**FULLY BOOKED** Microhistory and Comparative History: A Class with Francesca Trivellato

Thursday 8 May, 16:15-18:00
Rees Davies Room, Faculty of History, George Street, Oxford
**THIS EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED**
cd event francesca trivellato

The method and perspective of microhistory continues to be central to the practice of historical research. Much has been written and discussed in the last decade or so about the use of microhistory as a possible remedy for the shortcomings of global history. Once microhistory is practised beyond the local dimension, its possibilities become manifold, but this also raises theoretical and practical questions. This class, open to everyone but particularly aimed at graduate students, is dedicated to the possible intersection of microhistory and comparative history.

 

Is it possible to combine microhistory’s emphasis on the ‘exceptional’ and the ‘normal’, with comparative history’s explanation based on similarities and differences? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of this methodological encounter? This class offers a unique opportunity to explore these and other questions with world-renowned microhistorian, Professor Francesca Trivellato (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton/All Souls College, Oxford). The discussion will be based on a preliminary reading of two classic studies by Edoardo Grendi and William H Sewell. Participants will also be encouraged to share ideas and impressions based on their own research experiences. 

 

This event is jointly organised by the Early Modern Italian World Seminar, the Iberian History Seminar and the ERC project ‘Moving Stories’.

 

Required reading:

  • Edoardo Grendi, ‘Micro-analysis and Social History’ (unpublished English translation of ‘Micro-analisi e storia sociale’, Quaderni storici 12, no. 35 (1977): 506-520), to be read together with Francesca Trivellato, ‘“The Normal Exception”: Edoardo Grendi on Micro-Analysis and Generalizations; A Translation and a Retrospective View’, unpublished manuscript)
  • William H Sewell Jr, ‘Marc Bloch and the Logic of Comparative History’, History and Theory 6, no. 2 (1967): 208-218 

Further reading:

  • Simona Cerutti and Isabelle Grangaud, ‘Sources and Contextualizations: Comparing Eighteenth-Century North African and Western European Institutions’, Comparative Studies in Society and History 59, no. 1 (2017): 5-33
  • Sebastian Conrad, ‘Which Time is Japan? Problems of Comparative (Intercultural) Historiography’, History and Theory, 38, no. 1 (1999): 67-83
  • Sanjay Subrahmanyam, ‘Connected Histories: Notes for a Reconfiguration of Early Modern Eurasia’, Modern Asian Studies 31, no. 3 (1997): 735-765 
  • Francesca Trivellato, ‘What Differences Make a Difference? Global History and Microanalysis Revisited’, Journal of Early Modern History 27, no. 1-2 (20-23): 7-31 

An electronic copy of the required readings will be made available upon registration for the class.