The Dialectical Image in Opposition to Historicist Narratives
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30973/esdi.2025.11.2.242Keywords:
Historical materialism, Walter Benjamin, Critical Theory, Philosophy of HistoryAbstract
Some of the claims of historicism as a historical stance —as typified by Walter Benjamin in his “Theses on the Concept of History”— include the construction of a progressive, linear and neutral narrative of history. It is taken for granted that historical episodes are like beads on a string, capable of being separated and studied in isolation, without any relational context. This article critically examines historicism’s demand for neutrality as a prerequisite for turning the narration of events into true history. In contrast, it proposes the dialectical image as a wager on an alternative means of historically articulating the past.
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Lorde, Audre, La hermana, la extranjera. horas y HORAS la editorial, 2003.
Marx, Karl y F. Engels. La ideología alemana. Ediciones Pueblos Unidos, 1973.
Zea, Leopoldo, comp. Quinientos años de historia, sentido y proyección, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1991.
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