{"id":760,"date":"2018-02-05T20:25:39","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T20:25:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/?p=760"},"modified":"2018-02-05T20:25:39","modified_gmt":"2018-02-05T20:25:39","slug":"literally-what-even-is-transnational-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/2018\/02\/05\/literally-what-even-is-transnational-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Literally what even is Transnational History?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Something that\u2019s come up a lot in the reading I\u2019ve done so far is the lack of clear definition surrounding transnational history. Of course, everything is subjective, nothing is real, the points don\u2019t mater etc etc etc \u2013 but still, on the surface it seems like we\u2019re trying to study a discipline that doesn\u2019t know what it wants to be yet.<\/p>\n

So I think it\u2019s pretty understandable that if professional historians are struggling to come up with a definition then\u2026you know\u2026I\u2019m not sure how much of a chance a group of undergrads stand.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Look guys it me.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But I\u2019m quite an optimistic guy, and I\u2019m trying to stay positive. Besides \u2013 here\u2019s my thing \u2013 clear definitions are for nerds, and I think the seeming flexibility of transnational history is something that I find kind of interesting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Towards a definition<\/h2>\n

Of course, despite the lack of \u2018clear\u2019 definitions about transnational history, there are obviously some themes emerging that make it possible to make some general definitions. I think that\u2019s great because it allows for the genre to take shape without it being restrictive \u2013 to discuss this, I\u2019m going to dissect a quote from Patricia Calvin.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201c[Transnational history] does not have a unique methodology, but is motivated by the desire to highlight the importance of connections and transfers across boundaries at the sub- or supra- state level.\u201d Patricia Calvin, <\/em>Time, Manner, Place: Writing Modern European History in Global, Transnational and International Contexts,<\/em> p. 625<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Does not have a unique methodology<\/strong> \u2013 I think this is kind of cool. What it says to me is that transnational history is basically a set of ideas rather than a \u2018historical school\u2019 so to speak. Other methodology can and should be used to do Transnational history. That gives the area a lot of freedom, and leaves it open to potentially ground-breaking collaborations.<\/p>\n

Connections and transfers<\/strong> \u2013 Transnational history is primarily concerned with movement \u2013 movement of people, movement of goods, movement of ideas, technology, religion, food, labour, movement of anything \u2013 and\u2026<\/p>\n

Across boundaries<\/strong> \u2013 \u2026it explores these movements across borders and boundaries, rather than within them. That allows it to explore connections that may be hard to see on a standard geo-political map. Calvin also goes on to speak about the importance of analysing the boundaries themselves, both exploring the character of the boundary, and the way that people interact with it and even exploit it.<\/p>\n

At the sub- or supra- state level \u2013<\/strong> This is now the level to which the exploration is applied, and in many ways what makes transnational history unique. It basically throws of the framing device of the nation, and instead draws its conclusion based on its focuses of study \u2013 be that a small focus within a particular nation, or a larger focuses that moves between nations.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Okay. Movement across borders. Got it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Okay but now ACTUALLY towards a definition<\/h2>\n

Assimilating this, I\u2019d put forward my own definition: Transnational history is a way of approaching historical study that (1) focuses on movement (2) across borders, and (3) rejects the idea of a nation-state as the principal historical framing device.<\/p>\n

Also as a quick addendum, something else that came up which I liked was the idea that transnational history is frequently talked about but less frequently practiced (Sven Beckert, AHR Conversation: On Transnational History, <\/em>p. 1446). I tentatively put forward the idea that it might be easier to define if we practiced it more, focusing on the actual doing rather than talking about it.<\/p>\n

But what do I know, I\u2019m just an undergrad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Something that\u2019s come up a lot in the reading I\u2019ve done so far is the lack of clear definition surrounding transnational history. Of course, everything is subjective, nothing is real, the points don\u2019t mater etc etc etc \u2013 but still,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5wNtZ-cg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":766,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760\/revisions\/766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/doing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}