Theatres of Memory

by Raphael Samuel

In this widely acclaimed book, Raphael Samuel takes issue with the claim that our obsession with heritage is a symptom of national decay. He argues rather that we live in an expanding historical culture, one which is newly alert to the evidence of the visual and which is altogether more pluralist than earlier versions of the national past.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Cultural Studies

496 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1994

Reviews

[Kristi]

I found this book fascinating. Samuel's broad conceptualization of "history" breaks down disciplinary boundaries to examine "history" more intuitively as a social process rather than a profession. In this fluid examination, popular and material culture take their place with archival research in illuminating the ways that the past is representational used in the living present, and how modes of use shift throughout time.

[Linhue]

Thx

[Ben Vos]

I understood this book to be an argument that "proper" historians in academia and in print, should take more seriously the contributions to our knowledge and understanding and feelings about history common especially British history, from the creationists, archivists, family historians, collectors and other enthusiasts. The argument is most currently made in the afterword, where the supposedly neutrality and ideological purity of academic history is effectively question. Most of the book consists of a very detailed, comprehensive and fascinating (but probably partial) documentation of the growth of non-academic history since the turn of the twentieth century and focusing mostly on the post-war period. This is interesting in its own right.

[Anna Coopey]

A long read, and not one entirely relevant to my field of study, but a good one. I enjoy things that dismantle historiography as a single story, and this has really made me think about the imperial nature of historical narrative (and how authors can break out of that by supplying alternative pasts).
Particularly interesting chunks were: Bill Schwarz's Foreword, obviously; the Introduction; "Heritage-Baiting"; "Politics"; and "Hybrids".

[alcapote_]

Sobre presencia del pasado en la vida de la gente corriente.