Frank Ankersmit: a metamorfose do historicismo
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Data
2018-08-10
Autores
Menezes, Jonathan
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Editor
Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)
Resumo
Frank Ankersmit ainda é relativamente pouco conhecido no Brasil, mas na Holanda (seu país), em toda Europa e nos Estados Unidos, principalmente, ele é uma assumidade na área de teoria e filosofia da história. “Chegou” no Brasil através da, e graças à, repercussão de seus escritos pós-modernistas da década de 1980, traduzidos e publicados na revista Topoi em 2001. Esses escritos provocaram meu interesse em sua obra, e o desejo de investigá-la um pouco mais. Na medida em que fui também traduzindo, diversificando e aprofundando leituras, percebi que o pós-modernismo foi apenas um capítulo de sua jornada, e que uma história intelectual de Ankersmit deveria ir além, ampliar seu escopo. Esta tese se propõe a dar esse passo além, e a ler Ankersmit também a partir de outros embates, giros temáticos e conceitos por ele apresentados, desde a publicação de sua primeira obra em inglês, Narrative Logic (1983), até escritos mais recentes, em especial, Meaning, Truth and Reference in Historical Representation (2012). No interregno dessa pesquisa, outros “Ankersmites” emergiram, diferentes versões dele mesmo e de sua obra, precipitadas por algumas transições: do narrativismo para o representacionalismo; do pós-modernismo a um tipo de pós-pós-modernismo; do idealismo ao realismo histórico; movendo-se da linguagem para a experiência sublime, mas sem perder de vista o solo da representação; pensando a representação tanto no campo da política quanto no da historiografia. E, por fim, tentando variar o máximo e repetir o mínimo do que ele e outros disseram anteriormente sobre os mais variados assuntos, enredado pelo anseio por originalidade, autenticidade e distinção, e por uma paixão pela escrita da história “como ela é”. Desse modo, decidi olhar para esse autor e sua obra desde a perspectiva da metamorfose. Parto da compreensão de que a tradição historicista alemã é um elemento comum, um cantus firmus, que permeia sua obra toda, e que se nota pelo desejo de Ankersmit por encontrá-lo em lugares onde ele normalmente não é visto; de traduzi-lo para diferentes idiomas, como o da filosofia da linguagem contemporânea; de fazer combinações improváveis, e, assim, de reabilitá-lo do aparente ostracismo em que foi posto na teoria da história e na historiografia. Contudo, esta investigação pretende demonstrar que, pelas características de Ankersmit – esse teórico mutante, esse “assaltante intelectual” (intelectual plunderer), como ele mesmo se chamou, sempre em movimento –, mais do que uma tradução ou recuperação, o que sua obra prefigura é uma metamorfose do historicismo. Dos paradoxos que a permeiam, talvez esse seja o maior, tornando a tarefa de estudá-la uma atividade tanto complexa quando fascinante. Ao menos para este pesquisador.
