medieval worlds • no. 16 • 2022
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
A-1011 Wien, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
Tel. +43-1-515 81/DW 3420, Fax +43-1-515 81/DW 3400 https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at, e-mail: verlag@oeaw.ac.at |
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DATUM, UNTERSCHRIFT / DATE, SIGNATURE
BANK AUSTRIA CREDITANSTALT, WIEN (IBAN AT04 1100 0006 2280 0100, BIC BKAUATWW), DEUTSCHE BANK MÜNCHEN (IBAN DE16 7007 0024 0238 8270 00, BIC DEUTDEDBMUC)
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medieval worlds • no. 16 • 2022 ISSN 2412-3196 Online Edition ISBN 978-3-7001-9289-3 Online Edition 2022 Indexed by: ERIH-PLUS, Crossref, DOAJ, EZB
Paolo Tedesco
S. 129 - 140 doi:10.1553/medievalworlds_no16_2022s129 Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften doi:10.1553/medievalworlds_no16_2022s129
Abstract: In history writing, we need to have words, whether technical or not, to denote economic tendencies, changes in institutions, exchanged objects, or social practices. These words may remain the same, but behind their stability, they designate specific historical configurations. In this concluding note, I reflect on the possible meaning of the words we currently use to describe the social and economic histories of Africa in the long era stretching from 300 to 900 CE (or even 1000, as the title of this collection argues). I draw particular attention to the word “transition” which in the contemporary literature has become an umbrella term to describe any kind of transformation occurring across time. The result of this intellectual operation is that any implication about historical periodization and “structural changes” has vanished from the research agenda. In outlining the contents of this collection, my crucial task here is to restore the potent analytical meaning that a word such as transition implies and to reject the tendency to transform the descriptive into the explanatory. Keywords: Africa, Late Antiquity, Islam, transition, transformation, economy, trade Published Online: 2022/06/30 06:42:34 Object Identifier: 0xc1aa5572 0x003d8953 Rights: .
medieval worlds provides a forum for comparative, interdisciplinary and transcultural studies of the Middle Ages. Its aim is to overcome disciplinary boundaries, regional limits and national research traditions in Medieval Studies, to open up new spaces for discussion, and to help developing global perspectives. We focus on the period from c. 400 to 1500 CE but do not stick to rigid periodization.
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
A-1011 Wien, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2
Tel. +43-1-515 81/DW 3420, Fax +43-1-515 81/DW 3400 https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at, e-mail: verlag@oeaw.ac.at |