Class notes
Required reading:
Whitman, Song of Myself
Schivelbusch, The Railway Journey
Required viewing:
A New System of Government, Westward Expansion, The Rise of Capitalism
Written assessment:
Quiz 2
Written assignment due:
web response paragraph
Web response prompt:
Briefly (about 150 - 200 words) compare and contrast Schivelbusch’s ways of working with the methods of Diamond and Limerick. You should take into account previous responses (if any) of your classmates.
17 comments:
Schivelbuschs book The Railway Journey is dealing with the development of trains generally and also in America. Compared to Limerick he is not telling any stories, but gives a lot of details about the progressions. On the other hand shows more points of view on different subjects. He talks about the advantages and disadvantages of railway. Distances diminished and it opened up places we didn’t have access to before. But it also destroyed space between points, so they lost their individuality and uniqueness. Schivelbusch is talking mostly about importance of technology just like Diamond. But unlike him he uses small time scales. He also compares differences between European and American railways and their influence. In Europe they caused destruction of traditional culture, but in America gaining of new civilization. Also, that the British tried to built railroads as straight as possible for economical reasons. The Americans did not, because they didn’t have expansive land. Schivelbusch used a lot of citations for more authenticity.
The first impression that came into my mind about ‘The Railway Journey’ by Schivelbusch was that as a whole, the essay is comparative than essays by Diamond and Limerick. Especially, he provides numerous evidences from America’s counterparts, Europe. Moreover, substantial part of essay is devoted to compare the means of transportation, such as steamboats and trains. The time period of essay is relatively shorter than other authors’ essays, also, the general background of essay is limited in America and Europe. What Schivelbusch is trying to explain from this essay is the early “American characteristics” (postscript, 112) comparing the characteristics of transportations. In this sense, the method is quite similar that is used in Limerick’s essay. Although the main topic of the essay would be development of transportations and moral issues (according to each essay’s title), it has another hidden topic that is related to characteristics of America in the period of western expansion.
From this what I read from Schivelbusch, I can say that I like the way he described the importance of railway. Just like he said, transport technology is very important because it's connection with the rest of the world which was extremely important at that time. Development of transportation system made easier and faster for people to get to know some new places but also to explore and discover them.
Nature was a lot better experienced on America than in Europe. That is because in America nature was used to be economic and to make easier to come from place to place. There is one more difference between America and Europe that Schivelcusch wrote about: the way railroads looked like (lines, design, interior). I don't think there is a lot more to say about this what I read from Schivelbusch because there are some facts and he didn't use his opinion to write „The Railway Journey“. I consider this a pretty good book which describes some main differences between Europe and America on a very understandable way.
The essay of Wolfgang Schivelbusch portrays the development of American railway system. In order to give his reader a clearer image of the situation, he applies to his narration "compare and contrast" method comapring the US (railway lines, trains, Industrial Revolution development, etc.) to the UK.
I personally find this essay to be too long and sort of "noisy" with all the quotations and citations of other historians and writers. Too frequent transmission to someone's text was for me very distracting. It'd be much easier to read if the author reduced or at least re-phrased them.
Compared to Limerick, he didn't use much of personal examples - figures. He rather used words of other scholars to describe the image. The discourse was written in a general conception. He took it as a complex issue, no aspects of individuals were included.
Unlike Diamond, who used his inductive approach to find conclusions, Schivelbusch used empiristic approach. He gets along with essays and notes of others'. It seems like he just puts together people's ideas and opinions, and interpret them, bringing up little of his own.
After reading chapters three and six of “The Railway Journey” by Wolfgang Schivelbusch, I came up with a few conclusions. I realize now the importance of the railroad development in modern America. How it shaped the land and expanded trade and culture all over. Also, how it completely changed our perception on space, time, and orientation by speeding travel up. It was the beginning of a new future of transportation and development of territories. Railroads shaped the New World in a new way.
Throughout these chapters I recognized a link to the methods of Diamond and how he organizes, researches and projects his ideas on paper. As did Diamond, Schivelbusch tends to use history and details to express his theories compared to Limerick’s use of events and stories. Even while reading, you can see all the citations on the bottom of every page showing in-depth research invested into this book. I believe Schivelbusch to be more of a researcher of details and facts than a storyteller.
To compare these three writers I have to remember the structure of all of them. Firstly in Dimond’s work we are introduced a question, then we return to the story of Pizzaro and Atahuallpa. This serves to the reader as an example what the situation and cultural differences were. Nevertheless the main characters of the story are not necessarily important, they could be substituted for other names and places in America. In Dimond’s book we return to 11,000 BC to find the roots of diversity between the societies on different continents Eurasia and Americas.
Secondly when reading Limerick’s essay, we learn about stories of ordinary people and from their precedence is made a conclusion what the era what like, which important ideas developed and in the end we come across the main idea the ambiguity of opinions (i.e. ‘innocent victim’) so typical in America.
