1.
Schiel, Juliane; Chevaleyre, Claude
Work Semantics. In Search of an Alternative Conceptual Matrix for Labour and Social Historians Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 9-17, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {Work Semantics. In Search of an Alternative Conceptual Matrix for Labour and Social Historians },
author = {Juliane Schiel and Claude Chevaleyre},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
issuetitle = {Work Semantics / Semantiken der Arbeit},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {9-17},
abstract = {The idea for the project presented in this volume began with an encounter and a discovery. When we – a medievalist and a sinologist – first met in autumn 2017, we realised that although we came from different disciplines and worked on different regions and time periods, we were struggling with the same problem: As historians working on slaving practices in the Venetian empire (14th–16th centuries) respectively servitude in late imperial China (15th–19th centuries), we were both spending much of our time explaining the contextual differences and similarities between the social configurations we were studying to the broader community of social, labour, and global historians. We both felt that our objects of study did not fit well within the much-debated subfield of “free and unfree labour”, and that the postcolonial critiques and the so-called global turn in history did not solve the conceptual problem we were facing. Integrating a medieval or Chinese case study into a conference panel or a special journal issue on household service or slavery helped to enlarge the horizon of the historiographical debates on the history of unfree labour relations, but the umbrella terms of these subfields of study and the limited conceptual references
available did little to help us understand and properly convey the social taxonomies shaping the power relations we were studying.},
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pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The idea for the project presented in this volume began with an encounter and a discovery. When we – a medievalist and a sinologist – first met in autumn 2017, we realised that although we came from different disciplines and worked on different regions and time periods, we were struggling with the same problem: As historians working on slaving practices in the Venetian empire (14th–16th centuries) respectively servitude in late imperial China (15th–19th centuries), we were both spending much of our time explaining the contextual differences and similarities between the social configurations we were studying to the broader community of social, labour, and global historians. We both felt that our objects of study did not fit well within the much-debated subfield of “free and unfree labour”, and that the postcolonial critiques and the so-called global turn in history did not solve the conceptual problem we were facing. Integrating a medieval or Chinese case study into a conference panel or a special journal issue on household service or slavery helped to enlarge the horizon of the historiographical debates on the history of unfree labour relations, but the umbrella terms of these subfields of study and the limited conceptual references
available did little to help us understand and properly convey the social taxonomies shaping the power relations we were studying.
available did little to help us understand and properly convey the social taxonomies shaping the power relations we were studying.
2.
Geelhaar, Tim; Kuchenbuch, Ludolf; Perreaux, Nicolas; Schiel, Juliane; Schürch, Isabelle
Historical Semantics – A Vade Mecum Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 18-47, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {Historical Semantics – A Vade Mecum },
author = {Tim Geelhaar and Ludolf Kuchenbuch and Nicolas Perreaux and Juliane Schiel and Isabelle Schürch },
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
issuetitle = {Work Semantics / Semantiken der Arbeit
},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {18-47},
abstract = {This paper presents the historical semantics approach as a method for social history. While usually understood either as a form of conceptual and intellectual history of ideas or as a subdiscipline of philology and digital humanities, the authors of this article use historical semantics to address the way historians read their sources. The approach is presented as a necessary extension of historical methodology: Historians need to distrust their own common sense, depart from presupposed analytical categories and concepts, and base their interpretative work on the emic vocabulary of the societies under examination and on the document(s) forming the material legacy of the past. By linking words to historical and potential situations of language use, the historical semantics approach reveals the social taxonomies and inherent power relations between the dominant and the dominated. The paper outlines the guiding principles and methodological implications of this approach before presenting four concise vignettes illustrating the analytical potential and methodological diversity of the approach based on concrete case studies.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This paper presents the historical semantics approach as a method for social history. While usually understood either as a form of conceptual and intellectual history of ideas or as a subdiscipline of philology and digital humanities, the authors of this article use historical semantics to address the way historians read their sources. The approach is presented as a necessary extension of historical methodology: Historians need to distrust their own common sense, depart from presupposed analytical categories and concepts, and base their interpretative work on the emic vocabulary of the societies under examination and on the document(s) forming the material legacy of the past. By linking words to historical and potential situations of language use, the historical semantics approach reveals the social taxonomies and inherent power relations between the dominant and the dominated. The paper outlines the guiding principles and methodological implications of this approach before presenting four concise vignettes illustrating the analytical potential and methodological diversity of the approach based on concrete case studies.
3.
Kuchenbuch, Ludolf; Schiel, Juliane
Über die Mikrosemantik von Einzeldokumenten. Ludolf Kuchenbuch im Gespräch mit Juliane Schiel Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 48-61, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {Über die Mikrosemantik von Einzeldokumenten. Ludolf Kuchenbuch im Gespräch mit Juliane Schiel },
author = {Ludolf Kuchenbuch and Juliane Schiel},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
issuetitle = {Work Semantics / Semantiken der Arbeit},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {48-61},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
4.
Karev, Ella
Nemeh in Pharaonic Egypt: ‘Free’ or ‘Miserable’? A Case Study of Historical Semantics Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 62-79, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {Nemeh in Pharaonic Egypt: ‘Free’ or ‘Miserable’? A Case Study of Historical Semantics },
author = {Ella Karev},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
issuetitle = {Work Semantics / Semantiken der Arbeit},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {62-79},
abstract = {This case study of historical semantics examines an ancient Egyptian term related to dependency and dependent labour, ‘nemeh’, along with its varied (and seemingly paradoxical) proposed translations, ranging from ‘orphan’ to ‘citizen’, from ‘deprived person’ to ‘free man’. This contribution considers nemeh through historical semantics, investigating the shared thematic background among concepts and lexical meanings which appear contradictory to modern historians and philologists – but were not so in their original social context.},
keywords = {},
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This case study of historical semantics examines an ancient Egyptian term related to dependency and dependent labour, ‘nemeh’, along with its varied (and seemingly paradoxical) proposed translations, ranging from ‘orphan’ to ‘citizen’, from ‘deprived person’ to ‘free man’. This contribution considers nemeh through historical semantics, investigating the shared thematic background among concepts and lexical meanings which appear contradictory to modern historians and philologists – but were not so in their original social context.
5.
