Concept of time in contemporary historiography: Fernand Braudel’s and Reinhart Koselleck’s concepts and theories

Abstract

Time is one of the most important and most complex concepts in history. Intellectuals have been trying to define time since antiquity, but even though it is considered one of the key concepts in historiography, very few historians have focused solely on formulating time in their work. It was only after the World War II that more in-depth theories on historical time started emerging. The event that brought about this increase in interest in the concept was Fernand Braudel’s (re)definition of longue durée (the long term). By defining this seminal concept, Braudel created a space for exploring and theorising the existence of multiple temporalities. This paper will therefore focus on the analysis of theories by two post-WWII historians who challenged the traditional paradigms of time after 1945: Fernand Braudel and his three domains of different temporalities in historical time (histoire événementielle, conjuncture and longue durée) as well as Reinhart Koselleck and his theory of historical times (Theorie der geschichtlichen Zeiten and its main components: Vergangene Zukunft and Zeitschichten). The paper will first explore the approach to historical time as conceived by Braudel, a prominent figure of the Annales school. Furthermore, Koselleck’s conception of historical time will also be expounded on, as he was a member and proponent of the German Begriffsgeschichte, also known as conceptual history. Intellectual profiles of these authors and their respective works will be analysed to define and explain their significance. This will be done by using methods set out by intellectual history, history of ideas and conceptual history. On the other hand, methods developed by comparative history will be used to highlight the similarities and overlap in their thoughts on plural temporalities and longue durée, as well as to point out their differences and distinctness. Finally, this paper will evaluate the concepts and the historiographical works of the two authors to show how the notion of time has changed in contemporary historiography. The complexity of the concept of time will also be touched upon, together with its place within history as an academic discipline.