a tional h istoriog raph ies - h isto ry writin g in the fra m e o f the n ati on-stat e - as a ge ne ra l po in t o f
re fer e nce, be cause that is th e most usual point of departure in professional hi storiography. 1 shall propose to us e the axes of sp ace an d time as
th e first and m ost ge neral dimensions for o rd e rin g the different so rts o f
h istoriography. Because hi sto r y implies a location in sp ace a n d time, all
o bjects o f historical representation h ave spa tial a n d temporal ch aracte ristics, which ca n in pri n cipl e be u sed as a b asis fo r co m pa riso n . Next to
space a n d tim e I shall propose some other non-spatial di~en~ions. li~e
religion. clas s, race, a n d gender. At the end of my eontribution, I Will
deal with som e aspects of th e dim e n sion of tim e.
The Spatial Classification of Historiographies: Problems with
the Nation
when we ta ke the hi sto ri ography of th e natio n-sta te as o ur point of
spatial reference , we ca n differentiat e betwee n hi storiogr a p.hies o n a subnational level- suc h as villages, citi es, and regi ons - a n d unus o n a stlpra~
national level - such as mul tinational empires, particul ar su bsets o f
nations (like th e new nations), continents, cultures, civilizations, and,
last but n o t leas t, th e world. So we ca n co n str u ct an o rd e rly sch eme
conta in ing a su b-n a tio n al, a n ati onal , and a supra-natio nal level. Wh en
this sc he m e is a p p lied to co nc re te forms of historiography, h owever, we
co n fr o n t at least three kinds of problems that complicate it in practice.
The fir st problem is that of the id eological load o f vari ous spatial concepts; th e seco n d is th e p roblem of th e d ouble m ean ing o f son~ e spa t ial
co n ce pts; an d the th ird and last p roble m is that of th e esse ntially contes ted n ature o f some spa tial concep ts, th e n ati on in particul a r.
The fir st problem, that of the id eological load of some sp ati al co nce p ts, h as been put on the agen d a b y Edw ard Sa id in h is an alysis of th e
notion of th e ' O ri e n t: H e sh owed that all hou gh most sp a tia l co nce pts
look quite n eutral a n d inno cent a t first sig h t, th ey often h ave carried
important id eol o gical a n d p olitical implicati on s. As poli tics h as tr adi -
Towards a Th eor etical Framework for Co mpa ring Hissoriographles
37
tion ally contained a very important spatial dimension, this political
d ime ns io n of sp ati al orderings was perhaps to be expected. Like ' the
Orient,' the n otion o f ' the primitive ,' ' th e savage: and th e ' b a rb ar ia n'
have fulfilled sim ila r id eol o gical fu n c tio ns in the col onial encounter,
because - lik e 'the Orient' - they were u sed as th e justification of th e
domination o f 'the primitive' by its supposed o pp osite: the 'civilized'
p art o f the world (' the Occident') . In European history o f th e twentieth
ce n tu ry spatial concepts like ' Mitte le u ro pa' an d 'Asia' hav e fu lfilled
simi la r id eological fu nc tio ns , implying claims of political h egemony.
Perhaps the sp a tial n otion o f ' the wilderness,' ve rsus ' civiliza tio n ,' h as
p layed a similar role in North American h istory.
The seco n d problem with the spa tia l scheme is that th e sp ati al scope
o f a h istori cal work is n o t a lways wha t it seems. Th is realization is
im p o rtan t wh e n , for ins tan ce, we wou ld like to assess the rel a tionship
between regi o nal a n d n a tion al hi sto riographi es in, say. Canad a. \Yh at
makes su ch a n asse ssment co m p lica ted is the fact that historians m ay
cloa k th e his to r y of a region as th e hi stor y o f a nation . In that case, th e
m icro-cosm os o f th e re gio n fu nc tions as a stand -in fo r th e macro-cosm o s
of the n ation . For in stan ce , a histo ry of H oll and - th e western province
o f th e Ne th erlands - has been presented as th e history o f th e wh ol e
Netherlands. In a similar m anner, the hist ory o f Prussia has b een prese n ted as th e histor y o f Germany. And m aybe there are histories o f
O n ta rio paradi n g as h istori es o f Ca na d a. The sp ati al uni t, th erefo re, m ay
fu nc tion as a pars pro toto. This prob lem may se rio us ly co m p lica te th e
classifica tio n of hi sto riogra p h ies o n th e basis of spa tial markers.
The th ird and perhaps m ost troubling problem in our spatial scheme
is the essentiall y contested c h aracte r of its central co n ce p t: th e nation .