Thirdly Shivelbush is a narrator of the railroad story. He describes change that was made not only to the surface but to society. He emphasizes shortening of distances and therefore the redundancy of time. His storytelling is accompanied by reports of contemporaries of the railroad, by famous writers or poets. And we can also see excerpts of their works about railways. In the second part he deals with differences between the development of railroads in Great Britain and in America. He also compares size and interior of the cars and then he explains its difference thanks to previous main means of transport. And he also considers the face of the surface which was entirely diverse in GB and America.
In the Shivelbuschs The Railway Journey like others before me mentioned he is writting about the development of railways. He wrote it in a way of an essay, comparing railways in Europe and America. He used many facts, and because of the lenght of the text it was pretty confusing and hard reading for me. If I compare it with Limerick, she wrote in a way of story telling what I found more easier to read and much more exciting. Both Diamond and Schivelbusch are putting technology into importance. I think Schivelbrusch wrote it in a way of many facts and citations that make it interesting for people involved in the topic, not like Limerick and Diamond that wrote it easier for ordinary people to read.
Schievelbusch’s The Railway Journey was basically about the growth of railroads in Europe and America. He shows the differences between the development which were caused by the different price of labor and land as well as geography in terms of size and terrain. He mainly focuses on technological improvement (steamboats, railways). This is very similar to Diamond, who states that the technological advantage was the reason Pizzaro conquered the Incas. But unlike Diamond, Schievelbusch does not go back in time to find the answers.
Limerick’s Empire of Innocence consisted of stories of ordinary people who lived at that time. She goes to detail about the motives and reasons behind actions of these people. Schievelbusch does the same thing with railroads. The differences between American and European railways are described in detail as well as the reasons why there was need to make a difference. But unlike Limerick, Schievelbusch does not use stories, rather quotations and citations from people directly and indirectly involved in the process of designing and building railroads.
He also shows, what impact the development of railroads had on two cultures. In America it opened up the Western lands, supporting the Manifest Destiny (they had a God given right to expand westward). In Europe it destroyed the nature and perception of time and space. But it is clear that the growth of railroads helped people to travel faster, thus bring them closer together.
Schivelbusch VS Limerick
Nationality:S=german,L=american.
Place:S=US,Europe,L=US.
Time:S=19th century,L=16th century-today.
Object of observation:S=Technical inventions and people,L=Emotions and prejudices of people
Purpose:S=to find an answer,L=to refutate prejudice
Readibility:S=easier,L=difficult
Time sequence:S=generally chronological,L=random
Style:S=impresonal,scientific,exact,economy,quotes,no stories,facts,ilustrations L=personal,emotive,narrative,stories,philosophy,sociology,longer chapters
In my opinion,Schivelbush´s book ´The Railway Journey ´ is quite confusing in a way that it uses too many quotations and references to other authors,unlike Diamond or Limmerick,whose text was written more like an interesting story.Further, I found the information in Schivelbusch´s text very interesting,and usefull but yet again it was very repetetive,especially in the first chapter,where he explains how the perception of time and space has changed with the start of railway transformation.Unlike in Limmerick´s or Diamond´s writings he uses the method of comparison a lot,when he contrasts the US and European ways of building and usage of railways and roads.
Schivelbusch is more detailed like Dimond while Limerick concentrated more on stories and events in history. The invention of the railway is of great importance because people can travel faster and more efficient... People throughout America could travel but also use the railway for circulating goods and other necessary products for life. He talks about the differences in railways in America and Europe.
He says that in America the railway ran across natural obstacles while in England everything -the land- was straight and labor was cheap so it was easier for them to travel. he also compares the railway to the steamboat which practically followed each other(similar designs, lines... )He also a little bit obsessed for geography since he looks on where are and how situated the railways in Europe and America-similarity to Diamond.
Wolfgang Schivelbusch in his essay The Railway Journey explains why the development of railroad travel was important and how it affected the society and culture. He looks at the problem from many points of view and compares the changes the railroad travel made in Europe and in America. While in the Europe it destroyed the traditional culture in America it created it. He also compares the differences in technology used on both continents.
I agree with Mark that Schivelbusch is compared to Limerick more of a researcher than a storyteller. Limerick uses many personal stories which we will not find in Schivelbuschs essay. On the other hand he uses many quotations from other historians. When comparing both three authors I must say, as was already said by some of my classmates, that compared to Limerick and especially Diamond Schivelbusch operates on much smaller time scale. Besides, it appears to me that Schivelbusch is not that much concerned with time as he is with the explanation of the technology and its effects.
