In 2021 tweette ik: “Ik zou wel willen doctoreren, maar enkel voor de lol.” – Aldus geschiedde.
Maite De Beukeleer
@beukeleir.bsky.social
567 followers 468 following 109 posts
Historian | Gender, Catholicism, lived religion | Kringwinkelnerd | Long-distance bicycle adventurer 🚲 🔊 About my name: bit.ly/3ZhajDF
![Picture from the book A Passion for History, by Natalie Zemon Davis, page 67.
Denis Crouzet asks: Do you defend history because you see it as a source of social or ethical utility, in the sense it could help orient us in history...
Natalie Zemon Davis: I was say 'useful' in a very special sense. What human beings have done in the past, in the enormous range in ways of living and possible actions, is a source both of hope and despair. How fascinating it is to consider this variety in human events. We can draw hope from it in the sense that if things have been different in the past, perhaps we're in a position to make them a little different today [laughter] -- at least a little bit different. When I say 'usefulness', I don't mean that history offers us models that we can apply -- the details of different situations are too unlike each other. History offers us ideas, points of view, perspectives, landmarks, indices, possibilities.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2xh3ekkjbuyi3e5pbfnakuyt/bafkreidoy3ec3emop6uikgscip7syjurfrguivyaak56wwspbgzp7qifnq)
