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‘The Strength of the past and its great might’; an essay on the use of the past

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2017

Kristian Kristiansen
Kristian Kristiansen*
Affiliation:
Ministry of the Environment, The National Forest and Nature Agency, Denmark
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Abstract

This essay is part of a critical analysis of the use of the past in present-day society. Different types of past (e.g. heroic or domesticated pasts) are created in different contexts such as books and films, and in the landscape and in urban settings. History has become the dominant ideology of the present, in the interest of nationalist and other social groupings. The changing way in which the past is constructed through time is illustrated with the case of Denmark.

Dieser Beitrag ist Teil einer kritischen Analyse über den Gebrauch der Vergangenheit in der heutigen Gesellschaft. Verschiedene Arten von Vergangenheit (z.B. heroische oder alltägliche Vergangenheiten) werden in unterschiedlichen Zusammenhängen, wie zum Beispiel in Büchern und Filmen, sowie auf einem ländlichen oder städtischen Schauplatz, geschaffen. Geschichte ist, im Interesse nationalistischer und anderer sozialer Gruppierungen, zu einer dominanten Ideologie der Gegenwart geworden. Anhand des Beispiels Dänemark wird die wechselhafte Art und Weise, in der Vergangenheit im Verlauf der Zeit konstruiert wird, erläutert.

Cet essai dérive d'une analyse critique de l'utilisation du passé dans les sociétés contemporaines. Différents types de passés (comme le passé domestique ou le passé héroique) sont créés dans différents contextes, tels que les livres, les films, ou encore dans le paysage ou l'occupation urbaine. L'histoire est devenue l'idéologie dominante du présent, au profit de divers groupes, de nature sociale ou nationaliste. Les transformations historiques de la construction du passé sont évoquées ici à travers le cas du Danemark.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of European Archaeology , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , Spring 1993 , pp. 3 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © European Association of Archaeologists 

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