Namierian
/neɪˈmɪərɪən/ /nəˈmɪərɪən/adjective
Of, relating to, or characteristic of the historian Sir Lewis Namier or his methods or theories.
- Namier's work The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (1929) attacked the then-prevailing view that the Hanoverian British political scene was largely defined by party conflict between Whigs and Tories; by examining the lives of ordinary MPs, Namier attempted to show that 18th-cent. political life was in fact far more subtle than this bipartite division suggests, and that it could be fully described without ever using a party designation. His method is distinguished from the technique of earlier historians by a meticulous attention to detail and an emphasis upon the close study of original sources to uncover social and family connections..
noun
An adherent of the methods or theories of Namier.
Origin
1950s; earliest use found in The Oxford Magazine. From the name of Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier, Polish-born British historian + -ian.