Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. 1 A theory that events are influenced by historical conditions, rather than by people. 2 (context arts English) The use of historical styles in contemporary art. 3 (context theology English) A method of interpretation in Christian eschatology which attempts to associate Biblical prophecy with actual historical events and symbolic beings with historical persons or societies.
Wikipedia
Historicism is a mode of thinking that assigns major significance to a specific context, such as historical period, geographical place, and local culture. As such it stands in contrast to individualist theories of knowledge such as empiricism and rationalism, which neglect the role of traditions. Historicism therefore tends to be hermeneutical, because it places great importance on cautious, rigorous and contextualized interpretation of information, or relativist, because it rejects notions of universal, fundamental and immutable interpretations.
The term "historicism" (Historismus) was coined by German philosopher Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel. Over the time it has developed different and somewhat divergent meanings. Elements of historicism appear in the writings of French essayist Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) and Italian philosopher G. B. Vico (1668–1744), and became more fully developed with the dialectic of Georg Hegel (1770–1831), influential in 19th-century Europe. The writings of Karl Marx, influenced by Hegel, also include historicism. The term is also associated with the empirical social sciences and with the work of Franz Boas.
Historicism may be contrasted with reductionist theories — which suppose that all developments can be explained by fundamental principles (such as in economic determinism) — or with theories that posit that historical changes occur as a result of random chance.
The Austrian-English philosopher Karl Popper condemned historicism along with the determinism and holism which he argued formed its basis. In his Poverty of Historicism, he identified historicism with the opinion that there are "inexorable laws of historical destiny", which opinion he warned against. This contrasts with the contextually relative interpretation of historicism for which its proponents argue. Talcott Parsons criticized historicism as a case of idealistic fallacy in The Structure of Social Action (1937).
Post-structuralism uses the term " New Historicism", which has some associations with both anthropology and Hegelianism.
The theological use of the word denotes the interpretation of biblical prophecy as being related to church history.
Historicism, a method of interpretation of Biblical prophecies, associates symbols with historical persons, nations or events. It can result in a view of progressive and continuous fulfillment of prophecy covering the period from Biblical times to the Second Coming. Almost all Protestant Reformers from the Reformation into the 19th century held historicist views. The main primary texts of interest to Christian-historicists include apocalyptic literature, such as the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation. Commentators have also applied historicist methods to ancient Jewish history, to the Roman Empire, to Islam, to the Papacy, to the Modern era, and to the end time.
Historicism or also Historism comprises artistic styles that draw their inspiration from recreating historic styles or artisans. This is especially prevalent in architecture, such as revival architecture. Through combination of different styles or implementation of new elements, historicism can create completely different aesthetics than former styles. Thus it offers a great variety of possible designs.
In history of art, after Neoclassicism which in the Romantic era could itself be considered a historicist movement, the 19th century saw a new historicist phase marked by an interpretation not only of Greek and Roman classicism, but also of succeeding stylistic eras, which were increasingly considered equivalent. In particular in architecture and in the genre of history painting, which increasingly painted historical subjects with great attention to accurate period detail, the global influence of historicism was especially strong from the 1850s onwards. The change is often related to the rise of the bourgeoisie during and after the Industrial Revolution. By the end of the century, in the fin de siècle, Symbolism and Art Nouveau followed by Expressionism and Modernism acted to make Historicism look outdated, although many large public commissions continued in the 20th century. The Arts and Crafts movement managed to combine a looser vernacular historicism with elements of Art Nouveau and other contemporary styles.
Influences of historicism remained strong even until the 1950s in many countries. When postmodern architecture became widely popular in the 1980s, a movement of Neo-Historism followed, that is still prominent and can be found around the world, especially in representative and upper-class buildings.
Usage examples of "historicism".
Such claims are contradictory, of course, but it is part of the double-talk of the method that even this contradiction can be erased and disfigured so that the difference between historicism and a-historicism is no longer recognizable.
Orientalism has been subjected to imperialism, positivism, utopianism, historicism, Darwinism, racism, Freudianism, Marxism, Spenglerism.
Certainly, it would be incorrect to attribute to the historicism of the Enlightenment the thesis that was really only developed later by the reactionary schools in the period after the French Revolution-the thesis, that is, that unites the theory of sovereignty with the theory of the nation and grounds both of them in a common historical humus.
That projection continued for a long time, as long as lasted the necessity and urgency to rediscover a site of freedom that could continue the teleological vision of which Hegelian historicism is perhaps the highest expression.
Until recently, the prevailing model for the study of literary sources, a model in effect parceled out between the old historicism and the new criticism, blocked such a question.
Further, little attention is paid to previous writing about the same text, as if the advent of new historicism has wiped the academic slate clean.
So we should not expect to find the methods of new historicism greatly valued or admired by historians.
As in new historicism, literature and history are intertwined, but the perspective and the historicising are much more those of our own day than would be the case with new historicism itself.
But Kundera deliberately spoils the game of philosophical historicism by infiltrating it with his own game of masks and mirrors.
The Freudian notion of sexual causality is brought into play to counterpoint and subvert the controlling historicism of the narrative perspective.
The Age of Rationalism, of Materialism, of Criticism, of Economics, of Democracy and Parliamentarism, in short the first phase of the Civilization Crisis, was coming to an end, and the Crisis was about to be dissolved in the new Age, that of Absolute Politics, of Authority, of Historicism.