Past and Present

[erudito]

Roger Collins’ Early Medieval Europe, 300-1000 is a fine narrative history of the transition from late antiquity to the medieval. I enjoyed the intelligent scepticism about the available written sources and the way Collins analysed historical actors in terms of the problems actually facing them (rather than some teleological notion of how they “

Comments

[vizi]

What is a shudder quote?

Dismissive distancing

[erudito]

A shudder quote is when you use a word but want to make clear you don't really mean it. Contemporary examples are things such as:
The "achievements" of Western civilisation.
A "backward" society.
The "Fall" of Rome.
and so on.

Re: Dismissive distancing

[vizi]

Thanks, I am enlightened. Or at least less ignorant than I was.

Re: Dismissive distancing

[vizi]

Or otherwise known as scare quotes.