T he n a tion belo ngs to the sa m e catego ry as n otions like 'freedom' a n d
'd e m o cracy,' whi ch also re fuse unambig uous d efin itio n . Therefore, I
ca n only sign al th e p roblem here , wh ic h is, fundam en tall y, th at in th e
discourse on th e na tion, th e nation does not ne cessarily coinci d e with
the sta te or even with the n a tion-state. Sometimes sp a tial units a t a substa te level , like provinces (Q ue be c. for in stan ce) or tribal a reas ( th e Fir st
Nation s, for in stance ) a re represented as n ati ons. And so meti mes n atio n s (lik e th e British o r th e German nations in th e n in eteenth a nd th e
first h alf of th e twen tieth ce nturies, or th e Alb ani an and the Kurdish
n ations in the present) a re re p rese n te d as supra-national units, th at is, as
units exceed ing the bord e rs o f a nation-state . The nation therefore has a
very fuzzy e xt e n sion.
To m ak e th e d efin itional pr oblems o f th e nation wo rse still, th e re are
38
Chris Lorenz
a few collectives identified as nations without a ' place of their own ,' th at
is, without an identifiabl e spat ial a nc ho r. The J ews, th e Sinti, and Ro ma
are well- kn own examples in Eu ropean histor y. So, al tho ug h th e rule is
th at n ati ons are usually asso ciated with some spatial location, th ere are
also exc e p tio ns to this rule .
These definitional issues co uld perhaps be reg arded as only annoying
if th er e wer e no serious p ractical problems att ached to them. This
happen s to be the case, h owever , because the issue o f colle ctive id entityand es pecially of national id entity - is firmly co nn ected to the issue of
co llec tive rights. Sin ce col lec tive identity is reg ard ed as the bas is a nd as
th e justification o f co llective rights - includ ing po litical autonomy issu e s of co llec tive identity may have seri ou s polit ical implication s. T he
h isto r y o f nati onalism presents a d ear case (and Laville in hi s cha pte r
rightly points at the intima te re lations h ip be twee n th e rise of th e h isto rica l p rofe ssion and that of th e nation-state ) . Becau se representatio ns of
coll ective identity are usually anc hore d in th e past. th e representation of
hi storical ide n tity ma y have se rio us political implica tio ns too. This is,
of co urse, eviden t in Can ad a , where the claim to po litical a uto nomy
of th e Q uebecois has always been based o n th e re presen ta tion o f the
French -speaking majori ty as a nation. 26 By implicat ion , according to this
view, Ca na da is not a nation, but only contains n ations - in the plural (as
Letourneau emphasizes in hi s cha p ter j .F
The First Nations offe r an other clear example of th e political implication s linked to the re presen tati on of collec tive id en tity: the Nisga' a
Trea ty of 1998 , which re stored th e co llec tive righ ts of thi s First Nation to
its former heartland, offe rs a clear e xam ple, unde rsco ring th e pract ical
di m ension of historical representati on .P'
O f course it is no t th e task of profe ssio nal historia ns to solve these
p ra ctical issues - this is a matter of politics - bu t I do think that it is a task
of p rofessio nal hi sto rian s to clari fy the hi storica l roo ts of p oliti cal problems. (I d o not say thi s is th e ir o nly task , o n ly th at it is a very importa n t
o ne.) In practice , thi s a mou n ts to th e identification and th e integration o f
th e differ ent and o ften co n flicti ng pe rspectives pertain ing to presen t-day
issues. Th is ide n tificatio n an d co mbi natio n of perspectives is th e most
practical me aning of str iving for objectivity in history that 1 know of.
Striving after objectivity in th is sen se is a necessar y co ndi tio n for scientific
history, be cause striving aft er truth is not enough .P' This, by th e way,
would at the same time be my int erpretation of furthering the cau se of
'histo rical co nscio usness,' because 'obj ective ' h isto r y in this sense fu rth er s
the u nders tanding of th e h istor ical origins of pr esen t-day problem s.
Towards a Theoretical Framework for Comparing Hi sto riographies
39
Th e attempt to classify historiog raph ies o n the basis of th e spa tial
dimension has thus led us to and throu gh th e swa mps of th e na tio n int o
the battlefie lds of h istoriography. We ca n co nclude th at , to a ce r tain
degree, the battl es for space in th e past are still con tinued in their
present-day historiographical represen ta tions. This cir cu mstan ce su.ggests that it is n ei th er realistic nor reason able to e~pect co.nse nsus 10
h istoriography. As in po litics, th e most we can stnve for IS a sound
knowledge of the d ifferent points of view, leading to a m aximum of
e m pa thy a nd to m utua l understanding of past and pr esen t position s.
This ca n o n ly be ac hieved, as I ar gued ea rlie r o n, by presenting h istory in
th e form of a debat e a mo ng differen t and o fte n co nflicting re prese ntation s. Th is mode of prese ntation is fit not on ly for university classes, but
also for his tory education in schoo l. I m us t ad mit that to me this is a ne w
in sigh t, be cau se I have often heard the argumen t th at young ch ildre n
m ust fir st get o ne picture of the past before raisi ng the problem of
alte r na tive pi ctur es.
