Historiographical Traditions

Qajar era was a period which academic historical researches translated from European languages to Persian and archaeological excavations in Iran besides deciphering ancient inscriptions by European orientalists and Iranologists took place. Confronting these excavations and texts made Iranian historians and also Iranians – who had epic perception from their ancient history – to have contradictory feelings about their past. This article tries to answer this question that how historians in Qajar era managed to solve these incompatible narratives. For this purpose, historical texts about ancient Iran, which have been written or translated in Qajar era, have been scrutinized. This article shows that in early Qajar era epic viewpoint about ancient Iran history was totally dominant so that historians would rather ignore factual history, provided by excavations and inscriptions, or interpret them in epic context. By expanding historical researches, factual history of ancient Iran gradually became an authentic narrative beside epic one and historians tried to connect these narratives in order to solve the duality. Eventually in later Qajar era, epic narrative considered fictional and the history, based on archaeological excavations and ancient texts, became valid.

Se realiza una contextualización profesional e institucional del texto de Sigmund Freud “Contribución a la Historia del Movimiento Psicoanalítico”, de cuya publicación en 1914 se conmemoran cien años. Se recurre a la utilización de fuentes epistolares entre Freud y sus seguidores, principalmente Ferenczi, Jones y Abraham, y a recursos de historia social y sociológica para describir y analizar las circunstancias políticas que motivaron la redacción del texto. La contextualización se realiza a la luz de la descripción del lugar central que tuvieron los desacuerdos reiterados y controvertidos entre Freud y el psiquiatra suizo Carl Gustav Jung en los inicios del psicoanálisis y en la redacción del texto centenario. Se detalla el lugar y funciones de ciertas obras freudianas como Tótem y Tabú e Introducción al narcisismo en el marco de la controversia, como también se describen las finalidades de las obras y críticas de discípulos de Freud contra la obra jungiana que conformaron en su conjunto las denominadas ‘salva del Zeitschrift” y ‘bomba del Jahrbuch”. Se argumenta que la necesidad de un análisis crítico de la reconstrucción freudiana de la historia del psicoanálisis se fundamenta por su carácter de antecedente respecto de la tradición historiográfica inaugurada por Ernest Jones, sobre la cual se describen ciertas imprecisiones. Finalmente se concluye, en solidaridad con una historia crítica de la psicología, la necesidad de realizar análisis historiográficos contextuales (políticos, sociales e institucionales) con los fines de reconstruir y dimensionar funciones extra-científicas de ciertas obras o tradiciones en ciencia que, desde otras lecturas puramente internalistas, permanecerían implícitas.

ABSTRACT: In this special issue of _Nova Religio_ four historians of
medieval and early modern Christianities offer perspectives on basic
conceptual frameworks widely employed in new religions studies, including
modernization and secularization, radicalism/violent radicalization,
and diversity/diversification. Together with a response essay by J. Gordon
Melton, these articles suggest strong possibilities for renewed and ongoing
conversation between scholars of ‘‘old’’ and ‘‘new’’ religions. Unlike some
early discussions, ours is not aimed simply at questioning the distinction
between old and new religions itself. Rather, we think such conversation
between scholarly fields holds the prospect of productive scholarly surprise
and perspectival shifts, especially via the disciplinary practice of
historiographical criticism.

Johannes Wolfart and Michael Driedger are the co-editors of this special issue.