Alternative Facts and Plausible Fictions in the Northern European Past
How Politics and Culture Have Written and Rewritten History
Edited by Oisin Plumb Edited by Alexandra Sanmark
The use of the past for contemporary purposes has been a feature of historical and archaeological investigation from ancient times. This ‘politicization of the past’ is often associated with, at best, an inadvertent detachment from an objective use of evidence, and at worst, its wilful misuse. Such use of the past is perhaps most evident in the construction of narratives of nations and ethnic groups – particularly in relation to origins or the perceived ‘golden ages’ of peoples. This book seeks to assess the role played by different ideologies in the shaping of the past, from early times up until the present day, in the interpretation of the history and archaeology of Northern Europe, whether in Northern Europe itself or further afield. It also considers how those who research, interpret, and present the Northern European past should respond to such uses. The chapters drawn together here explore key questions, asking how contemporary ideologies of identity have shaped the past, what measures should be taken to discourage an inaccurate understanding of the past, and if scholars should draw on the past in order to counter racism and xenophobia, or if this can itself lead to potentially dangerous misunderstandings of history.
The use of the past for contemporary purposes has been a feature of historical and archaeological investigation from ancient times. This ‘politicization of the past’ is often associated with, at best, an inadvertent detachment from an objective use of evidence, and at worst, its wilful misuse. Such use of the past is perhaps most evident in the construction of narratives of nations and ethnic groups – particularly in relation to origins or the perceived ‘golden ages’ of peoples. This book seeks to assess the role played by different ideologies in the shaping of the past, from early times up until the present day, in the interpretation of the history and archaeology of Northern Europe, whether in Northern Europe itself or further afield. It also considers how those who research, interpret, and present the Northern European past should respond to such uses. The chapters drawn together here explore key questions, asking how contemporary ideologies of identity have shaped the past, what measures should be taken to discourage an inaccurate understanding of the past, and if scholars should draw on the past in order to counter racism and xenophobia, or if this can itself lead to potentially dangerous misunderstandings of history.
- Edited by Oisin Plumb
- Edited by Alexandra Sanmark
Other Titles in this Series
Picts and Britons in the Early Medieval Irish Church
Travels West Over the Storm-Swelled Sea
Volume 2
History, Landscape and Language in the Northern Isles and Caithness
'A'm grippit dis laand'. A Gedenkschrift for Doreen Waugh
Volume 6
Ecocriticism and Old Norse Studies
Nature and the Environment in Old Norse Literature and Culture
Volume 7
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