Historia instantánea. El nuevo impulso historiográfico francés --o historia mundial en los tiempos de Twitter

Abstract

A new generation of historians led by Patrick Boucheron has
challenged the notion of a fixed and primordial French identity. Instead, it is
claimed that a new «interconnected» story can pursue its global vocation by simultaneously
anchoring itself in the national. The chronological sequence of
Boucheron and colleagues unearths a network of national, co-national and transnational
narratives channelled according to dates chosen on the basis of creativity
and curiosity, as flashes in the firmament of time to orient the reader in
the dark night of «nationalized» historiographies.
With its chronological rhythm marked by highly symbolic events, innovation
lies not so much in a new methodological turn, but in a change of presentational
paradigm. The novelty lies in the juxtaposition of different plots and stories, so
that the history of France becomes a crossroads of encounters and a confluence
of coincidences. At the same time, the work points out the limits of deconstructionism–
constructivism in contemporary history: if deconstruction can be appropriated
to arbitrarily deconstruct objective facts to make them «fake news»,
it is no longer sufficient to deconstruct the patriotic narrative. And, once deconstruction
results in arbitrary construction, deconstructivism deconstructs itself.
The effort to overcome the constructivism–deconstructionism framework has
thus produced a new «instant history». In this way, we can appreciate new paths
of reconceiving and reconfiguring national identity in a more international fashion,
with the condensed choice of «instants» as moments of symbolic, cultural
and political change that make their mark through the generations.