O verlapping and Competing Identities
T he battle for spac e, however, is far fro m being the only serious battlefield in historiogr aphy. The multiple re pr esentations of what co nst itutes
a nation are just o ne instance of th e ge ne ral phenomenon of overlapping and competin g ide n titie s in hist ori ography. This ph en o menon was
to be ex pected because, as I h ave argued ea rlier, hist o rical ide n tity can
be represented in vario us (t ho ug h no t ar bit ra ry) wa~s. No w nati o~ al
id entities usually ove rlap and so metimes co m pe te with o ther spatial
identities - suc h as regi onal identities o r they may co mpete with o ther
nation al iden tities (es pe cia lly in bo rde rla nds) .'" However, th ey may also
co m pe te with n on- spatial types o f co llect ive identity, suc h as re lig ious,
rac ial, class, and ge nde r ide n tities . An d to co mplicate this co mplex
situa tion still furthe r, different rep resenta tion s of the same co llec tive
identity ma y co m pe te and co nflic t with o ne ano the r - as in the case o f
31
co nflicting e th nic and civic definition s of the nation.
Since th e Refor mat ion and th e sepa ratio n of Protesta nt ism from
Cath olicism, th er e ha s often been a close re lati o nsh ip between religious
and national co llec tive iden tities. Especially since the n ineteenth century among nation s with a problematic existence as a poli tical e n tity, like
the Poles, th e Irish , the Italians, and the Hungars, th is rel ationship
be tween nation ality and religion h as been especially close . Q uebec is far
from unique see n in this fram e o f refe re nce.
1
40
Ch ris Lore nz
In the co ntex t o f an a na lysis of ' h isto rica l co n scio usn ess' in th e b road
se ns e , th e in te rre lations betwee n nati o n al an d reli gio u s id en ti ty ma y
re q u ire fu rth er attention, because they h ave more in co m m o n th an is
u sually assum ed. Recently it h as b een a rg ue d th a t n a tionali sm and
reli gi on a re bas ical ly com pa ra ble p he nome na, fu lfilling simi lar c u ltu ra l
functions a nd usin g similar cultural mec ha nism s. The cu lt o f the n a tion
bears a clear rese m b lan ce to religi ou s cults: both ar e ce ntred on a sacred
dogma an d a sac re d object - God a n d th e Nation . Bot h h ave sa cred
symbo ls and bo th h ave a fixed ca le n d a r a nd fixed pl ace s fo r th e ir
r ituals - th e ch u rches a nd th e n ation al monu m e nts. Bo th wo rsh ip sp ecial persons, who are regard ed as mediato rs betwee n th e worlds o f the
sacred an d th e p rofa n e. In re ligio u s cul ts th ese special pe rsons are the
sai nts a n d m a r tyrs; in na tional cu lts they ar e n ati on al heroes. especia lly
the ones wh o fou nded th e Na tio n a n d th ose who sacrifice d their lives for
the Na tio n . In both vio le nt d eat h in d efen ce of th e Sacred Cause is
represen ted as wo rth y and m ean ingfu l - as a sacrifice - because it h el ps
the co mm unity to contin ue its cu lt a nd its exis tence .V T hus, in bo th
cases we usually encoun ter a re vere n ce for th e d ead . Bo th essentially
d efine m oral co m mun itie s that defi n e th e bord e rs of hu m a n so lidari ty.
T he co ncept of cha ra cter can th u s be reg ard ed as the sec u lar ized version
of the concept of the soul a n d th is also a pp lies to the idea of ' natio na l
c h a racte r: The relati o n a n d competition between n a tio nal and religious
identity th e refo re is an im portant one from a com parative pe rspect ive.
T he co m petitio n of n at ional a nd ethnic iden ti ties with class , racial.
and ge n der identities is of more re ce n t d at e than th ei r co m p e titio n with
re ligious id en tity. Ra cial identi ty has compe ted with nation al id en tity in
all co lo nial e nc o u n te rs (o u tsid e an d insi d e Eu ro pe) and wh eneve r natio na l identity was con ce ived of in biological te r ms, as in th e Nazi pe r iod.
Class id e n tity h as only be en a co m pe tito r of na tional identity in the
ni netee nth ce n tur y and u nder twentieth-eentury communism . Ge nder
identity is q u ite a noth er case: gende r has n o t been so much a co llective
iden tity in co m pe titio n with th e n ati on as it has been a n an alytica l
catego r y u sed to d et e rmine th e gend e red nature of represe ntatio ns of
th e nation (th in k of th e notion of the Fathe rland!) .
