An approach to historical analysis

An approach to historic outlineIntroductionIn Part III of The Mediterranean (1949), Braudel, placed autobiography of stillts depleted in his value hierarchy, while in his two biographies on Charles V and Philippe II (Braudel 1994 Exrits sur lhistoire II), he demonstrated his deep understanding of traditional news report. Braudel g wiz from the commonly accepted views of traditional history and postulated the longue duree and conjoncture perspectives. With his understanding of existing theories Braudel was able to exposed structural images of important themes which were in it-self a landmark in historiography.Fernand Braudel (1902-1985)Braudel in Capitalism was not interested in details from both archives and secondary literature rather he embarked on the premise of heterogeneous images at heart a chosen framework. This he was able to accomplish by classifying capitalism into three levels, that is, daily life market activities production and tack within the national market i nternational capital flow and trade at the world economy level.Braudels HistoriographyA main feature in understanding Braudels historiography is the socialization of condemnation and space in analyzing diachronic events. In addition to this methodology Braudel has elucidated new concepts which enable an understanding of time and space mortally. To fully appreciate his division it becomes paramount to enter into discussion the way history was analyze in a conventional setting.Historical Concepts Longue DurEe, Conjuncture, Event-History, Economie-Monde And amount HistoryConventionally history was seen by means of the lens of a stage businessar time frame or either emphasized historical changes in different geographic areas. Braudel on the other hand, utilise a set of historical concepts for example, duree, conjoncture, event-history, economie-monde and chalk up history to subjects such as the Mediterranean world and engender significant insights into history. In analyzing h istorical time Braudel has declare long-term (longue duree), mid-term (conjuncture) and short-term (event-history) views which simply demonstrates the possibility that several concepts of historical time can co-exist within a single particular subject which is being analyzed.When analyzing historical space Braudel emphasized the economie-monde and this concept he come one and only(a)d to analyze as the economic-world that is not defined by either politics or cultures but by the exchange of honests and services. Interestingly, Braudel considered both temporal and spatial elements and proceed on the premise that these four concepts are intermarried in such a way culminating in what he termed original history that is historie doe or histoire globale.Longue DureeIn an even more positive vein Braudel concept of historical time relied on allotments. In other words, Braudel has interpreted a century or longer as a unit of analysis and calls this longue duree. Ten to fifty years he ca lls conjuncture whilst short calendar time is subsumed into another allotment. Capitalizing on calendar time which is no stranger to traditional history and utilizing conjuncture which is a term used in economics, but extended by Braudel to non-economic aspects of history such as social and cultural changes. Braudel then extended the concept of longue duree thus claiming that longue duree is a most suitable shot when investigating the slow changing and structurally stable aspects of history. In so doing he has fundamentally permitted the advantages of each method to compliment each other and minimise their inadequacies.With an astute understanding of the existing historical theories Braudel in reviewing longue duree elucidated, It was when I was constructing my book on the Mediterranean I was led to divide the times of history according to their different speeds, according to different temporalities. I think there are actually rapid times, longer times, and almost immobile times. But it was in the end of this course, not by a preliminary operation, that I arrived at this aim of time of history. Similarly, the longue duree of which I am the advocator, it was an artifice by which I was escaped from certain tangible difficulties. I did not think to longue duree before writing my book on the Mediterranean, (Braudel, 1978, pp 244-5).Perhaps Braudel was so burning about longue duree due to his sojourn in captivity during World War II. He wrote I myself, during a rather gloomy captivity, struggled a good deal to get away from a chronicle of those difficult years (1940-5). Rejecting events and the time in which events take place was a way of placing oneself to one side, sheltered, so as to get roughly sort of perspective, to be able to evaluate them bankrupt, and not wholly to believe in them. To go from the short time span, to one little short, and then to the long view (which, if it exists, must surely be the wise mans time span) and having got there, to thin k about everything afresh and to reconstruct everything around me a historian could-hardly not be tempted by such a prospect, (Braudel, 1969, pp 47-8, and p 77).ConjonctureConjoncture is a French word and there is no English equivalent. It is in this vein that the Petit Robert French dictionary explains that conjuncture is a, Situation resulting from an encounter of circumstances and which is considered as the point of departure of an evolution, an action. The study of conjuncture is to study an occasional situation as opposed to structure in view of a prevision. This explanation swims in the same stream as Braudels since his theory is based on changes and mutations in economic factors, for example, population growth, production output, and price changes. According to Gemelli, and Braudel it is also used to describe social trends, for example, conjuncture, paysanne, conjuncture seinneuriale, (Gemelli, 1995 p 107 and Braudel, 1991 p 48). This economic perception of Braudel