ABSTRACT

Chronos and kairos are two Greek words that designate different temporal experiences not entirely opposed, but nonetheless irreducible to each other. This difference is highly relevant to theoretical debates on historical time, despite the hegemony of the chronological paradigm in modern historiography. This article upholds that claim by analyzing a South African manifesto titled The Kairos Document (KD), issued in 1985. My aim is to present a study on the historicity of the KD, arguing that the document is a paradigmatic case for, on the one hand, understanding the particular form of temporal experience encompassed by the notion of kairos, and on the other hand, applying the difference between chronos and kairos for historiographical analysis. I present a twofold approach to the KD. First, I situate the manifesto within its broader political, social and intellectual context, addressing as well the impacts it managed to inflict upon chronos-time. Secondly, I demonstrate how the KD grasps its own historical moment from a disruptive temporality that emerges on the threshold between a crisis and the urgency of taking timely action (kairos). I conclude this article by claiming that the kairological dimension of historical time becomes more evident in situations experienced as crisis.

摘要

Chronos和kairos是两个希腊语单词，它们表示不同的时空体验，虽然并不完全相反，但却彼此无法还原。尽管现代史学中按时间顺序进行了霸权，但这种差异与有关历史时间的理论辩论高度相关。本文通过分析1985年发布的题为《凯罗斯文件》（Kairos）的南非宣言来坚持这一主张。我的目的是针对KD的历史性提出一项研究，认为该文件是一个典型的案例。另一方面，了解kairos概念所包含的时间经验的特殊形式，另一方面，运用chronos和kairos用于历史分析。我介绍了KD的双重方法。首先，我宅院其更广泛的政治，社会和知识范围内的宣言，寻址以及其管理在对敌人造成的影响克罗诺斯-时间。其次，我展示了KD如何从破坏性的暂时性把握住自己的历史时刻，这种破坏性的暂时性出现在危机与采取及时行动的紧迫性之间的门槛上（kairos）。在本文的结尾，我断言在经历危机的情况下历史时间的航海学维度变得更加明显。