城市公众史学

Urban Public History

在很多国家,历史在公众领域的各种实践可以追溯至一百多年前,历史学者在学院之外从业也由来已久。而作为历史学的一个分支,公众史学起源于1970年代末的美国。与其他主要英语国家相比,公众史学在美国具有相对成熟的学科构架和教育体系。近年来,国内史学界相继出现了不同的术语,试图从不同角度诠释"公众史学",似乎都具有合理的成分,又似乎都没有准确把握其实质。本文尝试从所有权的角度思索公众史学,对"公众"和"空间"作哲学反思,提出公众史学需要的两个必要条件。但仅仅从理论上"辩论"公众史学其实过于保守,仅仅从学科上"捍卫"公众史学其实是将其局限在一个狭隘、封闭的学术空间,与其激进、开放、自由、民主的诉求相悖。公众史学大多发生在城市空间,而城市历史具有公众性,本文进而将公众史学置于城市空间,通过深入分析现代城市空间的激进、反叛与制度化的历史呈现等特性,提出城市公众史学的基本概念与研究课题,并建议三个研究方向:集体记忆与城市空间的演绎;跨学科的研究方法之探索;与城市历史资源的对话和合作。如果说公众史学的终极关怀是实现社会公正,那么城市公众史学的实质是将城市权利重新赋予城市历史的缔造者和城市发展的亲历者与见证者。

In many countries,the practice of history for public consumption can be traced back to at least 100 years ago,and it＇s been a norm for historians to work outside the academia. As a sub-field in history,a profession,however,public history has originated from the United States in the late 1970 s. Compared with other major Englishspeaking countries,public history in the United States has developed relatively mature disciplinary and educational infrastructure. While still a new field in China,public history has been interpreted differently. This article,reflecting on ＂the public ＂and ＂space ＂,attempts to explore the idea of public history from the ownership standpoint,and suggests two prerequisites. Moving beyond the definitional debates,the article situates public history in the urban space,as most public history happens in the city,and urban history is mostly public. With detailed analysis of key characters of modern urban space,the author presents the core concepts,propositions,research directions,and the ultimate concern of urban public history in China.