The Idea Of Historical Recurrence In Western Thought

The concept of viewing historical change as a cyclical process is analyzed, beginning with the works of Polybius, historian of the Roman empire, and ending with Machiavelli, with an examination of the biblical concept of historical change

The idea that history repeats itself has a long and intriguing history. This volume is concerned with the period of time in the Western tradition when its expressions were most numerous and fervent. The author shows that this idea should not be confined to its cyclical version, for such notions as reenactment, retribution, and renaissance also belong under the wide umbrella of "recurrence." He argues, moreover, that not only the Greco-Roman but also the biblical tradition contributed to the history of this idea. The old contrast between Judeo-Christian linear views of history and Greco-Roman cyclical views is brought into question. Beginning with Polybius, Trompf examines the manifold forms of recurrence thinking in Greek and Roman historiography, then turns his attention to biblical views of historical change, arguing that in Luke-Acts and in earlier Jewish writings an interest in the idea of history repeating itself was clearly demonstrated. Jewish and early Christian writers initiated and foreshadowed an extensive synthesizing of recurrence notions and models from both traditions, although the syntheses could vary with the context and dogmatic considerations. The Renaissance and Reformation intertwine classical and biblical notions of recurrence most closely, yet even in the sixteenth century some ideas distinct to each tradition, such as the Polybian conception of a "cycle of governments" and hte biblical notion of the "reenactment of significant events," were revived in stark separation from each other. The Idea of Historical Recurrence in Western Thought deals with a continuing but not always fruitful "dialogue" between the two great traditions of Western thought, a dialogue that did not stop short in the days of Machiavelli, but has been carried on to the present day. This study is the first half of a long story to be continued in a second volume on the idea of historical recurrence from Giambattista Vico to Arnold Toynbee. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1979.

Presents 17 contributions written by an international group of historians addressing the intercultural dimension of historical theory. The editor's introduction discusses historical thinking as intercultural discourse and presents ten hypotheses that aim to define Western historical thinking. Scholars from Asia and Africa comment on his position in light of their own ideas about the sense and meaning of historical thinking. The volume wraps up with comments on the questions and issues raised by the authors and suggestions for the future of intercultural communication. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Revised thesis (Ph.D.)- -University of Chicago, Chicago, 2003.

Louise Williams explores the nature of historical memory in the work of five major Modernists: Yeats, Pound, Hulme, Ford and Lawrence. These Modernists, Williams argues, started their careers with historical assumptions derived from the nineteenth century. But their views on the universal structure of history, on the abandonment of progress and the adoption of a cyclical sense of the past, were the result of important conflicts and changes within the Modernist period. Williams focuses on the period immediately before World War I, and shows in detail how Modernism developed and why it is considered a unique intellectual movement. She also revisits the theory that the Edwardian age was a difficult period of transition to the modern world. Finally, she illuminates the contribution of non-Western culture to the literature and thought of the period. This wide-ranging and inter-disciplinary study is essential reading for literary and cultural historians of the modernist period.

Historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and other evidence, including the evidence of archaeology, to research and then to write histories in the form of accounts of the past. The question of the nature, and even the possibility, of a sound historical method is raised in the philosophy of history as a question of epistemology. The study of historical method and of different ways of writing history is known as historiography. This book undertakes historical research and provides invaluable advice and support with methodological analysis. History Research: Theory and Methods presents a clear practical guide to the study research and writing of history. Each stage of historical research is covered from the selection of a topic and the organization and evaluation of source material through to the completion of a typescript. The book focuses on the study of history provides detailed guidance on research methods and includes comprehensive information on stylistic conventions for presenting historical work.

An essential introduction to a vast body of writing about history, from classical Greece and Rome to the contemporary world.

Preliminary material /J. A. Emerton -- Joshua: The Hebrew and Greek Texts /A.G. Auld -- The Legal Background to the Restoration of Michal to David /Zafrira Ben-Barak -- Die List Joabs Und Der Sinneswandel Davids /R. Bickert -- Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah: Theology and Literary History /Roddy L. Braun -- Les Aveugles Et Boiteux Jébusites /Gilbert Brunet -- David Et Le Ṣinnôr /Gilbert Brunet -- The Destruction of the Shiloh Sanctuary and Jeremiah VII 12, 14 /John Day -- The Israelite Tribes in Judges /Barnabas Lindars -- Jonathan at the Feast: A Note On the Text of 1 Samuel XX 25 /B. A. Mastin -- Was The Šālîš the Third Man in the Chariot? /B. A. Mastin -- Narrative Structure and Technique in the Deborah-Barak Story (Judges IV 4-22) /D.F. Murray -- The Philistine Incursions into the Valley of Rephaim (2 Sam. v 17 following) /N. L. Tidwell -- Notions of Historical Recurrence in Classical Hebrew Historiography /G. W. Trompf -- Salomo - Der Erstgeborene Bathsebas /T. Veijola -- The Origins of the Twenty-Four Priestly Courses /H. G. M. Williamson -- Authors Cited /J. A. Emerton -- References /J. A. Emerton.