Between the disciplinary past and the practical past: Figurations of the historian in the crisis of the humanities

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to investigate the historicity of disciplinary forms, investigating the criteria which guide the conditions for the emergence of the discipline of history, as well as its current (possible) exhaustion and crisis. In a context in which historical culture is disseminated by different media, and in which the fragmentation and plurality of identities - via memory - are far more highly valued than homogeneity - by means of the discipline of history -, it is important to investigate how historians of the present redefine their identity and approach this juncture between the disciplinary tradition and contemporary demands.