Mentality, action, rationality - a reappraisal of the histoire des mentalités

Abstract

The histoire des mentalités is nowadays one of the most influent areas within historiography. Both the introduction of new research objects and the use of concepts and models from other social sciences, namely from psychology and anthropology, have transformed it into a field of pluridisciplinary cooperation. In this article, the author proposes a review over the trajectory of this disciplin from its very beginning up to its most recent productions. He emphasizes the problems following from a non-critical assimilation of some theories which are no longer adequate to either the sociocultural study of reality as a social process or the interpretation of the beliefs and values from the past. It is suggested the necessity of reformulating the theoretic perspectives, in order to give the human role a higher value, and to connect the study on the behaviours with that of the social positions. Some hypotheses are pointed out, enabling a better understanding of the attitudes of some social groups from the past.