T h us, collective id e n ti ty ca n be de fined in terms o f spatial marks, in
te rms o f n on -sp a tial m a r ks, a nd also in term s o f co mbinations of spa tia l
and non-sp atial marks . An d althoug h pure geographic de te r minism
n owadays finds few d efenders, we shou ld not fo rget th a t ' n a tio n al chara cters' h ave fo r a lon g tim e been ex p lained in term s of geography (a n d
Towards a Th eoretical Fram ewo rk for Co m paring Hlsto rtog raphies
41
its co rrela te . the cli ma te) . im p lying a reduct ion o f th e non-spatial ma rks
to th e sp at ial o n es. We still confront ec h oes of geographic dete rmin ism
in the discourses on n a tional iden tity; Mon tesquieu was ce r ta in ly not the
last th in ker alo ng th ese lines. Fo r in stance , the Dutch n atio n al id e ntity
has so meti mes been locat ed in the str uggle of the Dut ch against the
surroun d ing waters , while Swiss na tional id e n tity h as so metimes bee n
lo cat ed in t he Alps ." The spa tia l lo ca tion o f Can ad a' s n ati o n al id en ti ty
in the co nstruction of th e Canadia n Paci fic Railway is thus not u nique ,
a nd its myth ical ro le may eve n be co m pa red to th a t of the constr uction
o f th e fam ous Dutch d ikes (a lt hough the last ac h ieve me n t was ne ver
claim ed by o ue compa ny) .
Openness and Cl osure of National Id entity
Ne xt to th e ch a racte rizatio n of co llective id e n tities in terms of spatial
and n on-spa tial marks, it seems m eani ngful to a na lyse re presentations?f
natio na l identity on th e co n tinuum between openness a nd clo sure ID
re la tio n to o ther natio n s. In th e first part o f t his ch ap te r I mentioned th e
fact th a t so m e nations h ave defin ed their id entity as be ing media tors of
other cultures, e m p has izing th e ir openness to other n a tio nal id en tities.
T he representation of Ca nada's national iden tity as a ' m osa ic' is pr obab ly th e clearest example of this fascinating phe no me no n. b u t seen in a
.
co m p ara tive perspective Canada is - again - far from un iq u e .
It is pro b a bly significant th a t the nati onal identities of Be lgi um. SWItzerlan d, and the Netherlan ds (no t a fed eral state!) h ave also at tim es
bee n repre sented as me d iatin g b etween various othe r cu ltu res. In all
th ese cas es th e natio n s th a t re present th e m selves as ' m ed ia to rs' are
those with powe rful n eighbour sta tes . The refore. th e e m p hasis o n th e
mediating fu nctio ns and o n the relative 'o pe n ness' of a na tion is p ro bab ly co nnected to its re lative p o litica l weakness. T he emp hasis o n a
na tion 's ab sorbing qu alities a nd its international m edi a ti n g functions
may the refore be inte rpret ed as a su b lim ation o f its rel a tive poli tica l
impote nce. This, at least, can plaus ib ly be arg ued for the hi sto r y of
se veral sm all Eu ropean nation s, an inte rp retation also backed u p by
inter n atio na l-rel a tions th eor y. This sub limation eve n m ay lead to a redefini tio n of a n ati o n 's a r m ed forces into a co rps of UN peacekeepers
(as is exemplified by the Netherla n ds , th e Sca nd inavia n co untries, an d
Ca n ad a) . However this may be, it see m s worthwhile to test thi s h ypothesis in an internation al co m p a riso n .
42
Chris Lorenz
Historical Identity and Temporal Markers
Now that I have indicated some spatial and non-spatial marks of collective identity and also the relevance of openness and closure for comparative historiography, I want - at last! - to say a few words about the role of
the axis of time. Since historical identity was defined here as identity
through change in time, at least some clarification of the role of time in
comparative historiography is needed. I shall touch on only two issues of
historiography connected to time. The first is the issue of origins; the
second issue concerns the relationship between time and space. For
efficiency reasons I again shall take the historiography of the nation as
my point of departure.
First the issue of origins. Because all representations of historical
identity deal with changes in time, all historical representations are
faced with the temporal problem of origins. Before the changes of
national identity can be investigated, its existence and thus its genesis
must be clarified - unless we presuppose that collective identities are
naturally given and that their existence does not require explanation. In
that case, however, we are by definition no longer dealing with history, so
I can leave this possibility aside. Therefore, we expect that a history of a
collective identity - say of the Canadian nation - will inform us about its
origins in time. However, the question 'Where did the Canadian nation
come from?' already presupposes what must be clarified, that is: the
existence of a Canadian nation. But as we have observed (see also
Letourneau's and Laville's chapters), the existence of the Canadian
nation is essentially contested, and therefore we can expect the same
contest concerning its origins. The two sorts of contests always go together and for good reasons. Canada shares this problem of contested
origins with most of the other new nations (including those in the
Old World that belonged to former multinational empires, like the
nations of the former Habsburg empire). Other nations probably
have less-contested origins, but this too is still a matter of empirical
investigation.
