Antiquarianism as Genealogy: Arnaldo Momigliano's Method

History and Theory 53.2 (2014): 212-233.

22 Pages Posted: 12 Jan 2015 Last revised: 24 Feb 2015

See all articles by Rebecca Ruth Gould

Rebecca Ruth Gould

School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London; Harvard University - Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies

Date Written: January 10, 2015

Abstract

In Brief: Examines the historical-antiquarian method of the Italian historian Arnaldo Momigliano (1908-1987).

Detailed: This essay uses Arnaldo Momigliano's genealogy of antiquarianism and historiography to propose a new method for engaging the past. Momigliano traced antiquarianism from its advent in ancient Greece and later growth in Rome to its early modern efflorescence, its usurpation by history, and its transformation into anthropology and sociology in late modernity. Antiquarianism performed for Momigliano the work of excavating past archives while infusing historiographical inquiry with a much-needed dose of contingency. This essay aims to advance our understanding of the mutual imbrications of antiquarian methods with modern conceptions of history, while also suggesting how antiquarianism can generate alternatives to historical inquiry.

Keywords: historical method, Herodotus, antiquarianism, disciplinarity

Suggested Citation

Gould, Rebecca Ruth, Antiquarianism as Genealogy: Arnaldo Momigliano's Method (January 10, 2015). History and Theory 53.2 (2014): 212-233. , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2548044

Rebecca Ruth Gould (Contact Author)

School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London

SOAS University of London 10 Thornhaugh Street, Ru
London, WC1H 0XG
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/rebecca-gould

Harvard University - Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies ( email )

1730 Cambridge Street, 3rd Floor
Cambridge, 02138
United States

HOME PAGE: http://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/about-us/people/rebecca-gould

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