Chronisms: on the past and future of the relation of times

ABSTRACT

Anachronisms are a well-known chronological misconduct, by some even regarded as a historical mortal sin. Less known are prochronisms, parachronisms and metachronisms. Between the sixteenth and the eighteenth centuries, however, all these chronisms were intensively discussed in the scholarly world. On the one hand, we pursue these concepts with the interest of a history of historiographical practice. What is hidden behind these chronisms? And why did scholars in early modern Europe think that they needed these chronological instruments? On the other hand, and in a more general way, we see these chronisms as forms of how present times connect themselves with absent times (pasts and futures). We call these temporal relations ‘chronoferences.’ Against this background, chronisms prove to be interesting for a theory of history. They can be reconceptualized to make clear how present times relate to pasts.

KEYWORDS:

• Chronoference
• anachronism
• parachronism
• prochronism
• metachronism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. In this paper any italicized chronisms refer to abstract concepts and non-italicized chronisms to their individual occurrences.

2. ‘Mais dans l’usage ordinaire on ne fait guere cette distinction, & on employe indifféremment anachronisme pour toute faute contre la Chronologie.’

3. ‘[…] qu’on place plûtôt qu’ils ne sont arrives’; ‘postérieur à celui auquel il est arrive’.

4. ‘Anachronism, in matters of literature, an error with respect to chronology, whereby an event is placed earlier than it really happened.’

5. ‘Anachronismus, bedeutet einen Fehler oder Irrthum in der Chronologie oder Zeit-Rechnung.’

6. ‘Comme qui mettroit par exemple la mort d’Auguste dans le 18 eschellon, par delà le principal, ou de Grace, la mettroit plus haut qu’il ne faut, n’y ayant pas si long temps qu’elle est arrivée, ce qu’on appelle un Prochronisme: & qui la mettroit au 18 apres, la mettroit plus bas qu’il ne doit, (ce qui est un Metachronisme) estant arrivée 14 ans apres cette premiere année de Grace.’

7. We nevertheless fully agree with his statement that ‘the meaning of the idea must be its uses to refer in various ways’ and nothing else (Skinner 1969, 37; emphasis in the original).

8. This is our translation of the German original of Hugo Ball’s ‘Eroeffnungs-Manifest,’ presented at the first Dada-night in Zurich, 14 July 1916: ‘Auf die Verbindung kommt es an, und dass sie vorher ein bisschen unterbrochen wird. Ich will keine Worte, die andere erfunden haben. Alle Worte haben andere erfunden. Ich will meinen eigenen Unfug, und Vokale und Konsonanten dazu, die ihm entsprechen. […] Jede Sache hat ihr Wort; da ist das Wort selber zur Sache geworden. Warum kann der Baum nicht Pluplusch heissen, und Pluplubasch, wenn es geregnet hat? Und warum muss er ueberhaupt etwas heissen? Muessen wir denn ueberall unseren Mund dran haengen? Das Wort, das Wort, das Weh gerade an diesem Ort, das Wort meine Herren, ist eine oeffentliche Angelegenheit ersten Ranges.’

9. And certainly one should refrain from making it another ‘-ism’. So let us not follow Bruno Latour, who has proposed a ‘relationism’ (Latour 2013, 481).

10. ‘Erroris autem in temporum supputatione admissos […] posse deprehendi, & quadam parte emendari, es his liquet.’

11. ‘Summa, anni XV αναχρονισμου. Quare a conditu Templi putant annos CCCXLII as eius excidium, quum tantum sint CCCCXXVII. Differentia, anni XV, anni scilicet illius αναχρονισμου. […] Nam ad Abraham, ad conditum Templi, addendi sunt anni XV; a conditu Templi, Leiden: ad eius excidium, sunt detrahendi, sed paulatim: singuli Regi Abiam, & Reginae Athaliae, decem Regi Ammoni, singuli Regibus Iosiae, & Sedekiae: […] Ea enim peccant προχρονισμου ab Abraham, ad conditum temple: μηταχρονισμου a conditu, ad excidium.’

12. ‘Peccavit ergo Plutarchus vel hic prochronismo, vel ilic metachronismo saltem diei unius.’

13. ‘[…] ces mots d’Anachronisme, Prochronisme, & Metachronisme; qui sont vsirez en Chronologie’ (italics in the original).

14. ‘[…] sçachant tres-bien que vous n’y estes gueres plus sçavant que moy; & que ma remarque aye esté, & soit trouvee tres-excellente par les plus sçavans, pour l’intelligence veritable du passage du premier des Roys 13.1.’

15. ‘Métachronisme, s. m. en Chronologie, marque une erreur dans le tems, soit par défaut, soit par excè. Voyez Chronologie, Anachronisme. Ce dernier mot est aujourd’hui le seul usité.’

16. ‘Ce mot, qui désigne en général toute erreur contre la chronologie […] Proprement, l’anachronisme est une erreur dans la date des événemens que l’on place plutôt qu’ils ne sont arrivés. L’erreur opposée s’appelle parachronisme. Voyez ce mot.’

17. ‘Metachronisme, s.m. espèce d’anachronisme qui consiste à avancer la date d’un événement.’

18. A point already made by Giambattista Vico in his discussion of Scaliger and Petau, cf. Grafton 1975, 157.

19. ‘Il qual modo di dire è stato tenuto da’ Grammatici figurato, e da loro con voce greca nomato, Anacronismo, cioè traportamento di tempo.’

20. ‘[…] de μετὰ (méta) [sic], préposition qui marque changement, et de χρόνός (chronos), temps.’

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Notes on contributors

Achim Landwehr

Achim Landwehr studied History, German Philology, and History of Law. He is professor for Early Modern History at the Department for the Historical Sciences at Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf, since 2008. He has published extensively about early modern cultural history as well as on theory and methodology of history.

Tobias Winnerling

Tobias Winnerling studied History, Philosophy, and Japanology. He has been working as research assistant at the Chair for Early Modern History at the Department for the Historical Sciences at Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf, since 2008. He has published on the history of early modern cultural contact, history of knowledge, and digital games and history.