The second and last temporal problem I want to signal is the relation
of time and space in historiography. Although most histories are written
within a national frame of reference - without explicit comparison to
other nations - they usually contain many implicit temporal references
to other nations. This temporal reference to other histories is contained
in notions like being 'late' or 'modern,' or in notions of 'retardation' or
of being 'ahead' and so on. In this way the time axes of different
Towards a Theoretical Framework for Comparing Historiographies
43
histories are often connected to each other and transformed into one
time axis - that of world time. Sometimes this can be done in an explicit
way, as it is by all sorts of developmental schemes and theories. Modernization theory is probably the best-known example. The Enlightenment
conception of ongoing 'civilization' and the Marxist theories of history
provide other examples of the construction of one time axis for the
whole world.
Now the construction of one world time leads to a direct connection
between space and time by transforming spatial relations into temporal
relations, as the German historian Sebastian Conrad has pointed out in
his ingenious comparison of German and Japanese historiography"
Through the introduction of world time, historians have interpreted the
spatial variety of nations, economies, and so on in terms of different
positions on the axis of time; that is, in terms of different phases of the
same development. Differences in geography are thus transformed into
differences in time: being culturally or economically different - for
example, China in relation to the United States - is thus transformed
into being 'late' or being 'early: The result, in Conrad's terms, is a
temporalization of space. So much for the temporal markers of historical identity.
Summary
In this contribution I have proposed some concepts that may be useful
when we are comparing historiographies. (The question of why to compare historiographies I have dealt with elsewhere.P"
I have introduced some important general problems of comparative
historiography using the example of Quebec historiography as analysed
by Ronald Rudin. The first general theme concerns the relationship
between historiography and historical consciousness in a broader, societal sense. The second and related general theme concerns the practical
functions of historiographical discourse. I have argued that the debates
among Quebec historians that were centred on the difference and/or
the normality of Quebec society exemplified the identity-eonstruing
dimensions ofhistoriography. Next, I suggested that both general themes
can best be elucidated through the notion of historical identity. Thus, I
have proposed to take the concept of historical identity as the bridge
between historiography and society; it is introduced, therefore, as the
central notion for the matrix of comparative historiography.
Next, I defined the concept of historical identity in order to highlight
44
Towards a T heore tical Framew ork for Co mpari n g Histo riog raphies
Chris Lo re nz
so me o f its fu n da m e n ta l features. I proposed to d efine hi stori cal id entity
basicall y as id e n tity th rough c ha nge in time. Further I elucidated th e
fundamental rel a tional n a ture o f identi ty. The fu ndame n tal multip lici ty
o f histo rical identity is a conseq u e n ce of th is relatio n al nature.
Further to its multiplicit y, I el abora ted on the 'e xc lusive ' nature of
identity, le ading to its 'nega tive bond' to other identi ties. Last but n o t
least. I poin ted at the circumstan ce that although id entity implies p articulari ty, the weighting a n d evalu atio n of p arti cul ar and general characteristics is a co m p le te ly d iffe ren t m a tte r. T he En lighte n m e n t trad itio n
tends to e m p h asi ze th e g ene ral features, whil e th e tra d ition rooted in
Romanticism tends to p u t va lue o n the p ar ticu la r feat u res o f iden tity.
In the secon d part of my co n tri b u tio n , I ide n tified so me funda m e n tal
di m ensions of a matri x th a t ca n be u sed for classifying types o f hi sto riogra p hy. I suggested th at the d im e n sions of space a n d tim e can be take n as
th e m o st genera l markers of h isto ri ograp hy, alt hough both type s o f
marke rs show problems wh en a p p lie d . In th eo r y th e spa tial di m e n sio n
can be n eatl y differentiat ed in to a su b-na tional. a n at ional , a n d a su pran a tio n al level, but thi s o rder is threatened in p ra ct ice by the esse nti all y
co n tested nature of its ce ntral level, that of th e nat ion. I argued that
represen tati ons of the n at io n a re so contested beca u se they are u sed as
justificati ons of collective righ ts. Moreover, th e sp atial scope ofhisto ri ography ap pe ars not alway s to be what it seems.
N ext to the spatial mark ers o f historiograp hy. I id e ntified non-sp a tial
m arke rs, lik e religion, race, class , a n d gende r id enti ties. By this rou te we
confron te d th e phenom e n o n of o verlapping and co m p e ting id entities.
Reli g io us iden tity a p peare d especially to h a ve mo re in com mon with
national id en ti ty th an is u su all y ass u med.
The dime nsio n of open n ess a n d closu re of id entit ies also tu rn ed out
to be importan t in hi stor y. N ati ons with p owe r ful n e ighbours es pecially
may cultivate o pe n ness instead of clo sure , a n d I suggested that this m ay
be in te rp re te d as a su b li mation o f th ei r rel a tive p olitical weak n ess.
The last two marke rs I add re ssed rel a te to th e tem poral d im e n sion .