Frank Ankersmit still is a relatively new name in Brazil, although in The Kingdom of the Netherlands (his homeland), throughout Europe and in the United States of America, he is a prominent, well-known and respected theorist and philosopher of history. He arrived in Brazil through (and thanks to) the repercussion of his postmodern writings of the 1980s, translated and published in the journal of history Topoi in 2001. These writings incited my interest in his work in 2007, and gave me the desire to investigate further. Furthermore, insofar as I have been translating his texts, diversifying and deepening readings, I have realized that postmodernism was nothing but one chapter of his journey, and that an intellectual history of Ankersmit should go far beyond, enlarging its scope. This dissertation proposes to take this step even further, by reading Ankersmit also from other intellectual perspectives, debates and conceptual ‘twists and turns’ he has been thorough, from the publication of his first book in English, Narrative Logic (1983), to his more recent developments especially in Meaning, Truth and Reference in Historical Representation (2012). In the meantime, other ‘Ankersmites’ emerged, different versions of himself, precipitated by some transitions: from narrativism to representationalism; from postmodernism to post-postmodernist type of theory; from idealism back to historical realism; moving from language to (sublime) experience, but without losing sight of representation’s firm soil; accounting for representation both in the field of politics and in historiography. And finally, trying to innovate the maximum and to repeat or vary the minimum of what he and others have said before, entangled by a longing for originality and distinction, a desire for authenticity, and a passion for (taking) historical writing ‘as it is’. For this reason, I decided to see the author and his oeuvre from the perspective of the metamorphosis, a theme not so far away from his own theoretical inclinations. So, I depart here from the ‘realization’ that the German historicist tradition is a species of common ground, a cantus firmus, which permeates his writings, and which can be observed by Ankersmit’s desire to find historicism in philosophical places where it is not normally seen nor expected; to translate it into different languages, such as the contemporary philosophy of language; to propose improbable combinations, and, then, to rehabilitate historicism from the apparent ostracism to which it was delegated in the theory of history and historiography. However, along these lines I want to argue that, taking Ankersmit’s intellectual persona seriously into consideration – a mutant theoretician, an ‘intellectual plunderer’ (as he once called himself), always on the move –, what his work prefigurates, more than a translation or a retrieval of historicism, is a metamorphosis of historicism. From the all the paradoxes we encounter in Ankersmit’s work, perhaps this is the greatest and the more fascinating. At least for me.
Frank Ankersmit still is a relatively new name in Brazil, although in The Kingdom of the Netherlands (his homeland), throughout Europe and in the United States of America, he is a prominent, well-known and respected theorist and philosopher of history. He arrived in Brazil through (and thanks to) the repercussion of his postmodern writings of the 1980s, translated and published in the journal of history Topoi in 2001. These writings incited my interest in his work in 2007, and gave me the desire to investigate further. Furthermore, insofar as I have been translating his texts, diversifying and deepening readings, I have realized that postmodernism was nothing but one chapter of his journey, and that an intellectual history of Ankersmit should go far beyond, enlarging its scope. This dissertation proposes to take this step even further, by reading Ankersmit also from other intellectual perspectives, debates and conceptual ‘twists and turns’ he has been thorough, from the publication of his first book in English, Narrative Logic (1983), to his more recent developments especially in Meaning, Truth and Reference in Historical Representation (2012). In the meantime, other ‘Ankersmites’ emerged, different versions of himself, precipitated by some transitions: from narrativism to representationalism; from postmodernism to post-postmodernist type of theory; from idealism back to historical realism; moving from language to (sublime) experience, but without losing sight of representation’s firm soil; accounting for representation both in the field of politics and in historiography. And finally, trying to innovate the maximum and to repeat or vary the minimum of what he and others have said before, entangled by a longing for originality and distinction, a desire for authenticity, and a passion for (taking) historical writing ‘as it is’. For this reason, I decided to see the author and his oeuvre from the perspective of the metamorphosis, a theme not so far away from his own theoretical inclinations. So, I depart here from the ‘realization’ that the German historicist tradition is a species of common ground, a cantus firmus, which permeates his writings, and which can be observed by Ankersmit’s desire to find historicism in philosophical places where it is not normally seen nor expected; to translate it into different languages, such as the contemporary philosophy of language; to propose improbable combinations, and, then, to rehabilitate historicism from the apparent ostracism to which it was delegated in the theory of history and historiography. However, along these lines I want to argue that, taking Ankersmit’s intellectual persona seriously into consideration – a mutant theoretician, an ‘intellectual plunderer’ (as he once called himself), always on the move –, what his work prefigurates, more than a translation or a retrieval of historicism, is a metamorphosis of historicism. From the all the paradoxes we encounter in Ankersmit’s work, perhaps this is the greatest and the more fascinating. At least for me.
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Palavras-chave
Frank Ankersmit, Metamorfose, Historicismo, Experiência, Representação