History and Cultural Theory

This text introduces the relationship between contemporary cultural theory and the study of history. It relates the ideas of prominent theorists to periods of history and demonstrates the insights of cultural theory in their own work. The book is written primarily for students of history but it will be valuable to students in English, anthropology and cultural studies who also encounter questions of culture, history and theory.

In recent times there has been recognition of the growing influence of cultural theory on historical writing. Foucault, Bourdieu, Butler and Spivak are just some of the thinkers whose ideas have been taken up and deployed by historians.

What are these ideas and where do they come from? How have cultural theorists thought about ''history''? And how have historians applied theoretical insights to enhance their own understanding of events in the past?

This book provides a wide-ranging and authoritative guide to the often vexed and controversial relationship between history and contemporary theory. It analyses the concepts that concern both theorists and historians, such as power, identity, modernity and postcolonialism, and offers a critical evaluation of them from an historical standpoint.

Written in an accessible manner, History and Cultural Theory gives historians and students an invaluable summary of the impact of cultural theory on historiography over the last twenty years, and indicates the likely directions of the subject in the future.