First . I e xplo re d the fact t ha t a ll representations o f histo rical id en tity
must face th e p roblem of the ir origin s. As a consequence, debates abo ut
historical id e n tity alwa ys shade off into de bat es ove r o rigin s. Se co nd, I
showed that spatial rela tions are sometimes transfo rmed into tempo ral
relations through the con struction of world time. In that case, sp at ial
differe n ces a re explain ed as different locatio n s o n o n e time ax is. A
matrix fo r co m p ar ing hi storiogr ap hies should th er efore e n co m pass th is
everuual tte m pora liza tio n of sp ace .'
45
Notes
Ronald Rudin , Making History in Twentuth .C.rotury Q!.ubec (Toron to: Unive rsity of Toronto Press, 1997) .
I shall not go in to th e rec eption of an d d eb ate on Rudin 's book h ere. See,
for references to reviews, Rudin's answer to his critics in 'On Differen ce and
National Identity in Quebe c Historical Writing: A Response to j ean-Mari e
Fecteau,' Canadian Jlistarical Review80 (2000) : 666-76. See also the qu ite
differ ent evaluations of Rudin by Ramsay Coo k in Histoire sociale / Social
HisWry 33 (1999) : 12(}- 3 and by j an Noel in Uni,,,,,i'y of 7Mon'" Qy.arlerly 68,
no . I (199S-9): 523-5.
See , fo r co mparative historiog raph y, Ch ris Lorenz, 'Co mpara tive Historiog rap hy: Probl ems and Perspe ctives,' History and 11uory38, no. 1 ( 1999):
25-39.
I rega rd th e term ' co llective memory' as h igh ly pr oblematic, be cau se it
pre supposes a coll ective subject with th e ab ility to reach ba ck to un med iated
co llec tive pas t experie nce. Th e pr esupposition of bot h a un itar y co llective
subject and an u u medi ated con tact with some collective experien ce ar e n OI
valid. Alth ou gh simila r objections co uld be ra ised agai nst the co nce p t of
' h istorical conscious ness,' Peter Seixas's definition of hi storical co nscio usness avoids th ese p roblems by defining it in ter ms of the multiple ways in
which the past is h and led in collectiv es. See Kerwin L. Klein 's fun da m en tal
critique in h is 'O n the Em ergen ce of Mem or y in Historical Discou rse ,'
R.efm,rn'ations 69 (2000) : 127-50.
In a research p roj ect of the Un iversity of Hanover co nce r ning th e representation s of th e Nazi period, it has bee n establishe d th at the family ver sions
of th e Nazi past often show ver y little sim ilarity with th e find ings of p ro fessional h istor y. See Harald Welzer et al., N ationasozi alismu s u nd Holocaust im
Familienged niichlnis (Fra nkfurt; Fischer, 200 2).
6 Granatstein's The KilbngojCo. nadian History is ma tch ed in Aust ralia by Keith
wtndsc h u u le's 1"MKilling of History: How Ji tn"ary Criticsand Sociai Theotists
ATt" MurdningOur Past (New York: T he Free Press, 1997). In England.
Rich ard Evans, In Difenaof HistOTY (London: Cranta Books. 1997). is a
better-balance d critique o f the tex tuali sric approach es o f cultura l stud ies.
Evans' s boo k also lacks the n ostalgia for good o ld na tio n al histor y th at
ch aracter izes bot h Gra n atstein and Win dsch uttl e. See, fur th er, Ton y
Taylor's contribu tion to this volume.
7 Jonathan Van ce , 'Th e For mulatio n of Histo rical Consciousness: A Ca se
Study in Literatu re,' paper presented at UBC sympos ium , August 200 1
(h ttp:// www.cshc.uhc.ca / .i ewahstrac t.ph pi'ide 19).
46
Ch ris Lo re nz
8 As Van ce shows in 'The Formulation of Histo rical Co nsciousn ess,' on First
Wo rld War literat u re.
9 As obse rved in Theresa Rogers, ' Un derstand ing in th e Abse nce of Mean ing:
Coming o f Age Narratives o f th e Holocau st,' paper presente d at UBC
sym posium , August 2001 (http: // www.csh c.ubc.ca/ viewabstract.p h p?id= 11).
10 See , e.g., H. Berding, ed ., N ationales BeumjJtsein und kollektive Identitiu: Studien
zur En twicklu ng des kollektiven Bt:WUjJtscin in der Neuzeit (Fran kfu rt a.M.: Suhrkam p 1996); A. Assmann and H. Friese , eds, lden titdten: Erin nerung; Cesdudue ,
Identiuit (Fra n kfurt a. M: Suhrkamp, 1998); and Lutz Niet hammer, Kolkktitl('
Identiuu: Heimliche Q!.telk n nun- u nheimli rhen Konjunktur (Hamb urg : Rowohl t,
2000) . I h ave deal t with thi s issue in my boo k Konstruktum do Verg angmJuit
(Co log ne : Boh lau, 1997) ,400-37.
