”Begriffsgeschichte” (History of concepts)
History of concepts or conceptual history is a research area that has gained an increasing interest in later years. In recognizing that the meaning of terms are imbedded in cultures and are constantly changing, Begriffsgeschichte maps how a given word has been associated with different meanings. The insistence in a historical perspectives makes Begriffsgeschichte an alternative to positivist orientations. An example of a semantic tool developed in this tradition is Reallexikon der deutschen Literaturwissenschaft (Weimar, 1997-2003), which provide the following information for each term:
The term (e.g. "bibliographie" (German term for "bibliography")
A definition (e.g. definition of “bibliography”)
A history of the word (its etymology, e.g. the etymology of the word “bibliographie”)
A history of the concept. (e.g. the history of the meanings of bibliography)
A history of the field (e.g. the history of bibliographies themselves) and
A history of research about the field (e.g. the history of research on bibliographies, i.e. library science)
Such historically oriented dictionaries may, especially in the humanities, serve the searchers needs for semantic tools in a deeper way than, for example, thesauri are able to. (They may represent another paradigm in knowledge organization, a paradigm more related to a hermeneutical epistemology).
Literature:
Hampsher-Monk, I.; Tilmans, K. & Vree, F. van (Eds.). (1998). History of Concepts: Comparative Perspectives. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Koselleck, Reinhart (1972): Einleitung. In: Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe. Bd. I, XIII-XXVIII, Stuttgart: Klett.
Reinhart Koselleck, R. (ed.). (1979). Historische Semantik und Begriffsgeschichte, Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta.
Palonen, Kari (2002b): The History of Concepts as a Style of Political Theorizing. Quentin Skinner’s and Reinhart Koselleck’s subversion of normative political theory. European Journal of Political Theory 1, 96-111.
Schwartz, R. L. (1983). Der Begriff des Begriffes in der philosophischen Lexikographie: ein Beitrag zur Begriffsgeschichte. Minerva Publikation Saur.
Weimar, K. (Ed.). (1997-2003). Reallexikon der deutschen Literaturwissenschaft Band 1-3. 3. neubearb. Aufl. Berlin : Walter de Gruyter.
Journal: Archiv für Begriffsgeschichte.
Birger Hjørland
Last edited: 23-04-2007