Varieties of Cultural History

The aim of this book is both to illustrate and to discuss some ofthe main varieties of cultural history which have emerged since thequestioning of what might be called its "classic" form, exemplifiedin the work of Jacob Burckhardt and Johan Huizinga. Among thethemes of individual chapters are the history of popular culture,the history of Carnival, the history of mentalities, the history ofgestures, the history of jokes, and even the history of dreams. The emphasis of both the introduction and the case-studies whichfollow is on the variety of forms taken by cultural history today.The classic model has not been replaced by any new orthodoxy,despite the importance of approaches inspired by social andcultural anthropology. Variety is to be found in the culturesstudied as well as among their historians. The case-studiesincluded in the volume come not only from Europe (and in particularfrom Italy) but also from the New World, especially Brazil.Particular emphasis is placed on the importance of culturalencounters, cultural conflicts, and their consequences, whetherthese consequences should be described in terms of mixing,syncretism or synthesis. Written by one of the leading cultural historians in Europetoday, this book will be of particular interest to students ofearly modern Europe, of the encounters between European culture andthe New World, and to students and scholars interested in problemsof historiography.