Arnaurd, Colin
Trapped Maidens and Mocked Weavers. Semantics of Ambiguity Between Remunerated and Coerced Labour in Twelfth-Century Textile Production Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 80-105, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = { Trapped Maidens and Mocked Weavers. Semantics of Ambiguity Between Remunerated and Coerced Labour in Twelfth-Century Textile Production},
author = {Colin Arnaurd},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
issuetitle = {Work Semantics / Semantiken der Arbeit
},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {80-105},
abstract = {In Yvain ou le Chevalier au Lion, a French Arthurian romance written by Chrétien de Troyes around 1180, the protagonist finds three hundred captive maidens forced to work on silk fabrics in a cursed castle and complaining about their insufficient remuneration. According to the Gesta Abbatum Trudoniensum, a twelfth-century chronicle of the Abbey of Sint-Truiden (Limburg, Flanders), hired weavers were forced by domanial officers – most probably their employers – to pull a false ship from Kornelimünster near Aachen to Sint-Truiden in 1133. In this article, the two mentioned texts are examined using semantic methods to understand the logics behind the combination of coercion and remuneration in textile labour. The action phrases are analysed, as are the lexical fields of poverty and freedom. The weavers in the Gesta Abbatum Trudoniensum seemed to have the status of hired servants (mercennarius), which implied temporary servitude for the duration of a contract. In Yvain, the insufficient wage of the weaving maidens is presented as chicanery employed to force them to work more. In both texts, poverty is conceptualised in a social, economic, legal, and political sense at once.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
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}
In Yvain ou le Chevalier au Lion, a French Arthurian romance written by Chrétien de Troyes around 1180, the protagonist finds three hundred captive maidens forced to work on silk fabrics in a cursed castle and complaining about their insufficient remuneration. According to the Gesta Abbatum Trudoniensum, a twelfth-century chronicle of the Abbey of Sint-Truiden (Limburg, Flanders), hired weavers were forced by domanial officers – most probably their employers – to pull a false ship from Kornelimünster near Aachen to Sint-Truiden in 1133. In this article, the two mentioned texts are examined using semantic methods to understand the logics behind the combination of coercion and remuneration in textile labour. The action phrases are analysed, as are the lexical fields of poverty and freedom. The weavers in the Gesta Abbatum Trudoniensum seemed to have the status of hired servants (mercennarius), which implied temporary servitude for the duration of a contract. In Yvain, the insufficient wage of the weaving maidens is presented as chicanery employed to force them to work more. In both texts, poverty is conceptualised in a social, economic, legal, and political sense at once.
6.
Almagro-Vidal, Clara
Grammars of Dependence. A Historical Semantics Approach to Population Charters Granted by Military Orders to Muslims in Medieval Iberia Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 106-125, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = { Grammars of Dependence. A Historical Semantics Approach to Population Charters Granted by Military Orders to Muslims in Medieval Iberia },
author = {Clara Almagro-Vidal},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
issuetitle = {Work Semantics / Semantiken der Arbeit},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {106-125},
abstract = {The aim of this paper is to analyse written records associated with the establishment of bonds between military orders as territorial lords and Muslims as settlers in the Christian kingdoms of medieval Iberia. These records are usually known as cartas de población or population charters and were issued in the context of the settlement of populations in a given area. Methods derived from historical semantics are applied to these texts, and the analysis explores the ways in which the existing asymmetrical power relationships were reflected not only in the contents of the charters but also in the grammar and expressions used to formulate them.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
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}
The aim of this paper is to analyse written records associated with the establishment of bonds between military orders as territorial lords and Muslims as settlers in the Christian kingdoms of medieval Iberia. These records are usually known as cartas de población or population charters and were issued in the context of the settlement of populations in a given area. Methods derived from historical semantics are applied to these texts, and the analysis explores the ways in which the existing asymmetrical power relationships were reflected not only in the contents of the charters but also in the grammar and expressions used to formulate them.
7.
Peres, Corinna
Female Work Arrangements in the Datini Letters: Exploring the Semantic Roles and Negotiating Scopes of Servants, Slaves, and Wet Nurses Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 126-149, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {Female Work Arrangements in the Datini Letters: Exploring the Semantic Roles and Negotiating Scopes of Servants, Slaves, and Wet Nurses },
author = {Corinna Peres},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
issuetitle = {Work Semantics / Semantiken der Arbeit},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {126-149},
abstract = {In the letters preserved in the Datini archive, women could take the epistolary stage when it came to their (pre-)entry into a labour relation with the Datinis or their social network. The negotiating scope of women during these entries is the analytical focus of this paper; to negotiate and/or to be negotiated is the central question. Based on 53 letters from the years 1393–1398, four different search and recruitment processes for three different types of female workers – servants, slaves, and wet nurses – are comparatively examined by way of a historical semantic reading. Taking the verb-oriented method as a starting point, this study proposes two methodological extensions: an attribute-oriented method and an adaption of the semantic roles approach from linguistics. The paper argues that this historical semantic trio of methods can help to understand group-related and individual degrees of (non-)control over actions in the arrangement of labour relations in late medieval Tuscany by bringing positions of power to the epistolary surface.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In the letters preserved in the Datini archive, women could take the epistolary stage when it came to their (pre-)entry into a labour relation with the Datinis or their social network. The negotiating scope of women during these entries is the analytical focus of this paper; to negotiate and/or to be negotiated is the central question. Based on 53 letters from the years 1393–1398, four different search and recruitment processes for three different types of female workers – servants, slaves, and wet nurses – are comparatively examined by way of a historical semantic reading. Taking the verb-oriented method as a starting point, this study proposes two methodological extensions: an attribute-oriented method and an adaption of the semantic roles approach from linguistics. The paper argues that this historical semantic trio of methods can help to understand group-related and individual degrees of (non-)control over actions in the arrangement of labour relations in late medieval Tuscany by bringing positions of power to the epistolary surface.
8.
Köstlbauer, Josef
Subjugation by Labelling. Analysing the Semantics of Subservience in a Fugitive Slave Case from Eighteenth-Century Germany Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 150-174, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = { Subjugation by Labelling. Analysing the Semantics of Subservience in a Fugitive Slave Case from Eighteenth-Century Germany },
author = {Josef Köstlbauer},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {150-174},
abstract = {This contribution uses a set of documents dealing with the case of a fugitive slave named Samuel Johannes in Upper Lusatia in 1754 to demonstrate the merits of a historical semantics–inspired approach. Not only does the studied case present evidence of the extension of colonial slaveries into the Holy Roman Empire, it also provides a snapshot of the language of subservience spoken in mid-eighteenth-century Germany. By revealing a striking indifference towards defining and explaining ategorisations of dependency, the sources analysed here defy simple juxtapositions like ‘enslaved’ versus ‘free’. Labels like ‘slave’, ‘serf ’, or ‘Moor’ were employed to enforce and legitimise authority and proprietorial claims over Samuel Johannes. But these labels had to be constantly translated into actual practices and filled with meaning, as they did not readily convert into established, closely circumscribed positions or categories of status.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
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}
This contribution uses a set of documents dealing with the case of a fugitive slave named Samuel Johannes in Upper Lusatia in 1754 to demonstrate the merits of a historical semantics–inspired approach. Not only does the studied case present evidence of the extension of colonial slaveries into the Holy Roman Empire, it also provides a snapshot of the language of subservience spoken in mid-eighteenth-century Germany. By revealing a striking indifference towards defining and explaining ategorisations of dependency, the sources analysed here defy simple juxtapositions like ‘enslaved’ versus ‘free’. Labels like ‘slave’, ‘serf ’, or ‘Moor’ were employed to enforce and legitimise authority and proprietorial claims over Samuel Johannes. But these labels had to be constantly translated into actual practices and filled with meaning, as they did not readily convert into established, closely circumscribed positions or categories of status.
9.
Livi, Massimiliano
“I certainly wouldn’t call it work anymore”. The Reconfiguration of Work in Italy during the 1970s from a Historical Semantics Perspective Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 175-198, 2023.
