Eric Hobsbawm 1917-2012

• 1 Donald Sassoon
• 2 Past and Present
• 3 Cambridge University Press
• 4 Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor

Donald Sassoon¶

Ha scritto un necrologio per Hobsbawm sul n. 77 della New Left Review: lancia alcuni spunti interessanti e traccia un profilo biografico, politico e culturale del compianto compagno Eric.
Lo trovate qui. Faccio notare un paio di passaggi, non necessariamente fra quelli che mi son più piaciuti:

From the 1970s onward, Hobsbawm’s closest allegiance was with the Partito Comunista Italiano, probably the only party in which he could have been entirely comfortable; and of which, as he explained, he had become a ‘spiritual member’.

Britain in the 1950s was overwhelmingly anti-Communist. Even being a Marxist constituted a problem. To give younger readers an idea of what was at stake: at University College London in the 1960s, I took a course in British economic history. The lecturer in charge (whose name I have forgotten, so undistinguished has he remained) distributed a lengthy bibliography at the beginning of the academic year. He invited us to turn to a particular page and warned us: ‘Note on page X: E. J. Hobsbawm, Industry and Empire. Now Hobsbawm is a perfectly good historian, but be careful: he is a Marxist. Turn now to page Y: E. P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class. Thompson too is a good historian, but be on your guard: he too is a Marxist.’ … Naturally when the lecture was finished many of us trooped across the road to the bookshop to acquire Hobsbawm and Thompson with the excitement of teenagers buying dirty books.

The cpgb was the local branch of an international movement which, when Hobsbawm became a member in the 1930s, was at its most centralized. But it was also the time when the threat of fascism was at its most vivid and when Communists had moved on from the more sectarian ‘Third Period’ phase and espoused the policy of the Popular Front. Once he told me: ‘That’s the kind of Communist I am: a Popular Front Communist.’

Past and Present¶

Past and Present, rivista che H. ha contribuito a fondare e che è diventata, imparentata da vicino alle Anneles francesi e parte di quel rinnovamento della storiografia contemporanea, pubblicherà un ricordo di H. nel numero di febbraio prossimo. Intanto, dal sito della Oxford University Press è possibile scaricare gratis alcuni articoli dello storico recentemente scomparso. A giudicare dai titoli, almeno due mi sembrano centrali, pur essendo datati, per una riflessione che noi facciamo da tempo come gruppo di studio allargato:

• The Social Function Of The Past: Some Questions (1972)
• The Revival Of Narrative: Some Comments (1980)

Cambridge University Press¶

Anche la CUP ha reso disponibili alcuni articoli — soprattutto recensioni e commenti — del vecchio H. che si scaricano da qui.

Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor¶

E per chi s’interessa di storia del movimento operaio, è arrivata alla terza edizione un’opera ancora non disponibile in Italia (nel senso che non è stata tradotta, né acquistata da nessuna biblioteca italiana, almeno così suggeriscono il blog della SISLav (Società Italiana di Storia del Lavoro) e una ricerca sull’OPAC nazionale): Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor.
Raccogliamo l’invito e (magari) facciamo noi la richiesta in qualche biblioteca “amica”?