Na cestě k obecným dějinám: Josef Polišenský (1915–2001)

• Authors: Markéta Křížová

Title variants

EN

On the Way to General History: Josef Polišenský (1915–2001)

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

The article remembers life and career of Josef Polišenský, a prominent representative of the post-war generation of Czechoslovak historians, of Marxist orientation, but at the same time of great openness towards methodological and thematic inspirations from the East as well as the West. Ever since his university studies (in the 1930s) he showed interest in the widest context of historical processes, together with linguistic capabilities. However, general history was marginalized in Czechoslovak academia, not only as an effect of the perceived “patriotic duty” of historians study the history of their nation, but also because of the lack of access to archival sources. This was true even before the year 1948; after that, the possibilities for research abroad constricted even further. The solution Polišenský suggested was to turn into domestic archival funds and search here for sources into the history of other lands and peoples. These sources were then also to be made accessible by scholars from other countries through editions and translations to help them explain the possible “blank spaces” in their national histories. These efforts, however, were halted by political pressures that finally forced Polišenský to leave the Department of General History. In 1967 he instigated the foundation of the interdisciplinary Center for Ibero-American studies within the frame of the Faculty of Arts of the Charles University, the first specialized Latin American studies department in Eastern Europe outside Moscow, and became its director. In this role, he continued pursuing further his idea of the study of general history, combining minacious case studies with broad overviews.

Keywords

EN

Josef Polišenský; Czechoslovak historiography; general history; Thirty Years War; Ibero-American Studies

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Institute of History, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Český časopis historický (The Czech Historical Review)
• Year: 2016
• Volume: 114
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 446-467

Contributors

author

Markéta Křížová

• Středisko ibero-amerických studií, Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy v Praze, Hybernská 3, 110 00 Praha, Czech Republic