@article{nokey,
title = {“I certainly wouldn’t call it work anymore”. The Reconfiguration of Work in Italy during the 1970s from a Historical Semantics Perspective },
author = {Massimiliano Livi },
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
issuetitle = {Work Semantics / Semantiken der Arbeit},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {175-198},
abstract = {Using an onomasiological, document-centred historical semantic approach, this paper focuses on the reconfiguration of labour in Italian society during the 1970s and 1980s. This is analysed both at the level of discourse and at the level of the performative changes that the development of a new semantics of labour, coercion, and freedom entailed. At the end of the 1970s, with the onset of the post-boom crisis, the rejection of regulated labour and the theorisation of its liberation through precarisation and flexibilisation became part of a cultural and social semantics for the young generation of workers entering the wage labour system. Their motto was “freeing labour to free life from labour”. Through both a quantitative and qualitative historical semantic analysis of the sources, this contribution examines the medium- and long-term impacts of this reconfiguration on the practices of regulated and controlled wage labour. It also aims to offer an initial reflection on the use of the historical semantic approach for contemporary history and its possible – or rather, necessary – differentiation from other forms of discourse analysis.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Using an onomasiological, document-centred historical semantic approach, this paper focuses on the reconfiguration of labour in Italian society during the 1970s and 1980s. This is analysed both at the level of discourse and at the level of the performative changes that the development of a new semantics of labour, coercion, and freedom entailed. At the end of the 1970s, with the onset of the post-boom crisis, the rejection of regulated labour and the theorisation of its liberation through precarisation and flexibilisation became part of a cultural and social semantics for the young generation of workers entering the wage labour system. Their motto was “freeing labour to free life from labour”. Through both a quantitative and qualitative historical semantic analysis of the sources, this contribution examines the medium- and long-term impacts of this reconfiguration on the practices of regulated and controlled wage labour. It also aims to offer an initial reflection on the use of the historical semantic approach for contemporary history and its possible – or rather, necessary – differentiation from other forms of discourse analysis.
10.
Perreaux, Nicolas
Œuvrer, servir, souffrir. A propos de quelques termes médiolatins Book Chapter
In: Lauwers, Michel (Ed.): Labeur et production au sein des monastères de l‘Occident médiéval, 2021.
@inbook{nokey,
title = { Œuvrer, servir, souffrir. A propos de quelques termes médiolatins},
author = {Nicolas Perreaux},
editor = {Michel Lauwers},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
booktitle = {Labeur et production au sein des monastères de l‘Occident médiéval},
abstract = {The purpose of this article is threefold: a) to show that work could not structurally exist in the Middle Ages, unless it is considered that all organized human activity constitutes work; b) to attempt to grasp the articulation of the main mediolatin terms usually translated as (or considered to belong to) “work”, by showing both the bridges between these terms and the numerous aporias that their listing generates; c) to shift the question, by insisting on the imperative of reconstructing the relations of production in medieval Europe – relations which had complex and partly indirect links with the above-mentioned Mediolatine terms.
},
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The purpose of this article is threefold: a) to show that work could not structurally exist in the Middle Ages, unless it is considered that all organized human activity constitutes work; b) to attempt to grasp the articulation of the main mediolatin terms usually translated as (or considered to belong to) “work”, by showing both the bridges between these terms and the numerous aporias that their listing generates; c) to shift the question, by insisting on the imperative of reconstructing the relations of production in medieval Europe – relations which had complex and partly indirect links with the above-mentioned Mediolatine terms.
11.
Ågren, Maria
Service, help and delegation: What vaguely described work can tell us about labour relations in the past Book Chapter
In: Bischoff, Jeannine (Ed.): Beyond Slavery and Freedom: Bonn Centre for Slavery and Dependence Studies Publications, 2020.
@inbook{nokey,
title = {Service, help and delegation: What vaguely described work can tell us about labour relations in the past},
author = {Maria Ågren},
editor = {Jeannine Bischoff},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
urldate = {2020-01-01},
booktitle = {Beyond Slavery and Freedom: Bonn Centre for Slavery and Dependence Studies Publications},
abstract = {This article explores a dataset of verb-phrases culled from early modern Swedish sources, all of which describe work in vague terms. The analysis shows that vaguely described work (e.g. ‘to work’, ‘to serve’) often appeared together with information on for whom, where and under what conditions the work in question had taken place. In other words, work was neither described as a concrete task nor as an occupation; instead, it was the labour relation that people tended to describe.
},
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This article explores a dataset of verb-phrases culled from early modern Swedish sources, all of which describe work in vague terms. The analysis shows that vaguely described work (e.g. ‘to work’, ‘to serve’) often appeared together with information on for whom, where and under what conditions the work in question had taken place. In other words, work was neither described as a concrete task nor as an occupation; instead, it was the labour relation that people tended to describe.
12.
Schiel, Juliane; Vito, Christian De; van Rossum, Matthias
From Bondage to Precariousness? New Perspectives on Labor and Social History Journal Article
In: Journal of Social History, vol. 54, iss. 2, pp. 1-19, 2020.
@article{nokey,
title = {From Bondage to Precariousness? New Perspectives on Labor and Social History},
author = {Juliane Schiel and Christian De Vito and Matthias van Rossum},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Social History},
volume = {54},
issue = {2},
pages = {1-19},
abstract = {This article explores the possibility of a new, empirically based analytical and methodological framework for the study of labour relations and the reinterpretation of contemporary issues, including precariousness, „modern slavery,” social inequality, and dependence. It proposes a contextualized, interrelational and transepochal approach and discusses the potential of three research strategies.
},
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This article explores the possibility of a new, empirically based analytical and methodological framework for the study of labour relations and the reinterpretation of contemporary issues, including precariousness, „modern slavery,” social inequality, and dependence. It proposes a contextualized, interrelational and transepochal approach and discusses the potential of three research strategies.
13.
Sarti, Raffaella
Le “nom de domestique” est un “mot vague”. Débats parlementaires sur la domesticité pendant la Révolution française Journal Article
In: Mélanges de l’École française de Rome. Italie et Méditerranée modernes et contemporaines, vol. 131, iss. 1, pp. 39-52, 2019.
@article{nokey,
title = {Le “nom de domestique” est un “mot vague”. Débats parlementaires sur la domesticité pendant la Révolution française},
author = {Raffaella Sarti},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
urldate = {2019-01-01},
journal = {Mélanges de l’École française de Rome. Italie et Méditerranée modernes et contemporaines},
volume = {131},
issue = {1},
pages = {39-52},
abstract = {The “term domestic servant” is a “vague word”. Today, the term “domestic” appears old-fashioned and rather politically incorrect; however, when we talk about servants we think of people who do a certain job, although encompassing several tasks. Such an idea is the result of a long transformation that has seen the servant turn into a worker (more often a female worker) after being (considered) for millennia the subordinate member within a power relationship and/or a “tool” used by the master to perform any task, according to the definition of Aristotle. The debates that took place during the French Revolution were very important in this respect. My article will analyze these revolutionary debates on the status and definition of domestic workers, showing that they have contributed to transforming domestic service from a condition to a profession, even though such a transformation has never been fully accomplished.
},
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The “term domestic servant” is a “vague word”. Today, the term “domestic” appears old-fashioned and rather politically incorrect; however, when we talk about servants we think of people who do a certain job, although encompassing several tasks. Such an idea is the result of a long transformation that has seen the servant turn into a worker (more often a female worker) after being (considered) for millennia the subordinate member within a power relationship and/or a “tool” used by the master to perform any task, according to the definition of Aristotle. The debates that took place during the French Revolution were very important in this respect. My article will analyze these revolutionary debates on the status and definition of domestic workers, showing that they have contributed to transforming domestic service from a condition to a profession, even though such a transformation has never been fully accomplished.
