Beyond the Canon

This book reflects on the culture wars over the historical canon in today’s globalizing world. It discusses the attempts to review and transcend the received canon in historical research and teaching in Europe, Canada, the United States and South Africa. In the aftermath of the culture wars, the national and Western canons still largely dominate teaching and public memory. The book addresses the challenge of moving beyond these traditional narratives without sacrificing history as a coherent, attractive, and teachable subject.

Introduction: Beyond the Canon: History in a Globalizing World–M. Grever and S. Stuurman * PART 1: THE FRAMING OF HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE * Who Needs a Canon?–P. Seixas * Plurality, Narrative, and the Historical Canon–M. Grever * From National Canon to Historical Literacy–P. Lee * “Another Brick in the Wall.” Historical Culture and History Teaching–K. Ribbens * PART 2: FOUNDATIONS AND REVISIONS OF THE WESTERN CANON * Can the Enlightenment provide a Canon for Modernity?–S. Stuurman * The Canon after the Crisis of the Humanities–E. Jonker * Rethinking the Nation in German Historical Museums–H. Henrichs * Moving History: How Gender has touched the Canon–G. Mak * PART 3: TRANSMISSION OF HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE IN MULTICULTURAL SETTINGS * Heritage Museums and the Transformation of South African History–C. Rassool * Internationalizing the Classic United States History Survey–P. Stearns * French History Confronts the Multicultural–N.Tutiaux * Decolonization and the Canon–S. Legêne and B. Waaldijk * Disrupting the Canon: The Case of Slavery–A. van Stipriaan Luïscius