Arthur Marwick
Encyclopedia
Arthur John Brereton Marwick (29 February 1936 – 27 September 2006) was a professor
in history
. Born in Edinburgh
, he was a graduate of Edinburgh University and Balliol College, Oxford
.
in 1969, after lecturing at Edinburgh for ten years. He held visiting professorships at the State University of New York
at Buffalo, Stanford University
, Rhodes College
and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
in Paris
. He was a left-wing social and cultural historian but critical of Marxism
and other approaches to history that he believed stressed the importance of metanarrative
over archival research. He was also a critic of postmodernism
, seeing it as a "menace to serious historical study". It was also the methodology of the postmodernists to which he was opposed, "the techniques to deconstruction or discourse analysis have little value compared with the sophisticated methods historians have been developing over years".
One of his most influential books, "The Deluge", dealt with the transformations in British society brought about by world war one. Published in 1965, its main thesis, a provocative one at the time, was that the war had brought about positive and lasting social changes (in the rôle of women, in the acceptability of state intervention for social reasons, and so on). Despite its terrible tragedies, Marwick believed that the sum result of the war was that Britain was a better place to live in in the twenties than in the period before the war.
In putting forward this thesis, he was scathing about many previous histories of the war; he accused many of them of being infected with "naivety of analysis", or coming down simply to "patriotic polemic".
His books were particularly concerned with the changes in the lives of "ordinary people", and he felt it was important not to overgeneralize, but always to distinguish the effects of a social event on different social classes.
He taught a particular theory in history called 'Marwicks Principle' which meant that if total war was active then it needed four components :
- Destruction
- Test
- Psychological
- Experience
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
in history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
. Born in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, he was a graduate of Edinburgh University and Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
.
Career
Marwick was appointed the first Professor of History at the Open UniversityOpen University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
in 1969, after lecturing at Edinburgh for ten years. He held visiting professorships at the State University of New York
State University of New York
The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...
at Buffalo, Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, Rhodes College
Rhodes College
Rhodes College is a private, predominantly undergraduate, liberal arts college located in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Originally founded by freemasons in 1848, Rhodes became affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in 1855. Rhodes enrolls approximately 1,700 students pursuing bachelor's and master's...
and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
The École des hautes études en sciences sociales is a leading French institution for research and higher education, a Grand Établissement. Its mission is research and research training in the social sciences, including the relationship these latter maintain with the natural and life sciences...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He was a left-wing social and cultural historian but critical of Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
and other approaches to history that he believed stressed the importance of metanarrative
Metanarrative
A metanarrative , in critical theory and particularly postmodernism, is an abstract idea that is thought to be a comprehensive explanation of historical experience or knowledge. According to John Stephens, it "is a global or totalizing cultural narrative schema which orders and explains knowledge...
over archival research. He was also a critic of postmodernism
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
, seeing it as a "menace to serious historical study". It was also the methodology of the postmodernists to which he was opposed, "the techniques to deconstruction or discourse analysis have little value compared with the sophisticated methods historians have been developing over years".
One of his most influential books, "The Deluge", dealt with the transformations in British society brought about by world war one. Published in 1965, its main thesis, a provocative one at the time, was that the war had brought about positive and lasting social changes (in the rôle of women, in the acceptability of state intervention for social reasons, and so on). Despite its terrible tragedies, Marwick believed that the sum result of the war was that Britain was a better place to live in in the twenties than in the period before the war.
In putting forward this thesis, he was scathing about many previous histories of the war; he accused many of them of being infected with "naivety of analysis", or coming down simply to "patriotic polemic".
His books were particularly concerned with the changes in the lives of "ordinary people", and he felt it was important not to overgeneralize, but always to distinguish the effects of a social event on different social classes.
He taught a particular theory in history called 'Marwicks Principle' which meant that if total war was active then it needed four components :
- Destruction
- Test
- Psychological
- Experience