14.
Sarti, Raffaella
Can Historians Speak? A Few Thoughts and Proposals on a Possible Global History of Domestic Service/Work Book Chapter
In: Sinha, Nitin; Varma, Nitin (Ed.): Servants Pasts. Sixteenth to Eighteenth Century. South Asia, vol. 1., 2019.
@inbook{nokey,
title = {Can Historians Speak? A Few Thoughts and Proposals on a Possible Global History of Domestic Service/Work},
author = {Raffaella Sarti},
editor = {Nitin Sinha and Nitin Varma},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
booktitle = {Servants Pasts. Sixteenth to Eighteenth Century. South Asia, vol. 1.},
abstract = {The title of this contribution echoes the influential and controversial article by Gayatri Chakravorti Spivak “Can the Subaltern Speak?” – an inspiring question. However, I will not discuss her argument. Rather, it will highlight a common problem that historians have to face, namely the vocabulary they use. Such a problem seems particularly important in the study of domestic service/work, and even more so if they want to develop a comparative perspective and/or contribute to a possible global history of domestic service/work. The chapter examines the problem and suggests some possible strategies to overcome it and move toward a global history of domestic service/work.
},
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The title of this contribution echoes the influential and controversial article by Gayatri Chakravorti Spivak “Can the Subaltern Speak?” – an inspiring question. However, I will not discuss her argument. Rather, it will highlight a common problem that historians have to face, namely the vocabulary they use. Such a problem seems particularly important in the study of domestic service/work, and even more so if they want to develop a comparative perspective and/or contribute to a possible global history of domestic service/work. The chapter examines the problem and suggests some possible strategies to overcome it and move toward a global history of domestic service/work.
15.
Hotson, Howard; Wallnig, Thomas (Ed.)
Reassembling the Republic of Letters in the Digital Age. Standards, Systems, Scholarship Bachelor Thesis
2019.
@bachelorthesis{nokey,
title = {Reassembling the Republic of Letters in the Digital Age. Standards, Systems, Scholarship},
editor = {Howard Hotson and Thomas Wallnig},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
abstract = {The book documents the efforts of COST Action IS1310 (2014-18) in bringing together a community of digital scholars interested in early modern correspondence and intellectual culture at large. It outlines the dimensions of the digital approach – from tech to discourse -, and it celebrates the benefits of collaborative work encouraged by the COST program.
},
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The book documents the efforts of COST Action IS1310 (2014-18) in bringing together a community of digital scholars interested in early modern correspondence and intellectual culture at large. It outlines the dimensions of the digital approach – from tech to discourse -, and it celebrates the benefits of collaborative work encouraged by the COST program.
16.
Lindström, Jonas; Fiebranz, Rosemarie; Rydén, Göran
The Diversity of Work: Gender and Work in Early Modern European Society Book Chapter
In: Ågren, Maria (Ed.): Making a Living, Making a Difference: Gender and Work in Early Modern European Society, pp. 24-56, 2017.
@inbook{nokey,
title = {The Diversity of Work: Gender and Work in Early Modern European Society},
author = {Jonas Lindström and Rosemarie Fiebranz and Göran Rydén
},
editor = {Maria Ågren },
year = {2017},
date = {2017-01-01},
booktitle = {Making a Living, Making a Difference: Gender and Work in Early Modern European Society},
pages = {24-56},
abstract = {This chapter has three purposes. First, it provides a backdrop for the chapters to come by giving a concise account of Sweden approximately 1550 to 1800. Here, the main messages are diversity, regional and otherwise, and change over time. Second, the chapter focuses on the paradox that, while everybody in early modern society worked, it is surprisingly difficult to establish exactly what they did. Combining quantitative and qualitative evidence, the chapter endeavors to solve this problem. Third, it claims that multiple employment—that people performed many types of work at the same time—was widespread, that much work was unpaid, and that contrary to previous assumptions, both women’s and men’s work was intermittent, casual, and nonspecific. Apart from military tasks, women and men appeared in all categories of work.
},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
This chapter has three purposes. First, it provides a backdrop for the chapters to come by giving a concise account of Sweden approximately 1550 to 1800. Here, the main messages are diversity, regional and otherwise, and change over time. Second, the chapter focuses on the paradox that, while everybody in early modern society worked, it is surprisingly difficult to establish exactly what they did. Combining quantitative and qualitative evidence, the chapter endeavors to solve this problem. Third, it claims that multiple employment—that people performed many types of work at the same time—was widespread, that much work was unpaid, and that contrary to previous assumptions, both women’s and men’s work was intermittent, casual, and nonspecific. Apart from military tasks, women and men appeared in all categories of work.
17.
Schiel, Juliane; Hanß, Stefan (Ed.)
Mediterranean Slavery Revisited (500-1800). Neue Perspektiven auf mediterrane Sklaverei (500–1800) Collection
2014.
@collection{nokey,
title = {Mediterranean Slavery Revisited (500-1800). Neue Perspektiven auf mediterrane Sklaverei (500–1800)},
editor = {Juliane Schiel and Stefan Hanß},
year = {2014},
date = {2014-01-01},
abstract = {This volume consists of 22 contributions own English, French, German or Italian language addressing the history of Mediterranean slavery from the medieval to the early modern period. The first section contains papers on the semantics, representations and depictions of slavery; the second section focuses on practices of slaving while the third section brings together papers with a transcultural or interdisciplinary approach.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {collection}
}
This volume consists of 22 contributions own English, French, German or Italian language addressing the history of Mediterranean slavery from the medieval to the early modern period. The first section contains papers on the semantics, representations and depictions of slavery; the second section focuses on practices of slaving while the third section brings together papers with a transcultural or interdisciplinary approach.
2023
Schiel, Juliane; Chevaleyre, Claude
Work Semantics. In Search of an Alternative Conceptual Matrix for Labour and Social Historians Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 9-17, 2023.
Abstract | Tags: global labour history, historical semantics, historiography, methodology
@article{nokey,
title = {Work Semantics. In Search of an Alternative Conceptual Matrix for Labour and Social Historians },
author = {Juliane Schiel and Claude Chevaleyre},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
issuetitle = {Work Semantics / Semantiken der Arbeit},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {9-17},
abstract = {The idea for the project presented in this volume began with an encounter and a discovery. When we – a medievalist and a sinologist – first met in autumn 2017, we realised that although we came from different disciplines and worked on different regions and time periods, we were struggling with the same problem: As historians working on slaving practices in the Venetian empire (14th–16th centuries) respectively servitude in late imperial China (15th–19th centuries), we were both spending much of our time explaining the contextual differences and similarities between the social configurations we were studying to the broader community of social, labour, and global historians. We both felt that our objects of study did not fit well within the much-debated subfield of “free and unfree labour”, and that the postcolonial critiques and the so-called global turn in history did not solve the conceptual problem we were facing. Integrating a medieval or Chinese case study into a conference panel or a special journal issue on household service or slavery helped to enlarge the horizon of the historiographical debates on the history of unfree labour relations, but the umbrella terms of these subfields of study and the limited conceptual references
available did little to help us understand and properly convey the social taxonomies shaping the power relations we were studying.},
keywords = {global labour history, historical semantics, historiography, methodology},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The idea for the project presented in this volume began with an encounter and a discovery. When we – a medievalist and a sinologist – first met in autumn 2017, we realised that although we came from different disciplines and worked on different regions and time periods, we were struggling with the same problem: As historians working on slaving practices in the Venetian empire (14th–16th centuries) respectively servitude in late imperial China (15th–19th centuries), we were both spending much of our time explaining the contextual differences and similarities between the social configurations we were studying to the broader community of social, labour, and global historians. We both felt that our objects of study did not fit well within the much-debated subfield of “free and unfree labour”, and that the postcolonial critiques and the so-called global turn in history did not solve the conceptual problem we were facing. Integrating a medieval or Chinese case study into a conference panel or a special journal issue on household service or slavery helped to enlarge the horizon of the historiographical debates on the history of unfree labour relations, but the umbrella terms of these subfields of study and the limited conceptual references
available did little to help us understand and properly convey the social taxonomies shaping the power relations we were studying.
