History of mentalities

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The term history of mentalities is a calque on the French histoire des mentalités (which might also be translated as 'history of attitudes', 'history of world-views'), a historical movement whose origins are associated with the Annales School.

The history of mentalities focuses not on the wars and politics which have been the subject matter of most European history-writing since ancient times, but on the wider world-views of past cultural and social groups. The term might also be seen as an equivalent to, or a hyponym of, cultural history.

[edit] References

• Peter Burke, 'Strengths and Weaknesses in the History of Mentalities'. in Varieties of Cultural History (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1997), pp. 162-82; revised from original publication in History of European Ideas, 7 (1986), 439-51.

• Philippe Poirrier, Les enjeux de l'histoire culturelle (Paris, Seuil, 2004).

v • d • e Annales School Historians First Generation Marc Bloch · Lucien Febvre Second Generation Fernand Braudel · Ernest Labrousse · Pierre Goubert · Georges Duby Third Generation Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie · Marc Ferro · Jacques Le Goff · Pierre Nora Concepts Longue durée · History of mentalities · History from below · New history