Experiencing the Outbreak of the First World War
A Critique of Cultural History
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6416397 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Erik Ringmar (0000-0002-8110-6514, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 13-32 |
| Publication date | 2025-04-28 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Balkanistic Forum (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1310-3970 • E-ISSN: 2535-1265 |
| Publisher | Southwest University Neofit Rilski (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.37708/bf.swu.v34i1.2 |
| OpenAlex | W2442208830 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 11 |
This article critiques cultural history’s tendency to reduce human experiences to social structures and discourse, neglecting the felt and embodied dimensions of historical events. Using the Augusterlebnis of 1914 as a case study, it challenges revisionist interpretations that dismiss war enthusiasm as propaganda or coercion. Instead, it argues that experiences are pre-discursive, shaped by bodily reactions and immediate perceptions. By overlooking the lived, sensory aspect of historical events, historians risk distorting the past. The article calls for a historiography that integrates both cognitive and embodied experiences to better understand how individuals truly experienced historical moments
Ancient history · Cultural history · Economic history · First world war · Outbreak · History · Medicine · World Wars: History, Literature, and Impact · Virology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |