Publications

Ob »Assassin's Creed«, »Anno 1404« oder »Medieval II: Total War« – es gibt einige populäre Computerspiele, die ›authentische Vergangenheitserfahrungen‹ und die ›eigenmächtige Veränderung der Geschichte‹ versprechen.
Carl Heinze zeichnet nach, mit welchen präsentativen Strategien das Historische im Computerspiel vorgestellt wird und um welche Vergangenheit(en) es dabei überhaupt geht. Er klärt die Frage, was man sinnvollerweise unter einem ›historischen Computerspiel‹ verstehen sollte. In Einzelanalysen prüft er, wie spezifische Kombinationen von Computer, Mittelalter und Spiel aussehen können und welche Geschichtsbilder dadurch jeweils evoziert weden.

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Archäologie wird in populären Wissensprodukten oftmals wirkmächtig vermarktet. Marco Kircher erörtert die zentralen Spannungsfelder zwischen akademischen und publikumswirksamen Präsentationen archäologischer Forschung und zeigt ausführlich auf, welche Akteure warum welche Darstellungsformen wählen.
Die Ergebnisse verschiedener Fallstudien über erfolgreiche TV-Dokumentationen (Terra X) und Sonderausstellungen (z.B. über Tutanchamun) sowie Interview-Aussagen diverser Beteiligter werden mit generellen Trends der Wissensvermittlung verknüpft. Zudem zeigt Kirchers Studie aktuelle Tendenzen, insbesondere des Internets, auf – und liefert dadurch fächerübergreifende Impulse zum Verhältnis von Wissenschaft, Kommerzialisierung, Öffentlichkeit und Medien.

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The present boom in popular history is not unprecedented. The contributions to this volume investigate peaks of historical interest which favour popular approaches from around 1800 to the present. They analyse the media, genres and institutions through which historical knowledge has been disseminated – from artefacts to the archive, from poetry to photography, from music to murals, and from periodicals to popular TV series. They ask how major traditions in the popular imagery of the past have evolved and changed over time. Cultural contexts covered in the book include Western and Southern Europe, the United States and West Africa. Contributors come from a range of disciplines, including history, literary and cultural studies, musicology as well as social and cultural anthropology.

Table of Contents and Excerpt.

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Review (german)

Britain’s recent historical culture is marked by a shift. As a consequence of new political directives, black history began to be mainstreamed into the realm of national history from the late 1990s onwards. “Black History - White History” assesses a number of manifestations of this new cultural historiography on screen and on stage, in museums and other accessible sites, emerging in the context of two commemorative events: the Windrush anniversary and the 1807 abolition bicentenary. It inquires into the terms on which the new historical programme could take hold, its sustainability and its representational politics.

Table of Contents and Excerpt.

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Regardless whether it is the Neanderthal (wo)man, the siege of Troy or Indiana Jones: Archaeology and history are crowd pullers. Their contents are processed for a mass market. Reports about the past and specifically its research are entertaining as well as informing and often enough economically successful.

In this volume, both scholars and media practitioners analyze the different forms and characteristics of archaeological media representations as well as the changes they have experienced. Looking at sources and functions of common stereotypes, they are trying to map out new ways of cooperation betewen the media and the academy.

Table of Contents and Excerpt.

Interview with Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Gehrke at transcript.

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Popular representations of history are taking on new forms and reaching wider audiences. The search for usable pasts is branching out into active appropriations of history such as historical theme parks, housing developments, and live-action role play.

Drawing on themed environments across the continents, the articles in this volume focus on how these appropriations bypass, are different from, or even contradict traditional as well as scientific modes of disseminating historical knowledge. Bringing together theorists and practitioners, they provide the basis for an interdisciplinary as well as a transcultural theory of how pasts are staged in various social contexts.

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›This is how it happened‹ – when we think about history there is hardly a concept more influential and effective than the idea of the ›real‹. It seems that history in particular is in pursuit of the true event. But what is actually ›real‹ and ›true‹ about popular represenations of history? How and why do they evoke authentic effects.

The articles of this interdisciplinary collection investigate many different aspects of authenticity in contemporary discourses of popular history. The analyses explore various media such as film, television, literature, exhibitions and history classes.

Table of contents (in German).

Excerpt (in German).

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History is booming, and especially its popular representations have a lasting influence on the contemporary preception of history. It is all the more remarkable, that so far this field of research has hardly been tended.

The contributions to this volume take an inter- and transdisciplinary perspective on popular articulations of history. They cover various media such as print, film and television, but also media and genres that as yet have been more marginal in academic research (e.g.  living history, computer games or guided walking tours).

Table of Contents (in German).

Excerpt (in German).

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