Constructing the Past: Essays in Historical Methodology

by Jacques Le Goff (Editor)

This 1985 book presents a selection of ten of the most significant contributions to Faire de l'histoire, a major three-volume exposition of the fresh state of French historiography first published in 1974. All the essays were commissioned from historians representing the best of the 'Annales' tradition, including Emmanuel le Roy Ladurie, Francois Furet and Georges Duby. The first five essays concentrate upon the physical world, and deal with some of the more familiar aspects of 'new history'; the second half of the book is concerned with the unconscious world of mentalites, the network of belief, symbol and cultural practice that is attracting the attention of historians in ever-increasing numbers. In an introduction Colin Lucas places the essays in this collection within the long-term development of French historical study, and assesses not only its great strengths but also some of the doubts and dilemmas to which it has given rise.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published November 29, 1985

About the author

A prolific medievalist of international renown, Le Goff is sometimes considered the principal heir and continuator of the movement known as Annales School (École des Annales), founded by his intellectual mentor Marc Bloch. Le Goff succeeded Fernand Braudel in 1972 at the head of the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) and was succeeded by François Furet in 1977. Along with Pierre Nora, he was one of the leading figure of New History (Nouvelle histoire) in the 1970s.

Since then, he has dedicated himself to studies on the historical anthropology of Western Europe during medieval times. He is well-known for contesting the very name of "Middle Ages" and its chronology, highlighting achievements of this period and variations inside it, in particular by attracting attention to the Renaissance of the 12th century.