available did little to help us understand and properly convey the social taxonomies shaping the power relations we were studying.
Geelhaar, Tim; Kuchenbuch, Ludolf; Perreaux, Nicolas; Schiel, Juliane; Schürch, Isabelle
Historical Semantics – A Vade Mecum Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 18-47, 2023.
Abstract | Tags: early modern history, historical semantics, medieval history, methodology
@article{nokey,
title = {Historical Semantics – A Vade Mecum },
author = {Tim Geelhaar and Ludolf Kuchenbuch and Nicolas Perreaux and Juliane Schiel and Isabelle Schürch },
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
issuetitle = {Work Semantics / Semantiken der Arbeit
},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {18-47},
abstract = {This paper presents the historical semantics approach as a method for social history. While usually understood either as a form of conceptual and intellectual history of ideas or as a subdiscipline of philology and digital humanities, the authors of this article use historical semantics to address the way historians read their sources. The approach is presented as a necessary extension of historical methodology: Historians need to distrust their own common sense, depart from presupposed analytical categories and concepts, and base their interpretative work on the emic vocabulary of the societies under examination and on the document(s) forming the material legacy of the past. By linking words to historical and potential situations of language use, the historical semantics approach reveals the social taxonomies and inherent power relations between the dominant and the dominated. The paper outlines the guiding principles and methodological implications of this approach before presenting four concise vignettes illustrating the analytical potential and methodological diversity of the approach based on concrete case studies.},
keywords = {early modern history, historical semantics, medieval history, methodology},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This paper presents the historical semantics approach as a method for social history. While usually understood either as a form of conceptual and intellectual history of ideas or as a subdiscipline of philology and digital humanities, the authors of this article use historical semantics to address the way historians read their sources. The approach is presented as a necessary extension of historical methodology: Historians need to distrust their own common sense, depart from presupposed analytical categories and concepts, and base their interpretative work on the emic vocabulary of the societies under examination and on the document(s) forming the material legacy of the past. By linking words to historical and potential situations of language use, the historical semantics approach reveals the social taxonomies and inherent power relations between the dominant and the dominated. The paper outlines the guiding principles and methodological implications of this approach before presenting four concise vignettes illustrating the analytical potential and methodological diversity of the approach based on concrete case studies.
Kuchenbuch, Ludolf; Schiel, Juliane
Über die Mikrosemantik von Einzeldokumenten. Ludolf Kuchenbuch im Gespräch mit Juliane Schiel Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 48-61, 2023.
Tags: historical semantics, medieval history, methodology
@article{nokey,
title = {Über die Mikrosemantik von Einzeldokumenten. Ludolf Kuchenbuch im Gespräch mit Juliane Schiel },
author = {Ludolf Kuchenbuch and Juliane Schiel},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
issuetitle = {Work Semantics / Semantiken der Arbeit},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {48-61},
keywords = {historical semantics, medieval history, methodology},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Karev, Ella
Nemeh in Pharaonic Egypt: ‘Free’ or ‘Miserable’? A Case Study of Historical Semantics Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 62-79, 2023.
Abstract | Tags: ancient history, dependency, egypt, historical semantics
@article{nokey,
title = {Nemeh in Pharaonic Egypt: ‘Free’ or ‘Miserable’? A Case Study of Historical Semantics },
author = {Ella Karev},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
issuetitle = {Work Semantics / Semantiken der Arbeit},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {62-79},
abstract = {This case study of historical semantics examines an ancient Egyptian term related to dependency and dependent labour, ‘nemeh’, along with its varied (and seemingly paradoxical) proposed translations, ranging from ‘orphan’ to ‘citizen’, from ‘deprived person’ to ‘free man’. This contribution considers nemeh through historical semantics, investigating the shared thematic background among concepts and lexical meanings which appear contradictory to modern historians and philologists – but were not so in their original social context.},
keywords = {ancient history, dependency, egypt, historical semantics},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This case study of historical semantics examines an ancient Egyptian term related to dependency and dependent labour, ‘nemeh’, along with its varied (and seemingly paradoxical) proposed translations, ranging from ‘orphan’ to ‘citizen’, from ‘deprived person’ to ‘free man’. This contribution considers nemeh through historical semantics, investigating the shared thematic background among concepts and lexical meanings which appear contradictory to modern historians and philologists – but were not so in their original social context.
Arnaurd, Colin
Trapped Maidens and Mocked Weavers. Semantics of Ambiguity Between Remunerated and Coerced Labour in Twelfth-Century Textile Production Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 80-105, 2023.
Abstract | Tags: historical semantics, medieval history, textile industry, western europe
@article{nokey,
title = { Trapped Maidens and Mocked Weavers. Semantics of Ambiguity Between Remunerated and Coerced Labour in Twelfth-Century Textile Production},
author = {Colin Arnaurd},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
issuetitle = {Work Semantics / Semantiken der Arbeit
},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {80-105},
abstract = {In Yvain ou le Chevalier au Lion, a French Arthurian romance written by Chrétien de Troyes around 1180, the protagonist finds three hundred captive maidens forced to work on silk fabrics in a cursed castle and complaining about their insufficient remuneration. According to the Gesta Abbatum Trudoniensum, a twelfth-century chronicle of the Abbey of Sint-Truiden (Limburg, Flanders), hired weavers were forced by domanial officers – most probably their employers – to pull a false ship from Kornelimünster near Aachen to Sint-Truiden in 1133. In this article, the two mentioned texts are examined using semantic methods to understand the logics behind the combination of coercion and remuneration in textile labour. The action phrases are analysed, as are the lexical fields of poverty and freedom. The weavers in the Gesta Abbatum Trudoniensum seemed to have the status of hired servants (mercennarius), which implied temporary servitude for the duration of a contract. In Yvain, the insufficient wage of the weaving maidens is presented as chicanery employed to force them to work more. In both texts, poverty is conceptualised in a social, economic, legal, and political sense at once.},
keywords = {historical semantics, medieval history, textile industry, western europe},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In Yvain ou le Chevalier au Lion, a French Arthurian romance written by Chrétien de Troyes around 1180, the protagonist finds three hundred captive maidens forced to work on silk fabrics in a cursed castle and complaining about their insufficient remuneration. According to the Gesta Abbatum Trudoniensum, a twelfth-century chronicle of the Abbey of Sint-Truiden (Limburg, Flanders), hired weavers were forced by domanial officers – most probably their employers – to pull a false ship from Kornelimünster near Aachen to Sint-Truiden in 1133. In this article, the two mentioned texts are examined using semantic methods to understand the logics behind the combination of coercion and remuneration in textile labour. The action phrases are analysed, as are the lexical fields of poverty and freedom. The weavers in the Gesta Abbatum Trudoniensum seemed to have the status of hired servants (mercennarius), which implied temporary servitude for the duration of a contract. In Yvain, the insufficient wage of the weaving maidens is presented as chicanery employed to force them to work more. In both texts, poverty is conceptualised in a social, economic, legal, and political sense at once.
