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historicism

historicism

1 9.6
The idea that society and culture are shaped by events in the past
  • noun
  • /hɪsˈtɔːrɪsɪzəm/
  • Formal
translation icon : historicismo
  • Not surprisingly, the New Historicism proves to be as theoretically unsound as deconstruction and feminism.
  • New Historicism
  • Nietzschean historicism
  • Marxist historicism

And what Cole liked was this mix again, of the science and the art, the industry and education, the modernism and the historicism.

Examples

  • Historians believe that many social changes can be explained by the theory of historicism.

  • In short, Warren abandons Nietzschean historicism in order to secure universal equality.

    Academic text (1995)
  • The new historicism showed that language was designed to support the interests of the powerful.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • What then is so new about the New Historicism?

    Academic text (1993)
  • One academic result has been the emergence of an academic practice called New Historicism.

    Academic text (1992)
  • As a form of cultural history, the New Historicism is always countercultural.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Popper's alternative to historicism is the piecemeal approach or gradual reform of society.

    Academic text (1991)
  • His hovering between weak and strong historicist positions reveals the magic trick of all historicism.

    Academic text (1993)
  • In developing this aspect of historicism with a new intensity, the New Historicists are the heirs of Michel Foucault.

    Academic text (1993)
  • As Karl Popper suggests, historicism depends for its plausibility on creating a confusion between a difficulty and an impossibility.

    Academic text (1993)

Surface Forms

historicism singular
historicism plural

Morphology

historicism = historic (transparent) = history + ic + ism

The noun is formed from 'history' + '-ic' + '-ism', and '-ism' regularly denotes a theory or doctrine, so the meaning is directly derivable from the base.

Etymology

Historicism comes from history ('a story of the past') and the ending -ism ('a belief or system'). So, historicism is the idea that people, cultures, and events are shaped by their history.