led him to proceed on the premise that, the term conjoncture, suggest possible new directions for research and some tentative explanatory hypotheses. Conjunctural analysis, is however one of the indispensable means of historical explanation and as such, a useful formulation of the problem, (Braudel The Mediterranean pp 892, 899).These converging lines of evidence enable the concept of conjuncture to develop since as he so succinctly stated,Traditional history, with its concern for the short time span, for the individual and the event, has long accustomed us to the headlong, dramatic, breathless rush of it narrative. The new economic and social history puts cyclical movement in the forefront of its research and is committed to that time span side by side with traditional narrative history, there is an enumerate of conjunctures which lays open large sections of the past, ten, twenty, fifty years at a stretch ready for examination, (Braudel, 1969, p 27,and p 29).Event-HistoryThe structure d way of writing history was the method of using exact dates, names, cause-consequences and places. Braudel interestedly rejected this approach since he wanted to analyze and by extension sound harmonies with the overall environment, structure and movement so as to yield an impersonal and collective aspects of historical changes. Braudel later developed an even greater interest in specific events as can be evidenced from a passage from his notes and his conception about events. Quoting from his personal notebook (f*23), undated, entitled LHistoire, mesure du temps (History, measure of time). The notebook belongs to the Archives Braudel and may still not be public.Braudel mentioned the State of Bahia (Brazil) in this passage and it is well known that he taught at Sao Paulo University during 1936-1937. It stands to reason therefore, that this idea was documented before he wrote The Mediterranean, One evening, in the State of Bahia, I suddenly found myself being surrounded by a tremend ous number of fireflies. They were lighting here and there, more or less in high place, countless, just like many too brief sparkles, but shed sufficient light to see the landscape. This is so with events, (Gemelli, 199584 / Braudel, 196910). This simile aptly describes that events are like the light from fireflies which is often brief and weak. Many criticized Braudel, for example, Hargor in 1986, but for others he was truly the master of event-history.Fuelled by a changed posture by the 1960s Braudel wrote, Every event, however brief, has to be sure a portion to make, to light up some dark corner or even some wide vista of history. I am by no means the sworn enemy of the event. In the first place, this kind of history tends to endorse only important events, building its hypotheses only on foundations which are solid or assumed to be so. Another is the event with far-reaching consequences and repercussions as Henri Pirenne was fond of remarking, (Braudel, The Mediterranean, pp 901-902).Economie-Monde (Economic-World)Braudels concept of economie-monde was inspired by German geographers, that is, by the work of Friz Rorig Mittelalterliche Weltwirtschaft Blute und Ende Einer Weltwirtschaftsperiode 1933, (Gemelli, 1995, p 125 / Capitalism III p 634 note 4). At the time of this conception Braudel was in the thinking process of The Mediterranean. During this period however, he perceived that the Mediterranean world was a kind of economie-monde, and this was later expressed in The Mediterranean at pp 418 419. Relative to this, Braudel made a clear dichotomy between economie-monde (economic-world, a huge network of economic exchanges) from economie mondiale (world economy, which refers to such as the global impacts of the oil colour Shock of the 1970s).It is evident that Braudel embarked on the premise that the economic-world model was based on the Mediterranean economy. On the heels of this construction is the believed that models for other economie-mondels would no doubt have a similar construction when a comparison is made. This can best be illustrated from a section in The Mediterranean where Braudel stated, Have we here enough visible to measure the Mediterranean, to construct a comprehensive, quantitative model of its economy? As a unit it could then be compared to other world-economies economic-worlds would be a better translation either bordering on or connected to the Mediterranean, (Braudel, The Mediterranean, pp 418-419).Braudel enables one to make greater sense of what a contract means to an economie-monde when he provided a definition of it as it relates to the Mediterranean, This world (the Mediterranean), sixty days long, was, indeed, broadly speaking a Weltwirtschaft, a world-economy (economie-monde), a self- contained universe. All world-economies (economie-monde) for instance recognize a center, some focal point that acts as a stimulus to other regions and is essential to the existence of the economic unit as a who le. Quite clearly in the Mediterranean in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries that center was a narrow urban quadrilateral Venice, Milan, Genoa, Florence, with conflicts and inter-town rivalries as the relative weight of each city changed. The center of gravity can gradually be seen to shift from Venice, where it still lay at the beginning of the century, to Genoa, where it was so brilliantly established between 1550 and 1575.In line with this theoretical viewpoint, the center was not a single city, but comprised of four cities and that with the center of gravity changing between them.Total HistoryThe term total history is a methodological claim of historical writing. Braudel is an advocate of this strain and using histoire globale and histoire totale interchangeably he states,Similarly, the globalite, histoire globale that I defend, imposed on me little by little. That is something extremely simple, so simple that most of my colleagues in history do not understand me. On the cont rary, this does not hinder them to attack me fiercely. . . . The globalite, is not an conception to write a total history of the world. It is not this kind of puerile, sympathetic and crazy pretension. It is simply the desire, when one approaches a problem, to go beyond the limits systematically. There is no historical problem, in my view, that is quarantined by walls, that is independent, (Braudel, 1978, p 245).In short, Braudels advocated interdisciplinary studies, going beyond the limits of well-defined topical studies. Secondly, he postulated that history should be observed and studied from diverse angles, with it being beneficial to expand the duration of observation (longue duree) and to extend the geographic areas, such that extensive comparison will cart track to significant results. Finally, and in line with this, he found it essential to combine the time dimension (three kinds of historical time) and the space dimension (geo-history, economie-monde) in order to canvass the complexity of the subject in question.(See Figure I for Braudels concept of Total History)A Century Other CenturySource Authors AdaptionDiverging Views On Total HistoryContrary to this strain Furet, a member of the Annales School, wrote,Yet the idea of total history is elusive. Total history merely expresses the ambition of providing a glutted perspective, a more exhaustive description, a more comprehensive explanation of a given object or problem than provided by the social sciences whose conceptual and methodological innovations it has borrowed, (Furet, 1983, p 394).Swimming in the same stream was Stoianovick who interestingly argued that, One major obstacle to histoire globale arises from the fact that histoire globale has been much more the product of individual genius than of systematic theory, (Stoianovich, 1978, p 20).These views lends easily to Pierre Chaunu, a former student of Braudel, and a Membre de lInstitut whocategorically who categorically stated,There cannot be a total history. All knowledge is necessarily selective, a rational choice. total history, in its basic meaning, is evidently a non- sense. It is a wish, it marks an direction, ., (Coutau-Begarie, 1983, pp 96, 99).It is apparent that Braudels views came under scrutiny. However, it is necessary to understand that Braudels total history concept is not intended to describe everything, that is, every aspect of the subject but rather it is intended to make it face an organized structure rather that a mere heap, (Popper, 1961, pp 76-77).The Contribution Of Braudels Five ConceptsBraudels five key concepts discussed above made in-roads or contributions to the historical analysis of time and space. With respect to historical time, he expanded the conventional single-speed, linear-movement of historical time into a set of historical times that can be separated into short-term, medium-team and long-term. These terms co-exist, and each has its own speed, life and function they are inter-re lated and inter-acting. As to his contribution to historical space Braudels hypothesis was economie-monde, a concept that some would scan was not well presented in The Mediterranean but finally clarified three decades later in Capitalism.Advantages And Disadvantages Of Braudels MethodologyBraudels concepts are flexible and this can be considered its major advantage, since Braudels believed that the use of his concept would generate historical insight rather than rigorous ones. The disadvantage however can be seen through the lens of misunderstandings on the one hand and on the other the challenge of a writer combining all the various disciplines, for example, geography, demography cultural studies, economics and so on which is required when applying Braudels notion of total history. This challenge may not be an easy one for the writer to overcome. Further, it has been said that his theories lack clear and / or whole interpretation and that he seldom attempted firsthand penetrating investigation on any specific topic.ConclusionBraudels historiography can be seen as one philosophical approach to historical analysis. While this approach is not global and eternal it can be used as a viable barb in the study of history. In essence his historiography is not a final dictum but rather can be seen as a contribution to historical studies and a foundation to be built upon.BibliographyBraudel, F. (1949) La Mediterranee et le monde mediterraneen a lepoque de Philippe II, capital of France Armand Colin (2 volumes), 9e edition (1990). Translated from the French by S. Reynolds in 1972, Fontana (1995, fifteenth impression) The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, 2 volumes.Braudel, F. (1969) Ecrits sur lhistoire, Paris Flammarion (Collection Champs No. 23). English translation by Sarah Mathews (1980) On History, University of Chicago Press.Braudel, F. (1977) Afterthoughts on Material Civilization and Capitalism, Johns Hopkins University Press, translated from the French by Patricia Ranum. The French version La dynamique du capitalism (1988), Paris Flammarion (Champs No. 192).Braudel, F. (1977) ed. La Mediterranee, lespace et lhistoire (volume 1) La Mediterranee, les hommes et lheritage (volume 2), Paris Arts et Metiers Graphiques reprinted by Edition Flammarion, 1986, Collection Champs Nos. 156, 167.Braudels concepts and methodology reconsidered. The European Legacy, 2000, 5(1) 65-86 (Taylor Francis).Chaunu, Pierre (1992) La Mediterrannee cest Braudel, LHistoire, juillet/ao.ut, pp. 71-3.Coutau-Begarie, H. (1989) Le phenomene Nouvelle histoire strategie et ideologie des nouveaux historiens, Paris Economica (Second Edition).Furet, Francois (1983) Beyond the Annales, daybook of Modern History, 55389-410.Gemelli, Giuliana (1995) Fernand Braudel, Paris Editions Odile Jacob.Popper, Karl (1961) The Poverty of Historicism, London Routledge.Stoianovich, Traian (1978) Social history perspective of the Annales Paradigm, Review, 1(3/4)19-48.