Almagro-Vidal, Clara
Grammars of Dependence. A Historical Semantics Approach to Population Charters Granted by Military Orders to Muslims in Medieval Iberia Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 106-125, 2023.
Abstract | Tags: historical semantics, iberia, medieval history, military, muslims, spain
@article{nokey,
title = { Grammars of Dependence. A Historical Semantics Approach to Population Charters Granted by Military Orders to Muslims in Medieval Iberia },
author = {Clara Almagro-Vidal},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
issuetitle = {Work Semantics / Semantiken der Arbeit},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {106-125},
abstract = {The aim of this paper is to analyse written records associated with the establishment of bonds between military orders as territorial lords and Muslims as settlers in the Christian kingdoms of medieval Iberia. These records are usually known as cartas de población or population charters and were issued in the context of the settlement of populations in a given area. Methods derived from historical semantics are applied to these texts, and the analysis explores the ways in which the existing asymmetrical power relationships were reflected not only in the contents of the charters but also in the grammar and expressions used to formulate them.},
keywords = {historical semantics, iberia, medieval history, military, muslims, spain},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The aim of this paper is to analyse written records associated with the establishment of bonds between military orders as territorial lords and Muslims as settlers in the Christian kingdoms of medieval Iberia. These records are usually known as cartas de población or population charters and were issued in the context of the settlement of populations in a given area. Methods derived from historical semantics are applied to these texts, and the analysis explores the ways in which the existing asymmetrical power relationships were reflected not only in the contents of the charters but also in the grammar and expressions used to formulate them.
Peres, Corinna
Female Work Arrangements in the Datini Letters: Exploring the Semantic Roles and Negotiating Scopes of Servants, Slaves, and Wet Nurses Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 126-149, 2023.
Abstract | Tags: europe, gender, historical semantics, italy, medieval history, service, slavery
@article{nokey,
title = {Female Work Arrangements in the Datini Letters: Exploring the Semantic Roles and Negotiating Scopes of Servants, Slaves, and Wet Nurses },
author = {Corinna Peres},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
issuetitle = {Work Semantics / Semantiken der Arbeit},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {126-149},
abstract = {In the letters preserved in the Datini archive, women could take the epistolary stage when it came to their (pre-)entry into a labour relation with the Datinis or their social network. The negotiating scope of women during these entries is the analytical focus of this paper; to negotiate and/or to be negotiated is the central question. Based on 53 letters from the years 1393–1398, four different search and recruitment processes for three different types of female workers – servants, slaves, and wet nurses – are comparatively examined by way of a historical semantic reading. Taking the verb-oriented method as a starting point, this study proposes two methodological extensions: an attribute-oriented method and an adaption of the semantic roles approach from linguistics. The paper argues that this historical semantic trio of methods can help to understand group-related and individual degrees of (non-)control over actions in the arrangement of labour relations in late medieval Tuscany by bringing positions of power to the epistolary surface.},
keywords = {europe, gender, historical semantics, italy, medieval history, service, slavery},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In the letters preserved in the Datini archive, women could take the epistolary stage when it came to their (pre-)entry into a labour relation with the Datinis or their social network. The negotiating scope of women during these entries is the analytical focus of this paper; to negotiate and/or to be negotiated is the central question. Based on 53 letters from the years 1393–1398, four different search and recruitment processes for three different types of female workers – servants, slaves, and wet nurses – are comparatively examined by way of a historical semantic reading. Taking the verb-oriented method as a starting point, this study proposes two methodological extensions: an attribute-oriented method and an adaption of the semantic roles approach from linguistics. The paper argues that this historical semantic trio of methods can help to understand group-related and individual degrees of (non-)control over actions in the arrangement of labour relations in late medieval Tuscany by bringing positions of power to the epistolary surface.
Köstlbauer, Josef
Subjugation by Labelling. Analysing the Semantics of Subservience in a Fugitive Slave Case from Eighteenth-Century Germany Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 150-174, 2023.
Abstract | Tags: early modern history, europe, germany, historical semantics, slavery
@article{nokey,
title = { Subjugation by Labelling. Analysing the Semantics of Subservience in a Fugitive Slave Case from Eighteenth-Century Germany },
author = {Josef Köstlbauer},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {150-174},
abstract = {This contribution uses a set of documents dealing with the case of a fugitive slave named Samuel Johannes in Upper Lusatia in 1754 to demonstrate the merits of a historical semantics–inspired approach. Not only does the studied case present evidence of the extension of colonial slaveries into the Holy Roman Empire, it also provides a snapshot of the language of subservience spoken in mid-eighteenth-century Germany. By revealing a striking indifference towards defining and explaining ategorisations of dependency, the sources analysed here defy simple juxtapositions like ‘enslaved’ versus ‘free’. Labels like ‘slave’, ‘serf ’, or ‘Moor’ were employed to enforce and legitimise authority and proprietorial claims over Samuel Johannes. But these labels had to be constantly translated into actual practices and filled with meaning, as they did not readily convert into established, closely circumscribed positions or categories of status.},
keywords = {early modern history, europe, germany, historical semantics, slavery},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This contribution uses a set of documents dealing with the case of a fugitive slave named Samuel Johannes in Upper Lusatia in 1754 to demonstrate the merits of a historical semantics–inspired approach. Not only does the studied case present evidence of the extension of colonial slaveries into the Holy Roman Empire, it also provides a snapshot of the language of subservience spoken in mid-eighteenth-century Germany. By revealing a striking indifference towards defining and explaining ategorisations of dependency, the sources analysed here defy simple juxtapositions like ‘enslaved’ versus ‘free’. Labels like ‘slave’, ‘serf ’, or ‘Moor’ were employed to enforce and legitimise authority and proprietorial claims over Samuel Johannes. But these labels had to be constantly translated into actual practices and filled with meaning, as they did not readily convert into established, closely circumscribed positions or categories of status.
Livi, Massimiliano
“I certainly wouldn’t call it work anymore”. The Reconfiguration of Work in Italy during the 1970s from a Historical Semantics Perspective Journal Article
In: Austrian Journal of Historical Studies, vol. 34, iss. 2, pp. 175-198, 2023.
