Martin Knoll: <i>Nil sub sole novum</i> oder neue Bodenhaftung? Der material turn und die Geschichtswissenschaft

Abstract

Nil sub sole novum or feet back on the ground? Historical research and the material turn

The essay reviews contributions to the material turn debates from different disciplines such as archaeology, geography, history, and social theory, evaluating their implications for historical research. Years of “collective amnesia” (Olsen) towards materiality are growingly seen as drawback for an analytically broad perspective on the complex interconnectedness between human and nonhuman kinds of agency, there is no consensus how to frame this re-materialization. The article traces the debates according to the categories of agency, materiality and materialisms, symmetry vs. asymmetry, and anthropocentrism. The material turn’s political implications, its character as a project in recent historiography, and finally a practice theory based concept are topics of a concluding discussion.