Face 2 Face: Egodocuments and Microhistory – An adventure in historical thinking

Dr. Sigurdur Gylfi Magnusson, Professor of Cultural History at the University of Iceland and a Visiting Scholar all this year in the UCSB History Department, will give a talk May 22, at noon in HSSB 4020.

Dr. Magnusson brings us an expert’s interpretation of two major aspects of current European historical writing: life writing and microhistory. He will discuss the significance of the concept of gender for historical analysis, particularly on the basis of the importance of different types of egodocu-ments for the self-expression of the sexes. He will evaluate the status of the autobiography as a historical source, with some consideration of other types of life writing or egodocuments in Iceland. He will show how the form of the genre affects the sexes’ access to self-expression and how their differing ‘cultural space’ opens up opportunities for people self-creation. Dr. Magnusson views these developments in an international light. Sources of this kind and women’s perspectives are necessary to enable scholars to interpret much material that has previously defied their analysis.

THERE WILL BE FOOD.