The text I have chosen to base my upcoming project proposal on is perhaps the most bizarre, ambitious work I have ever come across in my two and a half years of studying history at the university level. Its title:
On Measuring Identity
I have struggled to find a topic to focus on for my historiographical essay. I have wrestled with terms of identity, hybridity and struggled to pinpoint definitions this week. Identity, I have been told, is a hard to think to
The literary and symbolic “othering” of Eastern Europe
“Mechanically I laid myself back in the sledge and let my horse run for safety. The wolf did not mind me in the least, but took a leap over me, and falling furiously on the horse, began to devour the
Gender and Microhistory
These past few weeks, I have spent a lot of time thinking about the topics for my historiography essay. The one ‘common denominator” that have always had when looking at topics for my m writing has been that I have
Infernal Affairs and The Departed or Cultural Transnationalism in a colonial context
It is February 27, 2007, and the climax of the 79th Academy Awards is approaching. On the stage, Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson open the envelope containing which of the nominated films has been judged best picture. The winner, they
Ballroom Dancing and Transnationalism
I spent this past weekend down over in Blackpool at the 68th Annual Inter-Varsity Dance Competition, the biggest ballroom dance competition St Andrews’ Ballroom and Latin Dance Society [BALLADS] attends every year. It is only now, sitting comfortably in bed,
Somalis and the Statue of Liberty
Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! These timeless words from Emma
Reflections on Microhistory
This week’s readings threw me back into taking HI2001. I remember when I first read the module’s description, it sounded like the last thing I wanted to do. Luckily I had Andrew Cecchinato as my tutor, and he ran insightful
Microhistory isn’t actually little
This week’s readings focused on labels, attempts to try and make send of time and space. I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that historians love a definition. Even though global history is larger than borders, it still is
A House Divided…
An interesting analogy, several pages into the work by John-Paul Ghobrial – ‘Introduction: Seeing the World like a Microhistorian’ – spiked my curiosity for exploring more about a globally recognised proverb. On a brief note, my first thought when I
Fanshen, and non-academic microhistory
When we consider microhistory, it is almost always in an analytical and academic context. While it is obviously impossible to escape some degree of bias, the historian is only human after all, an attempt at objectivity is the order of
Putting Humanity Back into History
It is too easy to forget that history is essentially the study of people who once lived. I use the term “people” instead of “actor” or “subject” or “figure” because that’s who they were: people. As important as thinking about
Coronavirus as ‘connector’
A British man travels from Britain to Singapore for a business conference, and then returns home shortly after, via France, where he stops for a few days for a skiing holiday. In today’s world, in the age of multi-national corporations
Overcoming Eurocentricism
As we watch Sait paddle away from the Dutch, we reflect on how his life became entangled with the large-scale structures and themes historians enjoy analysing. His life and, eventually, his (spoiler!) untimely death all occur within the context of
The Cheese and the Worms
Carlo Ginzburg’s highly acclaimed exploration of the life of Dominico Scandella (popularly known as Menocchio) – a sixteenth-century miller – is the first thing that jumps to my mind when thinking about Microhistory. It is one of the best examples