tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post6926140784637420766..comments2024-03-28T02:46:03.227-04:00Comments on The Historical Society: The Perspective that History Gives UsRandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16755286304057000048noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-18704842459329049672011-04-29T07:56:56.578-04:002011-04-29T07:56:56.578-04:00I'm a big fan of the idea of the foreign-ness ...I'm a big fan of the idea of the foreign-ness of the past. The last thing historians need to do is flatten out distinctions between the present and, say, the Revolutionary era. <br /><br />At the same time, there's a slight danger that historians will paint themselves into an antiquarian corner when they give up on a usable past.Randallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16755286304057000048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-14337114071695911252011-04-28T17:32:57.068-04:002011-04-28T17:32:57.068-04:00Gah! Every blog I look at today is rattling my cag...Gah! Every blog I look at today is rattling my cage about the relationship of the present to the past, and vice versa.<br /><br />I guess I should stop looking at history blogs. ;)<br /><br />This is an interesting take on a question which continues to vex me. <br /><br />I guess I'm worried about "the leap" between whatever past we're looking at -- say, antebellum social reform movements -- and whatever present applications it may have -- say, environmental activism. (I'm just pulling something out of thin air here.)<br /><br />How one draws that line from past horizons to present questions without implying a linear connection between two vastly different contexts is a puzzle to me. I'm not saying it ought not to be tried. I just don't quite know how to do it yet.LDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09742066809468902814noreply@blogger.com