History as a Finite Province of Meaning

Abstract

The history of civilizations and cultures, and of the monumental deeds of heroes, the history of Hegel, Spengler, and Toynbee, we shall call “Big history”; the history of ordinary people in the everyday, working world, living their lives, involved in the daily web of obscure projects and minor skirmishes, the history of the unknown, the unsung, and the easily forgotten, we shall call “little history.” Our theme is the relationship between the two, and our thesis is that investigating this problem is decisively relevant for the philosophy of history. Indeed, a study of “little history” may lead to the clarification of an entire dimension of the philosophy of history which has generally been overlooked or obscured. A preliminary indication of this dimension will bring whatever we have to say into immediate focus.

The man bent over his guitar,

A shearsman of sorts. The day was green.

They said, “You have a blue guitar,

You do not play things as they are.”

The man replied, “Things as they are

Are changed upon the blue guitar...”

Wallace Stevens