Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.4, 2014

 

 

Innovation in Social History in Contemporary France: An Exploration of Gérard Noiriel's Socio HistoireLe

(Abstract)

 

Qiliang

 

The late 1960s marked a dramatic transition in both the political situation and social environment in France, a transition that had a strong impact on French historiography. There was a gradual decline in the classic social history represented by the Annales School, while studies on political and cultural history and the history of semiotics, which had long been out in the cold, returned in strength. What is seldom noticed by Chinese scholars is the fact that French social history was undergoing a difficult transformation which has produced remarkable achievements. Gérard Noiriel's social history gives us a window on the latest developments in contemporary French social history and its methodological innovations.