Abstract | Tags: 20th century, historical semantics, italy
@article{nokey,
title = {“I certainly wouldn’t call it work anymore”. The Reconfiguration of Work in Italy during the 1970s from a Historical Semantics Perspective },
author = {Massimiliano Livi },
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-01},
issuetitle = {Work Semantics / Semantiken der Arbeit},
journal = {Austrian Journal of Historical Studies},
volume = {34},
issue = {2},
pages = {175-198},
abstract = {Using an onomasiological, document-centred historical semantic approach, this paper focuses on the reconfiguration of labour in Italian society during the 1970s and 1980s. This is analysed both at the level of discourse and at the level of the performative changes that the development of a new semantics of labour, coercion, and freedom entailed. At the end of the 1970s, with the onset of the post-boom crisis, the rejection of regulated labour and the theorisation of its liberation through precarisation and flexibilisation became part of a cultural and social semantics for the young generation of workers entering the wage labour system. Their motto was “freeing labour to free life from labour”. Through both a quantitative and qualitative historical semantic analysis of the sources, this contribution examines the medium- and long-term impacts of this reconfiguration on the practices of regulated and controlled wage labour. It also aims to offer an initial reflection on the use of the historical semantic approach for contemporary history and its possible – or rather, necessary – differentiation from other forms of discourse analysis.},
keywords = {20th century, historical semantics, italy},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Using an onomasiological, document-centred historical semantic approach, this paper focuses on the reconfiguration of labour in Italian society during the 1970s and 1980s. This is analysed both at the level of discourse and at the level of the performative changes that the development of a new semantics of labour, coercion, and freedom entailed. At the end of the 1970s, with the onset of the post-boom crisis, the rejection of regulated labour and the theorisation of its liberation through precarisation and flexibilisation became part of a cultural and social semantics for the young generation of workers entering the wage labour system. Their motto was “freeing labour to free life from labour”. Through both a quantitative and qualitative historical semantic analysis of the sources, this contribution examines the medium- and long-term impacts of this reconfiguration on the practices of regulated and controlled wage labour. It also aims to offer an initial reflection on the use of the historical semantic approach for contemporary history and its possible – or rather, necessary – differentiation from other forms of discourse analysis.
2021
Perreaux, Nicolas
Œuvrer, servir, souffrir. A propos de quelques termes médiolatins Book Chapter
In: Lauwers, Michel (Ed.): Labeur et production au sein des monastères de l‘Occident médiéval, 2021.
Abstract | Tags: historical semantics, medieval history
@inbook{nokey,
title = { Œuvrer, servir, souffrir. A propos de quelques termes médiolatins},
author = {Nicolas Perreaux},
editor = {Michel Lauwers},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
booktitle = {Labeur et production au sein des monastères de l‘Occident médiéval},
abstract = {The purpose of this article is threefold: a) to show that work could not structurally exist in the Middle Ages, unless it is considered that all organized human activity constitutes work; b) to attempt to grasp the articulation of the main mediolatin terms usually translated as (or considered to belong to) “work”, by showing both the bridges between these terms and the numerous aporias that their listing generates; c) to shift the question, by insisting on the imperative of reconstructing the relations of production in medieval Europe – relations which had complex and partly indirect links with the above-mentioned Mediolatine terms.
},
keywords = {historical semantics, medieval history},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
The purpose of this article is threefold: a) to show that work could not structurally exist in the Middle Ages, unless it is considered that all organized human activity constitutes work; b) to attempt to grasp the articulation of the main mediolatin terms usually translated as (or considered to belong to) “work”, by showing both the bridges between these terms and the numerous aporias that their listing generates; c) to shift the question, by insisting on the imperative of reconstructing the relations of production in medieval Europe – relations which had complex and partly indirect links with the above-mentioned Mediolatine terms.
2020
Ågren, Maria
Service, help and delegation: What vaguely described work can tell us about labour relations in the past Book Chapter
In: Bischoff, Jeannine (Ed.): Beyond Slavery and Freedom: Bonn Centre for Slavery and Dependence Studies Publications, 2020.
Abstract | Tags: dependency, early modern history, historical semantics, new history of work, service, sweden
@inbook{nokey,
title = {Service, help and delegation: What vaguely described work can tell us about labour relations in the past},
author = {Maria Ågren},
editor = {Jeannine Bischoff},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
urldate = {2020-01-01},
booktitle = {Beyond Slavery and Freedom: Bonn Centre for Slavery and Dependence Studies Publications},
abstract = {This article explores a dataset of verb-phrases culled from early modern Swedish sources, all of which describe work in vague terms. The analysis shows that vaguely described work (e.g. ‘to work’, ‘to serve’) often appeared together with information on for whom, where and under what conditions the work in question had taken place. In other words, work was neither described as a concrete task nor as an occupation; instead, it was the labour relation that people tended to describe.
},
keywords = {dependency, early modern history, historical semantics, new history of work, service, sweden},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
This article explores a dataset of verb-phrases culled from early modern Swedish sources, all of which describe work in vague terms. The analysis shows that vaguely described work (e.g. ‘to work’, ‘to serve’) often appeared together with information on for whom, where and under what conditions the work in question had taken place. In other words, work was neither described as a concrete task nor as an occupation; instead, it was the labour relation that people tended to describe.
Schiel, Juliane; Vito, Christian De; van Rossum, Matthias
From Bondage to Precariousness? New Perspectives on Labor and Social History Journal Article
In: Journal of Social History, vol. 54, iss. 2, pp. 1-19, 2020.
Abstract | Tags: dependency, global labour history, historical semantics, methodology, new history of work
@article{nokey,
title = {From Bondage to Precariousness? New Perspectives on Labor and Social History},
author = {Juliane Schiel and Christian De Vito and Matthias van Rossum},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Social History},
volume = {54},
issue = {2},
pages = {1-19},
abstract = {This article explores the possibility of a new, empirically based analytical and methodological framework for the study of labour relations and the reinterpretation of contemporary issues, including precariousness, „modern slavery,” social inequality, and dependence. It proposes a contextualized, interrelational and transepochal approach and discusses the potential of three research strategies.
},
keywords = {dependency, global labour history, historical semantics, methodology, new history of work},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This article explores the possibility of a new, empirically based analytical and methodological framework for the study of labour relations and the reinterpretation of contemporary issues, including precariousness, „modern slavery,” social inequality, and dependence. It proposes a contextualized, interrelational and transepochal approach and discusses the potential of three research strategies.
2019
Sarti, Raffaella
Le “nom de domestique” est un “mot vague”. Débats parlementaires sur la domesticité pendant la Révolution française Journal Article
In: Mélanges de l’École française de Rome. Italie et Méditerranée modernes et contemporaines, vol. 131, iss. 1, pp. 39-52, 2019.
Abstract | Tags: domestic service, france, gender, historical semantics, service
@article{nokey,
title = {Le “nom de domestique” est un “mot vague”. Débats parlementaires sur la domesticité pendant la Révolution française},
author = {Raffaella Sarti},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
urldate = {2019-01-01},
journal = {Mélanges de l’École française de Rome. Italie et Méditerranée modernes et contemporaines},
volume = {131},
issue = {1},
pages = {39-52},
abstract = {The “term domestic servant” is a “vague word”. Today, the term “domestic” appears old-fashioned and rather politically incorrect; however, when we talk about servants we think of people who do a certain job, although encompassing several tasks. Such an idea is the result of a long transformation that has seen the servant turn into a worker (more often a female worker) after being (considered) for millennia the subordinate member within a power relationship and/or a “tool” used by the master to perform any task, according to the definition of Aristotle. The debates that took place during the French Revolution were very important in this respect. My article will analyze these revolutionary debates on the status and definition of domestic workers, showing that they have contributed to transforming domestic service from a condition to a profession, even though such a transformation has never been fully accomplished.
