Obsolete pasts? : globalization as an analytical prism in Vincenzo Formaleoni's history of the Black Sea (1788–89)
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1940-0004; 2194-6566
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New global studies, 2024, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 325-347
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BOUCHER, Lucile Amélie Jade, Obsolete pasts? : globalization as an analytical prism in Vincenzo Formaleoni’s history of the Black Sea (1788–89), New global studies, 2024, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 325-347 - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/93804
Abstract
It is not a surprise that, in times when beliefs about the cost-free benefits of infinite economic growth are urgently discussed, we find ourselves tempted to look back at the times when it emerged as a desirable future for the planet. This essay proposes an analysis of the Storia filosofica e politica della navigazione, del commercio e delle colonie degli antichi nel Mar Nero (Venice, 2 vols., 1788–89) written by Venetian polygrapher Vincenzo Formaleoni, who, urging the Venetians to regain their glorious trade in the Black Sea, revisited several centuries of ancient history. Building on Formaleoni’s reflection, I show that the increasingly global extension of commercial exchanges experienced in the 18th century reshaped contemporary ways to narrate the past, comprehend the present and conceive the future, a future which increasingly appeared as inescapably global. I argue that, beyond different economic doctrines, 18th-century historical narratives produced a vision where the history of humankind was essentially appreciated through an economic gaze – a sense of history that still prevails today.
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Published online: 29 July 2024