11 I have d eveloped th is argum ent in 'Comparati ve Histori ograp hy.' Fo r th e
d iscussion see Ph ilip A. Buckner, " Limited Ident ities" Revisited : Region alism an d Nationalism in Can ad ian Histor y,' Acadiensis 30, n o. 1 (2000) : 4-1 6 .
12 See Steve Gait Crowe ll, 'T here Is No O th er : Note s o n the Logi cal Place or a
Con cept,' Paideuma 44 (1998 ): 13-29.
13 See Sam w tneburg, ' Histo rical T h inki ng and O ther Un natural Acts,' pap er
pr esent ed at VBC symposium, August 200 1, (h n p.y/ www.cshc. ubc.cay
viewabstract. p h pi 'idez l ) .
14 Sim mel's sociology of th e stranger is relevant in thi s co nt ext.
15 The Belgian historianJo Tollebe ek (Leuven) has identified th is phenomenon in an unpublished pap er, 'Nation al Iden tity, Int ern ation al Eclecticism
and Com para tive Hi stori og raph j;' p re sen ted inJune 2000 in Oslo , Norw ay.
16 I have d ea lt with th e fu nction s and justificatio n o f hi sto r y in my ar ticle
' Histo r y, fo rms of Represen tation and Fun ctio ns,' in Neil Sme lser and Pau l
Balt us, ed s, l ntemasiona l Ency dopedia of flu> Social & Beha uiom l Sciences (O xford : Elsevier; 2001 ),10: 6835-42.
17 Odo Marquard , Apologie des Zuja /ligm (Stu ttga rt : Reelam , 1986 ), 361.
18 Gera rd Bou chard , Genese des nations et cultures du Nouveau M onde: Essai
d7listoiT~rompa tie (Mon tre al: Edi tions de Borea l, 20(0).
19 I ha ve d evelop ed thi s argume n t at g reater length in ' Historical Knowledge
and Historical Real ity: A Plea fo r "in te rna l realism,..' in Brian Fay, Ph ilip
Pomper, and Richa rd T. vann, eds, History and Theury: Contemporary'&adin gs
(Cambridge: Blackwell , 1998) , 342-77.
20 Roger Brubaker 's sharp d icho to my between (Fre n ch) civic na tionalism
and (German ) ethnic na tion alism has, howeve r, recently been under attack
as to o sche matic. See Bru bakcr, Citiu m hip and Nati onhood in France and
lJt'T711any (Camb ridge, MA: Har vard Universi ty Press, 199 2) an d Dieter
Toward s a Th eor etical Framework fo r Co mpa ring Hist ori ographies
47
Gosewinkel. 'Staatsangehorigkeit in Deu tsehl and u n d Frankreich im 19 .
u nd 2O.Ja h rh u ndcrt,' in J . Kocka and C. Co nrad, eds, SlaalSbiirgt'fScluJjtin
Europa : Historisdu Erfahrungrn u nd aklUl'lle Debatten (Hamburg: Ko rbe r
Stiftu ng, 2001 ). 48-62.
21 Margaret Con rad , Alvi n Finkel, and Co rneliu sJ aen en, History oflm Canadian Peoples, 2 vols (Tor onto : Copp Clark Pitm an , 1993).
22 See J orn Rusen, Grundzilgt'einer Historik, 3 vols (Gotti ngen : Vand enhoeck &
Ruprech t, 1983-9) and my Konstrukt ion der Vergangmheit.
23 Eric Hobsbawm, ' Id entity H isto ry Is Not Enough ,' in Hob sbawm, On l/istory
(Lo ndon: Abacus, 1997). 35 1~7.
24 For an overview of th is Ge r man d ebate see my art icle ' Beyo nd Good and
Evil? The German Empire of 1871 and Mod er n Ge rman Historiograph y,'
[ ournal of Contnnpomry History 30 (1995): 729-67.
25 For a recen t inven tor y see Stefan Berger 's unpublishe d paper 'Construction
and Deco nstruction of Nat ional H istoriograph ies' (Stra sbo u rg , 2001 ) an d
Lex Heer ma van Voss and Marcel van d er Und en, eds , Class and Other
Identities: Entries to Wt:{tEuropron Labour Histmiography {New York: Berg ha h n
Books,2002) .
26 See, e.g ., Lawren ce McFalls. ' Getr en nt sind wir star k: Der kan ad ische
Fode ralismus als Mod el1?' Komparativ8 , no. 4 ( 1998) : 15-31.
27 See Hamish Telfor d , The Federal Spending Pmuerin Canada: Nation-Bu ilding or
Nation-Destroying? (Kingsto n , 1998; Institut e of In tergovernmen tal Relations,
Working Pap er Series 1999, 4) , 12: ' Can adi an s outside Quebec seem blissfu lly una ware that th e federal barga in with Quebec may h ave been broken .
