Prosopography

Collective biography, often focusing on a specific group within a particular historical period, using biographical details to analyse social structures and relationships.

Shared attributes, common experiences. Aim to identify trends, patterns and connections that transcend individual lives.

Prosopography overcomes the problem of the scarcity of historical data by collecting together all available fragments, which can then be compared, synthesised and analysed. Instead of looking at the exceptional and unique, prosopography focuses on the general and average, making visible the shared characteristics of a given population.

Mapping mentorship, collaboration and influence networks in academia, arts, or other fields. Tracking hidden contributors who have been “erased” from historical narratives, e.g. women in early social movements.

Investigating common patterns in a creative milieu, e.g. the lives and social contexts of a literary or art movement.

• [?] What could this look like if applied to objects, rather than people? Studying the “biographies” and common features of collections, e.g. a group of related artifacts or technologies.
• [?] What are the ethical implications of bounding social groups to enable prosopographical study? How do we avoid reifying categories?
• [?] How can prosopography be adapted to study non-human entities, such as artifacts and practices, while maintaining its focus on social relationships and salient contexts?
• [&] See also: microhistory?

Backlinks

: Biography of artifacts and practices