How practical is the goal of ‘total’ history? PDF

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This essay discussed whether or not the concept of 'total' history was ever fully achievable and if historians could stick to only writing about 'total' histories. ...

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How practical is the goal of ‘total’ history? ‘Total’ history, according to Arthur Marwick, is ‘history which endeavours to integrate together all aspects of human society, aesthetic and cultural, as well as social, economic and political, private as well as public.’ 1 This approach to history began with the Annales School which was founded in 1929 by two French historians, Lucien Febvre and Marc Bloch, who wanted to change the way in which academic history was taught and learned. 2 It is debatable whether ‘total’ history is a practical goal as it means having to combine all histories, and not just researching one area. Therefore, it raises the question of whether it is possible to actually gather enough information in order to present a ‘total’ history of one given period, and if ‘total’ history truly is a practical goal. There are examples of successful ‘total’ history works, such as Fernand Braudel’s work on the Mediterranean that have been used by historians as ‘achievements’ within the history ‘world’.3 However, depending on which history an historian chooses to research, the answer differs as the amount of research that is possible to do changes with every time period as there is a wide range of what sources are available to historians and what are not. Also, an historian much be prepared to spend much of their time on this goal as their entire focus must be on the history they are studying so they are being practical in achieving their goal. This approach to history is practical in most aspects, which is shown in some examples of ‘total’ history that have been proved to be successful, such as Fernand Braudel’s ‘The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II’ which explores the history of the Mediterranean and Phillip II, ranging from the Renaissance period to sixteenth century history, and looks at economy, politics, geography and so on. 4 Braudel was a student of the historian Lucien Febvre and under him ‘his dissertation from a conventional study of Philip II’s Mediterranean diplomacy to a grand examination of the “complex totality” of the Mediterranean region in the late 16th century’. 5 He has been praised very highly for writing his work, for example his work was referred to as ‘the outstanding achievement of the second generation of the so-called Annales School’ showing that the goal of ‘total’ history is definitely practical as Braudel had set out to write a ‘total’ history of the Mediterranean and has clearly done so successfully as his book has influenced many historians and has been regarded highly. This would not have been possible if Braudel not effectively accomplished the goal of ‘total’ history.6 Depending on what history is being researched, it may become difficult to find evidence and sources that explain everything it is that the historian wants to include, whereas with others it might be easier. The further back in history you go, the more likely it is that sources are very 1 Marwick, Arthur, The New Nature of History, (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001), page 295. 2 Black, Jeremy, Macraild, Donald M., Studying History, third edition. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007), page 68. 3 Fink, Carole. K, ‘Fernand Braudel’ Date Accessed: 6th December, Available online: http://www.britannica.com/biography/Fernand-Braudel 4 Fernand, Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, (University of California Press, 1995 5 Fink, Carole. K, ‘Fernand Braudel’ Date Accessed: 6th December, Available online: http://www.britannica.com/biography/Fernand-Braudel 6 Burke, Paul, ‘Braudel’s Long Term’ London Review of Books, Vol. 5 (1983) pages 17-18.

limited and more open to interpretation rather than fact. For example, it has been said that ‘no detailed historical account has survived to help us understand the establishment of the Hellenistic kingdoms in the early 3rd century B.C.’ showing that if an historian had chosen to write a ‘total’ history of the Hellenistic period, it would prove to be difficult to document the whole period as there are not enough sources to allow someone to do so. This suggests that it is depending on which history an historian decides to document, it is not always considered a practical goal. 7 Had an historian chosen to write about the French Revolution as a ‘total’ history, it may become a much more practical goal as historians are not limited by the amount of sources, as there have been plenty of works written for it, as well as plenty of primary sources such as letters, cartoons, artwork, and online archives that have recently been expanded.8 Therefore, this shows that ‘total’ history can only be considered a practical goal when the history chosen has a lot evidence to back it up with. In order for ‘total’ history to become a practical goal, a historian would have to use up most, if not all, of their time to be able to achieve a full, concise record of the history they want. As Michael Harsgor comments in his ‘Total History: The Annales School’ article, ‘an historical study must grow mammoth-like and consume the scholar’s best years’, which is shown in some of the works completed by Annales historians. 9 For example, Pierre Chaunu’s theses ‘Seville et l’Atlantique – 1504-1650’ was eight volumes long, eleven when written down. 10 This shows that ‘total’ history takes a lot of time as Chaunu’s work could not be done within one piece of work, but had to be compiled in a number of them that were released separately as he had looked at more than just what academic historians would usually look at. A further example of how time consuming ‘total’ history is would be Braudel’s work as it had taken him 7 years, which he was in captivity of German army for, to write and fully produce. 11 This shows that an historian must be fully engaged with the history and prepared to spend their time researching and writing about it in order to make it a practical goal. Therefore, this does suggest that ‘total’ history is a practical goal as both Chaunu and Braudel were fully prepared to engage themselves with their work, and if an historian is were to follow in their path then it would be a practical goal. Finding a ‘total’ history of something can become increasingly difficult if the historian does not have further knowledge on topics that are researched when making a ‘total’ history of a period. It has been said that in order to study ‘total’ history, further knowledge of economics, geography, politics, anthropology, etc. is needed as to achieve ‘total’ history, all of these need to be compiled together to make one big history. 12 However, this brings up the argument of whether the historian is truly studying ‘history’ if they were to study other academic subjects. 7 Smith, Andrew ‘An Overview of Sources’ (2015) Date Accessed: 1 st December 2015 Available online: http://www.attalus.org/info/overview.html 8 Karampelas, Gabrielle ‘Stanford Libraries online archive expands access to French Revolution treasures’ (2014) Date Accessed: 2nd December, Available online: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/march/online-french-revolution-031914.html 9 Harsgor, Michael, ‘Total History: The Annales School’, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 13, No. 1 (Jan., 1978), page 5. 10 Harsgor, Michael, ‘Total History: The Annales School’, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 13, No. 1 (Jan., 1978), page 5. 11 ‘Fernand Braudel, Annales school’ Date Accessed: 2nd December 2015 Available online: http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/history/historian/Fernand_Braudel.html 12 Ashutosh, Ashish Saurabh ‘The Annales Paradigm and Turn to the Cultural’

