Claus Møller Jørgensen:
A Historiographical Introduction

The article is a short introduction to the main currents in contemporary historiography, social history, cultural history, and the linguistic approach. Taking Hans Ulrich Wehler and the Gesellschaftsgeschichte as a point of departure, the problem of social history to deal with culture as a historical phenomenon in its own right is highlighted. The cultural approach to history is introduces through examples and the concept of culture stated by Clifford Geertz. The main focus is on the linguistic approach and the debates it have entailed. Making Gareth Stedman Jones Languages of Class its caste study the article shows the quite wide array of positions taken to the linguistic approach to history and the divergences among them. The major change suggested by the article is the general emphasis in current historical scholarship of all brands on the reality of the subject and the means of its creation language/culture, which mirrors the return of methodological individualism.