Time Maps
Collective Memory and the Social Shape of the Past
Zerubavel, Eviatar
Hardcover
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BOOK SUMMARY
"Time Maps extends beyond all of the old clichés about linear, circular, and spiral patterns of historical process and provides us with models of the actual legends used to map history. It is a brilliant and elegant exercise in model building that prov
Submit a book reviewBOOK SYNOPSIS
"Time Maps extends beyond all of the old clich--¢â‚¬Â°s about linear, circular, and spiral patterns of historical process and provides us with models of the actual legends used to map history. It is a brilliant and elegant exercise in model building that provides new insights into some of the old questions about philosophy of history, historical narrative, and what is called straight history."-Hayden White, University of California, Santa CruzWho were the first people to inhabit North America? Does the West Bank belong to the Arabs or the Jews? Why are racists so obsessed with origins? Is a seventh cousin still a cousin? Why do some societies name their children after dead ancestors?As Eviatar Zerubavel demonstrates in Time Maps, we cannot answer burning questions such as these without a deeper understanding of how we envision the past. In a pioneering attempt to map the structure of our collective memory, Zerubavel considers the cognitive patterns we use to organize the past in our minds and the mental strategies that help us string together unrelated events into coherent and meaningful narratives, as well as the social grammar of battles over conflicting interpretations of history. Drawing on fascinating examples that range from Hiroshima to the Holocaust, from Columbus to Lucy, and from ancient Egypt to the former Yugoslavia, Zerubavel shows how we construct historical origins; how we tie discontinuous events together into stories; how we link families and entire nations through genealogies; and how we separate distinct historical periods from one another through watersheds, such as the invention of fire or the fall of the Berlin Wall. Most people think the Roman Empire ended in 476, even though it lasted another 977 years in Byzantium. Challenging such conventional wisdom, Time Maps will be must reading for anyone interested in how the history of our world takes shape.
BOOK EXCERPTS
01
AUTHOR BIO
Eviatar Zerubavel is a professor of sociology at Rutgers University. He is the author of seven other books, including Social Mindscapes: An Invitation to Cognitive Sociology, The Seven-Day Circle: The History and Meaning of the Week, and The Fine Line: Making Distinctions in Everyday Life.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Figures
Preface
Introduction- The Social Structure of Memory
1 - THE SOCIAL SHAPE OF THE PAST
Plotlines and Narratives
Progress
Decline
A Zigzag in Time
Ladders and Trees
Circles and Rhymes
Mountains and Valleys
Legato and Staccato
2 - HISTORICAL CONTINUITY
Same Place
Relics and Memorabilia
Imitations and Replication
"Same" Time
Historical Analogy
Discursive Continuity
3 - ANCESTRY AND DESCENT
Dynasties and Pedigree
Common Descent
The Social Organization of Descent
The "Family of Man"
Apes and Grapes
Language and Lineage
4 - HISTORICAL DISCONTINUITY
The Social Punctuation of the Past
Assimilation and Differentiation
History and Prehistory
The Social Construction of Historical Discontinuity
5 - IN THE BEGINNINGS
Antiquity
Priority
Notes
Bibliography
Author Index
Subject Index
FOR RELATED BOOKS
History Books :: General Books
Social Science Books :: Human Geography Books
MORE BOOK INFO
ISBN: 0226981525
ISBN(13-digit): 9780226981529
Dewey Decimal: 304.2/3
Library of Congress: 2002012327
Book Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr
Language: ENG
No. of Pages: 180
Paper Weight (lb): 0.95
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