"Comparing the Incomparable was originally published in French in 2000 under the title Comparer l'incomparable 2000, Éditions du Seuil"--T.p. verso
Includes bibliographical references and index
Toward a constructive comparativism: between historians and anthropologistsShould an anthropologist happen to meet a historian -- 'A traveller everywhere' -- The confrontation between Greeks and Americans -- The blemishes of nationalism -- Those 'without writing', 'without history' -- Saint Marc Bloch -- How should the history of England be written today? -- And in Germany? -- Toward a more just and egalitarian society of historians -- Working together -- Constructing comparables -- Singular and plural -- The shock of the incomparable -- The art of coining something new -- Mechanisms of thought -- Passing from autochthony to refoundation -- What is the use of comparison? -- Setting a variety of regimes of hisroicity in perspective -- 'Be wary of history' -- Historical memory and thought -- The configurations of change -- The colours of the past -- An obstacle to thinking of the past as something other than the present: Homer -- Working on one's own traditions -- Experimenting in the field of polytheisms -- 'The fact of structure', with Georges Dumézil -- Models of Zeus -- The limits to 'how a god intervenes' -- Begin with groupings of gods -- Concrete objects used as 'litmus papers' -- The foot of Apollo, the strides of Hermes and the foundation stones of Poseidon -- In the intimacy of the house of Delphi -- Manipulate! Obtain reactions! -- From assembly practices to forms of politics: a comparative approach -- Multiple beginnings -- Concrete practices -- Communal affairs -- Fashioning a place in which to speak -- A democracy invented in Africa -- Assembling and giving form to the res publica -- Notaries, scribes and messengers: modes of publicity -- Writing down the law and making it speak -- Places of equality and types of men.
Toward a constructive comparativism: between historians and anthropologists -- Should an anthropologist happen to meet a historian -- 'A traveller everywhere' -- The confrontation between Greeks and Americans -- The blemishes of nationalism -- Those 'without writing', 'without history' -- Saint Marc Bloch -- How should the history of England be written today? -- And in Germany? -- Toward a more just and egalitarian society of historians -- Working together -- Constructing comparables -- Singular and plural -- The shock of the incomparable -- The art of coining something new -- Mechanisms of thought -- Passing from autochthony to refoundation -- What is the use of comparison? -- Setting a variety of regimes of hisroicity in perspective -- 'Be wary of history' -- Historical memory and thought -- The configurations of change -- The colours of the past -- An obstacle to thinking of the past as something other than the present: Homer -- Working on one's own traditions -- Experimenting in the field of polytheisms -- 'The fact of structure', with Georges Dumézil -- Models of Zeus -- The limits to 'how a god intervenes' -- Begin with groupings of gods -- Concrete objects used as 'litmus papers' -- The foot of Apollo, the strides of Hermes and the foundation stones of Poseidon -- In the intimacy of the house of Delphi -- Manipulate! Obtain reactions! -- From assembly practices to forms of politics: a comparative approach -- Multiple beginnings -- Concrete practices -- Communal affairs -- Fashioning a place in which to speak -- A democracy invented in Africa -- Assembling and giving form to the res publica -- Notaries, scribes and messengers: modes of publicity -- Writing down the law and making it speak -- Places of equality and types of men.
