Practice question · Multiple choice
Koselleck defines the Sattelzeit by a divergence between the 'space of experience' and the 'horizon of expectation'. What fundamentally changes in how historical actors perceive time when these two domains separate?
Hints
- If past precedent no longer dictates what lies ahead, what happens to human anticipation?
- Does Koselleck describe a change in professional archival methods or in everyday temporal consciousness?
Show the answer
D. They view the future as open rather than bound by past precedents
Why
When expectations uncouple from past experience, actors begin to imagine alternate, unprecedented futures rather than cyclical recurrences. Structural history emerged later with Annales, whilst source criticism and archival reliance actually intensified during this period.
Practise What "Contemporary History" Is
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