Schivelbusch in his book “The Railway Journey” talks about the impact of railways on different aspects of human life. The author does not tell some specific stories as examples like Limerick or Dimond does. Moreover, Schivelbusch does not go greatly into details. He is rather talks about conceptions such as conscious social change, economical change and structural change. If Limerick is trying to explain history by telling stories of ordinary people, Schivelbusch talks about societies, communities, regions, and continents. Nonetheless, Schivelbusch goes into details when it comes to explanation of what kind of impact in the future there might be. If Diamond uses the example of Pizzaro to show how the new world and sort of old world clashes, Schivelbusch explained it rather mechanically (theoretically). So it could be admitted that the scale that Schivelbusch uses is much more grater. What’s more, Schivelbusch talks not only about new great opportunities of railroads but he also explains what could be the downside of the great developments. Overall, he concludes that railroad expansion greatly changes society lifestyle to the better. The author compares the impact of railroads on America and Europe. He argues that unlike in Europe, in America it had only positive impact and gave an impulse for expansion and building of new communities, whether in Europe it broke some old links and structures.
The first thing to be noticed when comparing Limerick’s and Schivelbusch’s works is that Limerick generally demonstrates how anthropology and history work together, more specifically in the setting of 19th century America. Schievelbusch, on the other hand, theorizes about the the effect of technological innovations that the Age of Steam brought in Europe and North America – how it has changed the perception of distance and made vast areas easily reachable. Schievelbusch’s ideas seem to focus on how a particular technological era changed not only perceptions in science, but in everyday thinking and ordinary people’s views about distance and transportation. His essay is more like comparing how hard it would have been for a settler in 1830’s to cross the untamed lands of the west and how relatively easy it seemed for the white newcomers to inhabit new ares some 30-40 years later, because of the innovations in the technology of transport.
Schivelbusch describes in his book The Railway Journey the development of a railway in Europe and in America. He focuses his attention especially on comparing and contrasting the different approaches in this development, which was caused mainly by cultural differences, distinct mentalities and customs of European and American travelers, economical reasons (such as the price of a land and a labor), natural character of a landscape, difference in distances between the cities or places connected by the railway, etc.
Schivelbusch’s work is merely based on a vast variety of different sources relevant to his topic. He quotes plenty of authors to support his arguments. Despite his arguments are clearly built, I found quite difficult to follow his thoughts mainly due to an overuse of sources. His approach to writing about the history varies significantly from the one of Limeric or Diamond.
Limeric uses an entertaining narrative style, telling stories of ordinary people. She does not quote other historians to support her arguments. Being very “light” and fluent, her texts remind of a tale.
Similarly to Limerick, Diamond does not quote other sources either; his worked is based merely on his personal curiosity. He keeps wondering why certain things happened certain way in the history, trying to search the most convincing explanation. Diamond’s approach to history is probably the most appealing to me. His texts have a logical structure, smooth and fluent development, and his questions are very stimulating.
In the first place i want to compare and contrast the most obvious characteristics of all three readings.
Diamonds, as well as Limericks, stories narrate historcial events that really happened. Schivelbusch on the other hand is describing a process and the pos. and neg. impacts of an invention, the invention of the railroad.
Diamonds and Limrick readings describe the Western land/ Peru as a territory big,unknown and dangerous, while Schivelbusch describes how the invention of the railroad ment a shrinking of space, a step forward in prosperity and opportunity, and eventually the reducement of intercultural diversity and conflicts.
The big picture of the comparison of those two works with Schivelbushs Railroad journey shows us how standards of life changed in the time between these works were written. Limericks text shows us an America that is just being discovered, with all its dangers, and schivelbuschs reading presents an america that stands just before its "real" capturing.
Furtehrmore i must admit that i also see parallels or possibility of comparison in the reading from previous week, the dec. o. independance and the song of myself. In the DoI the founding fathers describe the lives of their fellow citizens and critisize the general political construct and explain how the life of a free American should be like.
The song of myself transmitts or describes, universally speaking, exactely the expected or wished result of the upcoming political change, with the election of Thomas Jefferson for president, and the impacts on the common American citizen.
The poetic self identifies himself with every other individual and it is in perfect harmony and divinity with them. In this poem the grass, a very important symbol, stands for the conituity of life beyond death. Which can be interpreted as a harmonic and peaceful society, just as the founding fathers dreamed it to be.
What can we find in ordinary history textbooks about slavery? Number of slaves, the bloodiest insurrections with names of leaders and some ''important'' dates. Can we with these facts answer the question: What was slavery?
I do not think so. It is just the top of the ice-berg. We need stories, not statistic. We need examples from real life. Examples which are not ice-cold, but full of emotions. Examples about pain, predestination, helplessness. The author was able to transfer abstract values and emotions. Words like 'dignity', ' freedom' or 'family' are not just empty phrases of today's politicians.This book describes the darkest parts of human soul with hope of future Light. I think following excerpts do not need any commentary:
''The whip is used till the blood flows at his feet, and his stiffened limbs are put in chains, to be dragged in the field for days and days. ''(383)
''..the customary advertisement was posted up, proclaiming that there would be a ' public sale of negroes,horses... ''(380)
'' I once saw two beautiful children playing together. One was a fair white, the other was her slave, and also her sister. When I saw embracing each other, and heard their joyous laughter, I turned sadly away from the lovely sight. I foresaw the inevitable blight that would fall on the little slave's heart. I knew how soon her laughter would be changed to sighs. ''(394)
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