T he majority of Cana d ians o uts ide Q uebec have an identity th at correspo nds to th e Canadian state . Ind eed , th ey ra ther p resum ptu ously rega rd
Can ada as th e n ation , mu ch to the constern au on of th e Quebecois . As
n ation alists, m any Ca na d ians ou tside Quebe c be lieve th at sovereig n ty
sh ou ld be vested with th e fed eral go vernment. Many Can adians outside
Qu ebec have bee n highl y suspicious of th e fed eral p rinci ple an d th e co nco mita nt n oti on of sha re d sovereignty, and they are stro ng supporters of
federal socia l p rogrJ.ms, especially Med icare . Indeed , he alth insu ran ce
seems to have becom e a part o f th e Ca nadi an ide n tity outside Q uebec.'
28 See the special issue o n the Nisga'a Trearyo f RCStudie:s, 120 (winter 1998/ 9 ).
29 The basic argu ment is tha t tr u th is only a necessa ry but n o t a sufficient
co nd ition for objectivity. See my articl e "'You got yo ur h~.story, I got m ine":
Som e Reflections o n Truth and Objectivity in History,' Ouerreiduscne
Zeitschrift fii r Geschidusunssenschajt en 10, no . 4 (1999 ): 563-85.
30 See Marga ret Conrad , ' Histo rical Co nsciousness, Regional Identity an d
48
Chris Lo re nz
Public Policy; paper presented at UBC symposium, August 2001 (http://
31
32
33
34
35
www.csh c.ubc.ca/viewabstrdct.php?id=3 ) ; Buckn er, "Limited Iden tities"
Revisited. '
In th is co n text, the fact that Ge r m any only re cently ch anged its ethnic
definition o f nationho od in to a civic one illu stra tes th e actuality o f th is
issue .
Van ce 's pape r o n th e an ti-war novel (see no te 7) illustra tes in an exem plary
form wh at happens to th ose who cas t d oubt o n th is kind of Sacred Cau se.
Fo r th e d ebate o n Dut ch id enti ty see Rob van Gin kel, Gp z.n,fflnaarngrnheid:
Drnk beelden en discussiesouer cuhu ur rn idetuueit in Nededand (T he Hagu e:
SDU Pu blish ers, 1999 ). For Swiss id en tity see Oliver Zimmer, ' In Search of
Natu ra l Identity: Alpine Landsc ape an d the Reco nstr u ction of th e Swiss
Nation; Compa ratioe Studies in Society and History 40 (1998). 637-65 .
Se bastia n Cc n rad. Aufder SUlM nods der vedorenen Na tion: Gesdudusschreibung
in W<'SUUu/$doland undJapan 1945-/960 (GOttingen: Vandenhoec k &
Ru p recbt, 1999).
Lo ren z, ' Co m para tive Histo riogra p hy.·
Specific Narratives and
Schematic Narrative Templates
JAMES V. WERT SCH
As Pet e r Seixas no tes in hi s in troduc tion to thi s volume, co n te m porar y
analyses of h isto rical co nsciou sness draw o n many dis ciplin es and in tellectual traditio ns. Th ese include edu ca tion , history, m e mo r y stud ies,
psychology, an d muse um studies. This makes fo r an interesting an d lively
d iscussio n , but it also presents a challenge when we are tr ying to fin d a
shared fo cus. T he range of voices is som etimes so wid e tha t it is diffic ult
(0 kn ow whether they ar e all involved in the same di scu ssio n at all.
Mo tivated by suc h co nce r ns, Se ixas arg ues fo r the ne ed to find co m mon
and ove rlapping th em es th a t will faci litat e cross-fert ilizatio n .
In my view, a topic that p resents itse lf as an excell en t candid at e in th is
regard is narrative . Brun er! has arg ue d for th e nee d to pl ace narrative at
the cen tr e o f cultura l psycho logy and th e analysis of h um an co nscio usness more ge nerall y, an d scholars in literar y studies.f psycho an alysis,3
and the ph iloso ph y of histo r y' have m ad e similar clai ms. Such argume nts abo ut the impo r ta nce of nar ra tive fo r th e human scie nces ap ply
now here mo re ob viou sly than in th e study of co llective me m or y and .
hi sto rical conscio usn ess.
A bold version o f th e so rt of appro ach I have in mind can be fou nd in
Alasdair Macln tyrc 's asse r tio n that ' man is in his actions and p ra ct ice , as
well as in his fict ion s. essen tially a sto ry-telling animal. P Maclntyre expands upon this claim by arguing th at individuals d o no t crea te these
sto r ies o u t o f no thing, as if in some kind of to tall y o rigina l, creative act.
In stead:
We enter h u man society ... with on e or mo re im pu ted cha ra cters- ro les into
which we ha ve been d raf ted - an d we have to learn wha t th ey are in o rd er to