A review by pvbelkom
What is Cultural History? by Peter Burke

3.0

This introduction tries to avoid the pitfalls of a) deterministic social approaches to history and b) empty talking about cultural construction and 'cultural theory'. Although these ambitions are admirable, it results in a somewhat vague account of NCH (New Cultural History). Theorists are reduced to flashy flag posts and buzzwords; the most striking example of this (paraphrasing it slightly for polemical and argumentative purposes): 'archeologists admire Foucault, because he was a archeologist, in some sense, as well'. This study reflects in this way the very same fragmented and incomplete 'postmodern identities' it is trying to undermine. The concrete analyses of the economic underpinnings of society, which make authors like Marx and Bourdieu so inspiring, thorough and rigorous, wither away in the shadow of the extensive usage of 'buzzconcepts' like 'hybridization' and 'the frontier police'. Burkes usage of methapors and rhetorics make this book somewhat intangible, but his clear wit and rich knowledge of the discipline make up for that. He tried to say too much, but the end result isn't disappointing at all, especially for curious and beginning students. Rich in its scope, boring in its intended theoretical contributions to the field.