Samenvatting: 'Generatie' is een term die in de geschiedschrijving veelvuldig gebruikt wordt om tijdscontrasten te schetsen. Slechts weinig historici staan stil bij wat generaties nu eigenlijk zijn en wie dat wel doet moet leentjebuur spelen bij de sociologie. In dit artikel worden enkele geschiedtheoretische
problemen met de sociologische generatietheorie van Karl Mannheim besproken. Ook wordt een voorstel gedaan voor een generatietheorie waarin de tijdservaring verdisconteerd is, om zo de besproken problemen te ondervangen.
Abstract: Although 'generation' is a key concept in historiography,
the problem of historicity has
rarely been discussed within generational
theory. In this artiele, I argue for a revision
of generational thinking, which focuses on
historica! experience instead of politica! action.
I start with a critica! assessment of Kar!
Mannheims seminat essay 'the Problem of
Generations' (1928). Although the core axiom
of his theory - the primary importance
of adolescent experiences for generationat
consciousness - is still valid, his historica!
materialist interpretation of generations
is questionable as it leads to the fallacies
of historicism. Alternatively, the imagined
character of the generation is emphasi:z;ed
and a reinterpretation of the generationat
experience as an experience of bistoricity is
proposed. Consequendy, the generation is
no langer understood as an agent of sociohistorica!
change, but as a meta-historical
category in which the individual's placement
in history is both cognitively understood and
socially mediated