Triptiek van de Tijd. Geschiedenis in Drievoud

by Harry Jansen

De afgelopen jaren heeft de geschiedenis sterk aan populariteit gewonnen. Kennis over het verleden en de doorwerking ervan in het heden worden van groot belang geacht. De geschiedenis is weer helemaal terug in ons nationale zelfbeeld. Wie aan het vak geschiedenis denkt, denkt al snel aan jaartallen. Achter zo'n chronologische kijk op het verleden gaan echter verschillende visies op het begrip 'tijd' schuil. Sommige historici zien tijd als een beweging van groei, bloei en verval. Anderen beschouwen tijd als ruimtegebonden, terwijl weer anderen de tijdsbeleving centraal stellen.

In 'Triptiek van de tijd' staan deze drie visies niet op zichzelf, maar blijken ze verweven met drie wetenschapstradities: de hermeneutiek, het positivisme en het narrativisme. Voor de geschiedenis zijn deze tradities te vertalen in de kernbegrippen 'interpretatie', 'exploratie' en 'representatie'. Aan de hand hiervan schetst Harry Jansen niet alleen de geschiedenis van de geschiedbeoefening, maar legt hij bovenal de theoretische fundamenten ervan bloot.

'Triptiek van de tijd' is een handboek dat in een tijd van canons en tot logo's gereduceerde tijdvakken een compleet andere en verfrissende benadering biedt.

Genres: History, Philosophy

535 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Marc Lamot · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a bulcky work, with a very philosophical flavor. According to Jansen in (Western) historiography since the 19th century there are three traditions discernable, a triptych of scientific approaches, each with its own characteristics. The author tries to explore all that in depth, in an almost obsessive way keeping hold of his triptych. Occasionally there are interesting insights, but his approach is so academic (and often not really to the point) that to my feeling he misses his point. This is a beautifully designed book though, with great attention for aesthetics, but I fear it’s only for the addicts of the philosophy and theory of history. See my more elaborate review in my History-alias: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Sense of History]

Dutch overview of the philosophy of history (title: History in Triplecate), by the Dutch professor emeritus Harry Jansen (Radboud University Nijmegen). It focuses on the global views on time in (Western) historiography since the 19th century, discerning three traditions, a triptych of scientific approaches, each with its own characteristics.
This is a very difficult, very condensed work in which Jansen shows his erudition, not only in philosophy, but also in the theory of history. The author is very meticulous, with long academic passages on the giants of philosophy (especially Aristotle, Hegel, Marx and Nietzsche). And he builds a whole system to analyze the historical research. Jansen makes a distinction between 3 approaches in the history (political-interpreting/societal-exploring/cultural-representing) and he systematically applies this triptych on the various aspects of the historical profession. In doing so, he stacks triptych on triptych and gets lost in such a way that he comes to the conclusion that the 3 approaches are only “Idealtypisch” (Weber) and perhaps not so good distinguishable.
On the positive side, he goes past the postmodernism of White and Ankersmit and dares to speak out for the 'reality of reality' and therefore also for the notion of truth. And valuable also is his statement that imaging already plays a role in the beginning of the investigation of a historian, and not only in the end, in the translation of his research results. Hence his constant emphasis on the importance of aesthetics; rightly so, but when it comes down to exploring the precise role of that aesthetics for the historian, he doesn’t make his point.
This book is very nicely designed, but I fear that this very heavy work, in which Jansen undoubtedly has put his soul, is only interesting for the happy few, addicts of the philosophy of history. In the final chapter, in which he suddenly changes tack, he offers a really interesting alternative for the Dutch discussion on the 'canon' and the usefulness of 'national history' as an instrument of integrating people; my enthusiasm about that chapter probably has to do with his plea for a global approach, through the concept of World History. All in all, I'm afraid I have to limit my rating for this book to 2.5 stars.

[Willemf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een inleiding in taaie materie. De indeling die Jansen maakt is behulpzaam, maar komt soms wat geforceerd over. Het is niet een boek om in een ruk uit te lezen, want het vergt nogal wat denkwerk. Enige voorkennis met betrekking tot de materie is niet verkeerd.