Parallels and Divergences: Perspectives on the Early Second Millennium
In: Eurasian Transformations, Tenth to Thirteenth CenturiesSearch for other papers by Johann P. Arnason in
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Abstract
This paper argues that more conceptual clarification and a more equal development of comparative history are needed before we can attempt a synthetic interpretation of the early second millennium CE. In conceptual terms, the debate centres on the idea of formative historical phases, characterized by major and lasting innovations on the levels of cultural patterns and/ or power structures; but the dynamics of such phases can only be analyzed in relation to long-term processes of two kinds: those that precede the episodes of accelerated change and those through which their consequences unfold. This problematic is briefly explored with reference to classical as well as contemporary sources. As for historical analyses and controversies, there are good reasons to regard the period in question as a phase of formative changes in various fields and in different parts of the Eurasian macroregion, but there is also a broad spectrum of conflicting interpretations, more structured in some cases than others. The two most thoroughly analyzed cases-and the clearest examples of transformative dynamics-are Western Christendom and Song China.