从社会史到新文化史:拉斐尔·萨缪尔对人民历史的诠释与书写

From Social History to New Cultural History:Raphael Samuel' Elaboration and Writing of People's History

深受家庭环境以及英国前辈马克思主义史学家的影响,拉斐尔·萨缪尔把人民的历史作为自己的研究志趣,采取"自下而上"看历史的研究取向。他所研究的人民是普通民众,尤其是那些处于社会边缘的弱势群体,所反映的是当时英国突出的社会问题。不仅如此,他还鼓励普通民众参与历史研究,成为历史研究的主体。在研究方法上,早期他主要采用社会史的方法,后期受后现代主义思潮的影响,他的历史认识和研究方法都发生了变化,开始关注文化问题,采用新文化史的方法。

Tremendously influenced by the family and senior British Marxist historians,Raphael Samuel took people's history as his aspiration and interest,adopted a perspective of studying history"from bottom up".The people he studied were ordinary mass people,especially those disadvantaged groups who were on the margins of society.What he tried to disclose were prominent social problems in Britain.In addition,he encouraged the ordinary mass to join in history study,trying to convert them into subject of history research.In methodology,he adopted method of social history as a main tool in his early period of study.Later on,due to the influence of post-modernism,his perception of history and method of study changed.He began to focus on culture and took a method of new cultural history.