Turning Points in Research: Systems and Theory
In certain disciplines there is no big temporal gap between the old problems and the new ones: old questions may elicit reactions pertaining to the very present. Natural and human sciences differ in the respect that their relation to their own history is different. In the humanities, cultivating „hi...
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| Pubblicato in: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/corela, |
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| Autore principale: | |
| Natura: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
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Corela
2016
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| Accesso online: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:corela_4536 |
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| record_format |
openedition |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
histoire des sciences humaines; objectivité; points tournants; théories de système; structuralisme; théorie de la littérature history of human sciences; turning points; objectivity; systems theory; structuralism; literary theory; |
| spellingShingle |
histoire des sciences humaines; objectivité; points tournants; théories de système; structuralisme; théorie de la littérature history of human sciences; turning points; objectivity; systems theory; structuralism; literary theory; Kálmán, György C. Turning Points in Research: Systems and Theory |
| description |
In certain disciplines there is no big temporal gap between the old problems and the new ones: old questions may elicit reactions pertaining to the very present. Natural and human sciences differ in the respect that their relation to their own history is different. In the humanities, cultivating „history of the sciences” is in fact not at all a historical study: that is, it is not an analysis of closed, completed periods but rather raising, again, older questions. Marking off a turning point here is far from being an ever valid, impartial, objective act; naming a period (or an author, a work, a theory etc.) a turning point is, in fact, an activity by which we not only write (or re-write) the history of the human sciences but it also counts as a contribution to the scholarship of our own present; regarding something as a turning point is not so much a proposition of the turning point itself but rather refers to those who pronounce this sentence. I regard system theoretical approaches or schools as such a turning point and argue that it is not a story of the decay of Structuralism, its decomposition: the systemic approach to (or systems theory of) literature (or humanities in general) is, then, not in fact ready, completed, it could and should be put together from very precious spare parts; such an inquiry would posit the process of producing, mediating and consuming texts within the structure and history of society; it would contemplate texts as operating in a given system which has its own participants, agents having different functions, roles. |
| author |
Kálmán, György C. |
| author_facet |
Kálmán, György C. |
| author_sort |
Kálmán, György C. |
| title |
Turning Points in Research: Systems and Theory |
| title_short |
Turning Points in Research: Systems and Theory |
| title_full |
Turning Points in Research: Systems and Theory |
| title_fullStr |
Turning Points in Research: Systems and Theory |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Turning Points in Research: Systems and Theory |
| title_sort |
turning points in research: systems and theory |
| publisher |
Corela |
| publishDate |
2016 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/corela |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/corela.4536 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/corela/4536 |
| _version_ |
1877242581699526656 |
| spelling |
openedition-oai:revues.org:corela_4536 https://doi.org/10.4000/corela.4536 urn:doi:10.4000/corela.4536 https://journals.openedition.org/corela/4536 2016-06-22T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/ef3k https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Turning Points in Research: Systems and Theory Corela Université de Poitiers info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/1638-573X URI:https://journals.openedition.org/corela Kálmán, György C. histoire des sciences humaines; objectivité; points tournants; théories de système; structuralisme; théorie de la littérature history of human sciences; turning points; objectivity; systems theory; structuralism; literary theory; In certain disciplines there is no big temporal gap between the old problems and the new ones: old questions may elicit reactions pertaining to the very present. Natural and human sciences differ in the respect that their relation to their own history is different. In the humanities, cultivating „history of the sciences” is in fact not at all a historical study: that is, it is not an analysis of closed, completed periods but rather raising, again, older questions. Marking off a turning point here is far from being an ever valid, impartial, objective act; naming a period (or an author, a work, a theory etc.) a turning point is, in fact, an activity by which we not only write (or re-write) the history of the human sciences but it also counts as a contribution to the scholarship of our own present; regarding something as a turning point is not so much a proposition of the turning point itself but rather refers to those who pronounce this sentence. I regard system theoretical approaches or schools as such a turning point and argue that it is not a story of the decay of Structuralism, its decomposition: the systemic approach to (or systems theory of) literature (or humanities in general) is, then, not in fact ready, completed, it could and should be put together from very precious spare parts; such an inquiry would posit the process of producing, mediating and consuming texts within the structure and history of society; it would contemplate texts as operating in a given system which has its own participants, agents having different functions, roles. Dans certaines disciplines, il n'y a pas de grand écart temporel entre les problèmes anciens et nouveaux: les vieilles questions peuvent provoquer des réactions qui rentrent au présent. La différence principale entre les sciences de la nature et les sciences humaines réside dans la caractéristique de la relation de chacune avec sa propre histoire. Cultiver «l’histoire des sciences» dans le domaine des sciences humaines ne signifie pas du tout l’étude historique ou l’analyse des périodes historiques passées, mais consiste dans la capacité de reformuler les vieilles questions. Marquer un point tournant est loin d'être un acte impartial ou bien objectif à l’ambition d’être toujours valide. La désignation d’une période historique ou d’un auteur ou bien d’une théorie (etc.) - en tant qu’événement qui marque une orientation nouvelle ou un changement important - n’est pas de décrire (ou réécrire) tout simplement l’histoire des sciences humaines, mais de contribuer à un niveau général à l’essor de la science de notre propre présent. Quand on marque un tournant, un moment ou un événement à partir duquel le cours des choses peut changer de direction, on évoque toujours ceux qui ont proposé ce changement. Dans cette communication je propose de considérer les approches des écoles et/ou des systèmes théoriques comme tournants, et je pars de l’hypothèse que l’approche systémique n’est guère obsolète. L’approche systémique ne représente pas donc un moment de l’histoire de la désintégration ou de la chute du structuralisme, mais cette approche se distingue des autres par sa façon de pouvoir mettre ensemble des différentes parties analysées dans la perspective de cette démarche. Comment le processus de production, de consommation et de la médiation de textes peut générer du sens au sein de la structure de la société et de l'histoire ? Voilà la vraie question. Nous nous demandons : dans quel système, dans quel contexte les textes littéraires sont influencés par ses propres participants et ses agents ayant des fonctions et des rôles différents. |