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by factsaresacred 2620 days ago
> "The Dark Ages" is also a Eurocentric view of history.

That's like describing 'The Great Leap Forward' as a Sino-centric view of history.

"The Dark Ages" refers to a time as well as a place. Specifically, Western Europe.

1 comments

Is it, though? I think it's clear that "Great Leap Forward" was China-specific, but "Dark Ages" isn't really taught as specific to western Europe.

Which is the problem.

> Is it, though?

Yes, I believe so. I'm not even sure the Dark Ages are taught outside of countries with European heritage.

Nevertheless, anywhere the topic is discussed, it's usually mentioned in comparison to other periods of European history. That alone tells us that it's a term intended to describe regional rather than global events.

> but "Dark Ages" isn't really taught as specific to western Europe.

Er, even 20 years ago when I was in college it was taught as both largely a misnomer and a label applied to a (somewhat ambiguously bounded, especially as to the ending point) period of Western European history.