Narration, Identity And Historical Conciousness

The construction of historical meaning, according to Straub (psychology, Chemnitz U. of Technology, Germany), has until now largely remained outside the purview of the discipline of psychology. In this work he presents 12 papers exploring the questions about a narrative psychology of historical consciousness, many drawn from a symposium titled "Historical Meaning-Construction: Interdisciplinary Research into the Structure, Logic, and Function of Historical Consciousness an Intercultural Comparison." The papers first consider theoretical positions, dealing with questions of narrative and moral identity, narrative truth and identity formation, and past and present as narrative construction. Later, the results of empirical research are presented and address the writing of biographies in the age of psychoanalysis, the historical consciousness of Nazi official Albert Speer, constructions of the Holocaust, and the historical consciousness of children. Annotation c2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Jurgen Straub is Professor of Psychology at the University of Chemnitz. He was research director and member of the management committee at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities Essen (Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut Essen, KWI) from October 1999 to September 2001. Beginning in April 2004, he will lead the research group Intercultural Communication – Intercultural Competence at the KWI. His research topics include the psychology of cultural practices, methodology of qualitative research, and historical consciousness.