History of Everyday Life and Material Culture
Objectives
- Identify the state of the art, considering studies that are limited to certain periods, as well as studies that address the long term;
- Present the fundamental analytical and interpretative concepts of the curricular unit, considering the historicity of the central categories used in the respective curricular unit such as "culture", "mentality", "civility", "leisure");
- Identify methodological challenges that the chronological breadth poses (types of sources, evolution of social information and its configuration in archives, accessibility);
- Identify and problematize the meaning of permanence and changes in chronologies and long durations;
- Reflect on different spatial configurations involved in the investigation of chronologies and long durations;
- Problematize: structures, social actors, institutions, discourses, representations;
- Guide studies that cross the conventional epochal segmentation, privileging case studies of general, global history and different countries.
General characterization
Code
02117137
Credits
10.0
Responsible teacher
Gonçalo Miguel Correia Melo da Silva
Hours
Weekly - 3
Total - 280
Teaching language
Portuguese
Prerequisites
N/A
Bibliography
Braudel, Fernand, Les Structures du Quotidien, Paris, Armand Colin, 1979.
Kwass, Michael, The Consumer Revolution, 1650-1800, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2022.
Lucassen, Jan, A New History of Humankind, Yale University Press, 2021.
Marques, A. H. de Oliveira, A Sociedade Medieval Portuguesa: Aspectos da vida quotidiana, Lisboa, A Esfera dos Livros, 2010.
Mattoso, José (dir.), História da Vida Privada em Portugal, 4 vols., Lisboa, Círculo de Leitores, 2010.
Teaching method
The teaching methodology is based on lectures of a theoretical–practical nature. In order to foster critical reflection among Master’s students, the lecturers’ exposition of content is combined with the guided reading and discussion of historiographical texts or historical documents. Complementarily, materials such as maps, graphs, tables, and other documentary sources will be employed to encourage a more interactive and participatory analysis.
The first three sessions will consist of an introductory component led by the lecturers. From the fourth week onwards, the second part of each session will be devoted to the analysis and discussion of a text previously made available on Moodle. This discussion will be preceded by a student’s oral presentation, lasting approximately 20 minutes, which should summarise the main arguments and findings of the text in question. The allocation of texts will be determined according to the order of enrolment. The presentation and facilitation of the discussion form one of the components of the students’ oral assessment.
Evaluation method
The final grade is a weighted average of the following assessment components:
1. Oral participation in class: 20%
This includes the oral presentation of a text in class, together with the facilitation of the ensuing discussion, as well as the quality and regularity of contributions throughout the sessions.
2. Research dossier for the individual assignment: 20%
This dossier documents the process of selection and research undertaken by the student for the preparation of the individual assignment. Detailed instructions are provided in the Guidelines for the Individual Assignment, available on Moodle.
3. Individual assignment: 40%
An essay of 2,500–3,000 words, consisting of a case study on a historical object produced between 1200 and 1850. The chosen object must be related to the themes addressed in the course unit. Further information on the scope of analysis and formal requirements is provided in the Guidelines for the Individual Assignment, available on Moodle.
4. Oral presentation and discussion of the individual assignment: 20%
Subject matter
1. Historiographical Framework, Concepts, and Problematics
2. Sources and Interdisciplinary Methodologies: Potentialities and Challenges
3. The Tasks of Every Day: Daily Life in the City and the Countryside in Contrast
4. Within the Household: The Home, the Family, and Domestic Life
5. From Birth to Death: Gender, the Body, and the Stages of Life
6. Nourishing the Body: Food and Sociability at the Table
7. Between Misery and Opulence: Clothing, Fashion, and Identity
8. Technology and Material Constraints
9. Work – Organisation of Work
10. Consumption, Markets, and the Emergence of Consumer Goods
11. Global Material Culture (e.g. Cotton)
12. Dynamics: The Industrial Revolution
Programs
Programs where the course is taught: