La construction du temps chez les historiens universitaires français de la seconde moitié du XXe siècle

• Main Author: Jean Leduc
• Format: Article
• Language: fra
• Published: ADR Temporalités 2004-01-01
• Series: Temporalités
• Subjects: criss-crossing of temporalities; discontinuities; importance of the narrative; interaction between past and present; linearity; long-term
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/temporalites/614

French historians of the second half of the XXe century are more aware than their predecessors that historical research and writing means continuous interaction between past and present. Most of them have substituted the grammatical present for the preterit as the basic tense of the narrative. They pay more attention to trends and long-term phenomena than to short-term events. They are less reluctant to study the most recent past, but this issue remains controversial. Openly or not, chronological story is still the prevailing model, as is the absolute dating system according to the calendar. Historians are careful to avoid arbitrary chronological divisions and they stress that a sequence of events does not imply a relationship of cause and effect between them. Theorical discussions are on-going but, more often than not are the result of encouragement from outside the historical professions.