History of the Annales School / L'École des Annales: Une histoire intellectuelle

by André Burguière

?De Marc Bloch à Emmanuel Leroy-Ladurie et Jacques Le Goff, de Lucien Febvre à Philippe Ariès et Michel Foucault, de Fernand Braudel à Ernest Labrousse, l'école des Annales a profondément renouvelé l'historiographie française et internationale. Au lieu de décrire une période historique, un événement, les faits d'armes d'un roi ou d'un empereur, les heurs et les malheurs d'une nation, l'école des Annales a entrepris d'étudier des problèmes. Peut-on être incroyant à l'époque de Rabelais ? Pourquoi la France n'a-t-elle jamais été la première puissance économique ? Dans ce livre, André Burguière montre comment cette école s'est constituée autour de l'étude des mentalités. Structures émotionnelles et cognitives, représentations et images inconscientes, les mentalités restituent les sociétés disparues dans les catégories à l'aide desquelles elles se pensaient elles-mêmes. L'Histoire ou la pensée des autres. André Burguière, directeur d'études à l'École des hautes études en sciences sociales, est membre de la rédaction des Annales.

Genres: History

368 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2006

Reviews

[Hannah Mae]

Give examples of the subjects they wrote

[Ander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es la introducción más completa sobre La Escuela de los Annales, aunque si buscas algo más breve y conciso, la otra opción es la obra de Peter Burke.

[Jeremy · Rating 2 out of 5]

In my pursuit of a better orientation to the modern academic discipline of history, I thought I would check this out. It was helpful, in a limited way. I skipped a few chapters, because, for my interests, they were far too invested in the specific content of the research of some of the more influential figures in this movement, presupposing a great familiarity with medieval and early modern European (especially French) history. Of particular interest to me was the chapter on Foucault's reception and influence on French historiography. While the theoretical discussion was not particularly heavy and sophisticated, I did find myself pleased to find that historians of this school were (or at least, in this book's account, their thought was presented as) invested in a broadly interdisciplinary approach to critical thought about human history, while simultaneously calling for social scientific rigor, to the extent that sources allow. 2.5/5.

For those coming to this topic with more of a background in structuralist or poststructuralist theory, I found helpful the following chapter from a volume edited in the 80s by Quentin Skinner: Clark, Stuart. 1985. The Annales historians. In The return of Grand Theory in the human sciences, ed. Quentin Skinner, 177-198. Cambridge University Press.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to come back to my review, but for now, while I think reading Burgiere's book is important because it raises some interesting questions about the Annales school and its place within the historical discipline, it's extremely dense and somewhat convoluted. I suspect reading it in French would improve the book dramatically.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author provides and excellent history of the misnamed Annales School, and in the process shows that it is still very much alive in France.