There has been criticism from other historians that historians who seek to accomplish ‘total’ history focus on other academic topics more than what they would consider to be history. For example, Peter Burke states ‘there was a feeling that what Braudel and his colleagues were doing was really philosophy, or maybe sociology. It might be magnificent, but it was not history’ suggesting that by trying to accomplish ‘total’ history, the historian is not actually studying history.13 This questions whether ‘total’ history is a practical goal as it suggests that ‘total’ history is not actually history, so it might not be a practical goal for a historian to try to accomplish anyway. However, as every historian has their own idea of what history is and what it involves, if ‘total’ history fits within their idea of history then it is a practical goal for that individual. In conclusion, ‘total’ history is clearly practical as it has been shown to be made successful by historians previously, such as Fernand Braudel and his works about the Mediterranean which has been considered ‘the greatest work of the twentieth century’, showing that ‘total’ history can be done and it can be done well, and can be regarded very highly. 14 However, in order to achieve ‘total’ history, there are challenges that come along with it as it is time-consuming and must be given an historian’s full attention to if it is to be done properly. An historian must choose carefully which period they want to write a ‘total’ history of as there is the problem of whether there is enough sources to evidence the historian’s research period, so it might not always be possibly to complete a goal of ‘total’ history when writing about certain periods. Furthermore, to understand what it is that’s included in ‘total’ histories, an historian needs to have knowledge of the other subjects that are combined within it, and if they do not they might find it challenging to compile what they do not understand. Therefore, ‘total’ history is a practical goal, but only if an historian is willing to put a lot of time aside for it and if the history has materials and background information available for it.

Gemma Renshaw

13 Burke, Peter, and Hobsbawm, Eric J.. “Reflections on the Historical Revolution in France: The Annales School and British Social History Comments [with Comments and Discussion]”. Review (Fernand Braudel Center) 1.3/4 (1978): page 148 14 Black, Jeremy, and Macraild, Donald M., Studying History, third edition. page 76.

Bibliography Primary Sources Printed sources: Fernand, Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, (University of California Press, 1995

Secondary Sources Printed books: Burguière, André, The Annales School: An Intellectual History, (New York: Cornell University, 2009) Black, Jeremy, Macraild, Donald M., Studying History, third edition. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007) Marwick, Arthur, The New Nature of History, (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001)

Journal articles: Aymard, Maurice. “The Impact of the Annales School in Mediterranean Countries [with Discussion]”. Review (Fernand Braudel Center) 1.3/4 (1978): 53–67 Burke, Peter, and Hobsbawm, Eric J.. “Reflections on the Historical Revolution in France: The Annales School and British Social History Comments [with Comments and Discussion]”. Review (Fernand Braudel Center) 1.3/4 (1978) 147-164. Harsgor, Michael. “Total History: The Annales School”. Journal of Contemporary History 13.1 (1978): 1–13. Trevor-Roper, H. R.. “Fernand Braudel, the Annales, and the Mediterranean”. The Journal of Modern History 44.4 (1972): 468–479. Wesseling, H. L.. “The Annales School and the Writing of Contemporary History”. Review (Fernand Braudel Center) 1.3/4 (1978) 185-194.

Internet Resources: Ashutosh, Ashish Saurabh ‘The Annales Paradigm and Turn to the Cultural’ (2015) Date Accessed: December 7th

Available online: https://www.academia.edu/18912008/The_Annales_Paradigm_and_Turn_to_the_Cultural Fernand Braudel, ‘Annales school’ Date Accessed: 2nd December 2015 Available online: http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/history/historian/Fernand_Braudel.html Fink, Carole. K, ‘Fernand Braudel’ Date Accessed: 6th December Available online: http://www.britannica.com/biography/Fernand-Braudel Karampelas, Gabrielle ‘Stanford Libraries online archive expands access to French Revolution treasures’ (2014) Date Accessed: 2nd December Available online: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/march/online-french-revolution031914.html...