recent vs. contemporary

[palinkasocsi]

How would you label theories of the 1980s and 90s:

recent/contemporary theories?

If both, which is better?

Many thanks.

P.

[Soup]

... at the end of the last century
... in the 1980s and 90s

[palinkasocsi]

I am actually interested in the scope of contemporariness and recentness: Can a theory of the 1980s be regarded as contemporary or recent? Perhaps both?

Best

[Soup]

Originally Posted by palinkasocsi

I am actually interested in the scope of contemporariness and recentness: Can a theory of the 1980s be regarded as contemporary or recent? Perhaps both?

Best

Remoteness of time can be tricky, as you know and, in your case, depends on the theory. If, say, a theory from the 1980s is still in use today; i.e., Chomsky's 1957 theory in Syntactic Structures was still considered contemporary in the 1980s. In short, you need to know your audience and what they think. My advice is to avoid the problem by finding a better word.