Biography and social history: the biographical writing of Lucien Febvre.
bbiography; French historiography; Lucien Febvre
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze "Martin Luther: A Destiny", a work by the historian Lucien Febvre, in 1928. In writing the book, Febvre stated that his work should not be read as a biographical piece. However, it possesses all the characteristics of such historiographic genre. Thus, how can it not be called a biography? To answer this paradox, this work aims to comprehend who was Lucien Febvre, which was his role in the Annales movement, in the French Historiography, and which concept of History he defended. In order to do so, the reception of his work by the Academia will be mapped, as well as the structural changes of the prologues, and the characteristics of Febvre's biographical writings will be identified. Through the comprehension of Febvre's intellectual positioning and his path as a researcher, it will be possible to obtain the necessary elements to understand his rejection of perception of his work as a biographical writing.