},
keywords = {domestic service, france, gender, historical semantics, service},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The “term domestic servant” is a “vague word”. Today, the term “domestic” appears old-fashioned and rather politically incorrect; however, when we talk about servants we think of people who do a certain job, although encompassing several tasks. Such an idea is the result of a long transformation that has seen the servant turn into a worker (more often a female worker) after being (considered) for millennia the subordinate member within a power relationship and/or a “tool” used by the master to perform any task, according to the definition of Aristotle. The debates that took place during the French Revolution were very important in this respect. My article will analyze these revolutionary debates on the status and definition of domestic workers, showing that they have contributed to transforming domestic service from a condition to a profession, even though such a transformation has never been fully accomplished.
Sarti, Raffaella
Can Historians Speak? A Few Thoughts and Proposals on a Possible Global History of Domestic Service/Work Book Chapter
In: Sinha, Nitin; Varma, Nitin (Ed.): Servants Pasts. Sixteenth to Eighteenth Century. South Asia, vol. 1., 2019.
Abstract | Tags: domestic service, early modern history, gender, historical semantics, household
@inbook{nokey,
title = {Can Historians Speak? A Few Thoughts and Proposals on a Possible Global History of Domestic Service/Work},
author = {Raffaella Sarti},
editor = {Nitin Sinha and Nitin Varma},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
booktitle = {Servants Pasts. Sixteenth to Eighteenth Century. South Asia, vol. 1.},
abstract = {The title of this contribution echoes the influential and controversial article by Gayatri Chakravorti Spivak “Can the Subaltern Speak?” – an inspiring question. However, I will not discuss her argument. Rather, it will highlight a common problem that historians have to face, namely the vocabulary they use. Such a problem seems particularly important in the study of domestic service/work, and even more so if they want to develop a comparative perspective and/or contribute to a possible global history of domestic service/work. The chapter examines the problem and suggests some possible strategies to overcome it and move toward a global history of domestic service/work.
},
keywords = {domestic service, early modern history, gender, historical semantics, household},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
The title of this contribution echoes the influential and controversial article by Gayatri Chakravorti Spivak “Can the Subaltern Speak?” – an inspiring question. However, I will not discuss her argument. Rather, it will highlight a common problem that historians have to face, namely the vocabulary they use. Such a problem seems particularly important in the study of domestic service/work, and even more so if they want to develop a comparative perspective and/or contribute to a possible global history of domestic service/work. The chapter examines the problem and suggests some possible strategies to overcome it and move toward a global history of domestic service/work.
Hotson, Howard; Wallnig, Thomas (Ed.)
Reassembling the Republic of Letters in the Digital Age. Standards, Systems, Scholarship Bachelor Thesis
2019.
Abstract | Tags: digital humanities, early modern history, historical semantics
@bachelorthesis{nokey,
title = {Reassembling the Republic of Letters in the Digital Age. Standards, Systems, Scholarship},
editor = {Howard Hotson and Thomas Wallnig},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
abstract = {The book documents the efforts of COST Action IS1310 (2014-18) in bringing together a community of digital scholars interested in early modern correspondence and intellectual culture at large. It outlines the dimensions of the digital approach – from tech to discourse -, and it celebrates the benefits of collaborative work encouraged by the COST program.
},
keywords = {digital humanities, early modern history, historical semantics},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {bachelorthesis}
}
The book documents the efforts of COST Action IS1310 (2014-18) in bringing together a community of digital scholars interested in early modern correspondence and intellectual culture at large. It outlines the dimensions of the digital approach – from tech to discourse -, and it celebrates the benefits of collaborative work encouraged by the COST program.
2017
Lindström, Jonas; Fiebranz, Rosemarie; Rydén, Göran
The Diversity of Work: Gender and Work in Early Modern European Society Book Chapter
In: Ågren, Maria (Ed.): Making a Living, Making a Difference: Gender and Work in Early Modern European Society, pp. 24-56, 2017.
Abstract | Tags: early modern history, europe, gender, historical semantics
@inbook{nokey,
title = {The Diversity of Work: Gender and Work in Early Modern European Society},
author = {Jonas Lindström and Rosemarie Fiebranz and Göran Rydén
},
editor = {Maria Ågren },
year = {2017},
date = {2017-01-01},
booktitle = {Making a Living, Making a Difference: Gender and Work in Early Modern European Society},
pages = {24-56},
abstract = {This chapter has three purposes. First, it provides a backdrop for the chapters to come by giving a concise account of Sweden approximately 1550 to 1800. Here, the main messages are diversity, regional and otherwise, and change over time. Second, the chapter focuses on the paradox that, while everybody in early modern society worked, it is surprisingly difficult to establish exactly what they did. Combining quantitative and qualitative evidence, the chapter endeavors to solve this problem. Third, it claims that multiple employment—that people performed many types of work at the same time—was widespread, that much work was unpaid, and that contrary to previous assumptions, both women’s and men’s work was intermittent, casual, and nonspecific. Apart from military tasks, women and men appeared in all categories of work.
},
keywords = {early modern history, europe, gender, historical semantics},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
This chapter has three purposes. First, it provides a backdrop for the chapters to come by giving a concise account of Sweden approximately 1550 to 1800. Here, the main messages are diversity, regional and otherwise, and change over time. Second, the chapter focuses on the paradox that, while everybody in early modern society worked, it is surprisingly difficult to establish exactly what they did. Combining quantitative and qualitative evidence, the chapter endeavors to solve this problem. Third, it claims that multiple employment—that people performed many types of work at the same time—was widespread, that much work was unpaid, and that contrary to previous assumptions, both women’s and men’s work was intermittent, casual, and nonspecific. Apart from military tasks, women and men appeared in all categories of work.
2014
Schiel, Juliane; Hanß, Stefan (Ed.)
Mediterranean Slavery Revisited (500-1800). Neue Perspektiven auf mediterrane Sklaverei (500–1800) Collection
2014.
Abstract | Tags: early modern history, historical semantics, medieval history, mediterranean, slavery
@collection{nokey,
title = {Mediterranean Slavery Revisited (500-1800). Neue Perspektiven auf mediterrane Sklaverei (500–1800)},
editor = {Juliane Schiel and Stefan Hanß},
year = {2014},
date = {2014-01-01},
abstract = {This volume consists of 22 contributions own English, French, German or Italian language addressing the history of Mediterranean slavery from the medieval to the early modern period. The first section contains papers on the semantics, representations and depictions of slavery; the second section focuses on practices of slaving while the third section brings together papers with a transcultural or interdisciplinary approach.},
keywords = {early modern history, historical semantics, medieval history, mediterranean, slavery},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {collection}
}
This volume consists of 22 contributions own English, French, German or Italian language addressing the history of Mediterranean slavery from the medieval to the early modern period. The first section contains papers on the semantics, representations and depictions of slavery; the second section focuses on practices of slaving while the third section brings together papers with a transcultural or interdisciplinary approach.