The Practicality and “Troubling Function” of Periodization

For Marshall Brown, the periodization of time into conceptual eras challenges the formation of those assigned boundaries even as it institutes them. These periods, while problematic in many ways, are also to a large extent necessary for the study of human history; Brown describes their practicality, noting, “Periods are the chapters of history” (310).

Like book chapters, periods in time attempt to describe the events or concepts which predominate within their assigned boundaries, whether of text or time. Also like book chapters, periods are frequently inadequate in their attempts to identify the essence of a certain moment. The medieval era (just like any other span of time) presents an excellent example of the trouble which periodization creates. Traditionally spanning a swath of a thousand years, the name applied to this length of time frequently describes a moment in only European history. Of course, European history itself is not even the same in every place in Europe. Yet, despite the profound changes which sweep Europe during the medieval period, certain ideological elements remain dominant enough to link the vast majority of these spaces and years together. The prevalence of the Catholic religion in connection with the predominance of Latinate culture, monarchical political regimes, feudalistic hierarchies, reliance on agriculture, and sustained manuscript production remain intact in such readily recognizable forms that they permit the snapshot effect which periodization creates. There are, of course, also notable changes throughout Europe during this time, in addition to the expected local differences and various new developments in philosophy, art, and architecture - as well as the rise of vernacular literature, and new political institutions such as those created by the Magna Carta. Brown points out the critics who dislike periodization due to its suppression of the dynamism of human history over time – they have valid arguments; yet the value of periodization is its practicality in allowing people to more easily understand history through its commonalities and differences - things which enable us to define and divide as well as to compare. The very function of periodization is perhaps to trouble boundaries, as Brown notes - to define and deny at the same time. This dual function allows us to better identify and understand the past, in both its static elements and in its changes over time.