Les tendances historiographiques d'après la Bibliographie annuelle de l'histoire de France (1975-1995)

Abstract

Martine Sonnet : Trends in historiography according to the annual bibliography of french history (1975-1995). The Bibliographie annuelle de l'Histoire de France published by the C.N.R.S. since 1955 lists French and foreign works on French history (articles, monographs, collective works, theses, etc.) and is thus a good basis for studying developments in French historiography. In the volumes for 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990 and 1995 we can see the place occupied by the 18th Century, both quantitatively and from the point of view of the type of questions studied. A count reveals that the 18th Century comes in third place, after the Third Republic and the Middle Ages, but is declining. The study of society and institutions is preferred, before art, religion and the economy ; political history comes sixth and is in steady decline, while interest in social history has progressed regularly. The most obvious traits to emerge are : the preponderance (increasing from 1975 to 1995) of questions of society and civilisation, the importance of commemorations (in particular the bicentenary of 1789) and the number of foreign studies.