Combatiendo la arrogancia epistemológica: algunos caminos que se podrían recorrer

Contrariamente a lo que acostumbra a hacer el autor, este artículo no desarrolla su tema de un modo paradigmático, sino que se concentra en algunas soluciones posibles a lo que se ha llamado la crisis de la historia, en especial volcadas en la que debería ser la actitud de los historiadores profesionales con ocasión (y en función) de los debates epistemológicos: (l) denunciar las contradicciones lógicas internas siempre presentes en las opiniones teóricas hipercríticas; (2) denunciar también las posiciones arrogantes y reduccionistas; (3) exigir una refutación historiográfica de lo que se combate (en lugar de referencias meramente teóricas); (4) en fin, aclarar siempre los propios conceptos y presupuestos en los textos que den cuenta de las investigaciones. Así sería posible evitar por ejemplo que, como pasó con frecuencia en discusiones precedentes, los historiadores aceptaran pasivamente, con argumentos muy insuficientes, opiniones negativas enunciadas por filósofos o especialistas de los estudios literarios sobre su disciplina.Much against his habits, the author wrote this article without giving it an abstract leaning. The text endeavours to show some possible solutions to the so-called 'crisis of history', on the basis of what should be the stance of professional historians when engaging in professional debates involving epistemological issues: (1) internal contradictions, ever present in excessively critical stances, should be exposed; (2) one should also expose arrogant, reductionist stances; (3) one should demand that those who attack a given historical production should engage in a proper historiographical refutation thereof, instead of leaning merely on theoretical assumptions and quotations; (4) each historian should make always clear and explicit what the concepts and presuppositions of his/her work, when presenting the results of his/her research. These are simple points, almost self-evident but in fact rarely encountered in historical debates. They could prevent a number of situations that happened in the past, when professional historians passively accepted passively negative accounts of their professional ways as presented by philosophers and literary critics, even when their arguing was in fact rather weak

A Tomada de Caiena vista do lado francês

This This paper analyzes the decision of conquering Caiena, as seen from a French point of view. The 1808-1809 campaign culminated in the taking of Cayenne, followed by eight years of Portuguese administration in French Guiana. In the early opinion of Victor Hugues, this was only an expedition to establish boundaries. However, the presence of Britain showed that the setting of borders was not the only goal. The attack on Cayenne with British support was the only possible gesture by Regent Prince João after declaring war on France

NOSSOS CONTEMPORÂNEOS E O AMOR DOS ANTIGOS

As normas de publicação da revista em 1995 não exigiam resumos

DESLOCAMENTO E ALTERIDADE: A ASSOCIAÇÃO DA DISTÂNCIA E DA VIAGEM COM O ESTRANHO E O MARAVILHOSO ENTRE OS ANTIGOS EGÍPCIOS

Os egípcios antigos tinham uma visão fortemente espacial do mundo e de sua posição nele, que viam como de supremacia. O Egito, parte organizada do universo formada pela intervenção criadora do deus criador, era a sede da verdadeira humanidade, cercada por terras caóticas, hostis, que incluíam os desertos próximos, mas também terras estrangeiras mais distantes, quando seus habitantes não aceitassem a autoridade do faraó egípcio. As representações respectivas se mantiveram ao longo dos séculos, mas a constituição de um Império egípcio entre os séculos XVI e XI a.C, trouxe algumas mudanças, causadas, sobretudo, por ser, agora, o contato dos egípcios com povos estrangeiros bem mais habitual. Os textos e a iconografia do período imperial permitem constatar tanto continuidades quanto diferenças no modo egípcio de encarar os estrangeiros

Initial indications for the semiotics of a movie genre: the musical film

This article applies certain indications of method, suggested by Yuri Lotman, concerning how the semiotic effects of a text introduced within another text can work in a movie genre especially prone to such phenomenon: the musical film. In order to study the incidence of said phenomenon, three musical filmes are analysed: South Pacific (Josha Logan, 1958), West Side story (Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, 1961), and My fair lady (George Cukor, 1964). The analyses are made to show how varied can be the ways in which the hypotheses we derived from Lotman appear; these hypotheses speak of the forms to integrate, or contrarywise to clearly separate, the subtexts which in the film are acted, from those which are sung or danced

Why do humans behave as they do? Answers based on “human nature" and their critique

Este texto apresenta um dos tipos de respostas possíveis à pergunta: o que explica os comportamentos e ações dos seres humanos? Especificamente, abordam-se as respostas que partem de uma natureza humana determinante, seja ela genética, de outro modo natural, ou não explicitamente explicada por fatores naturais. Examinam-se críticas e alternativas a essas respostas, apoiadas pelo autor.This article focus on one of the possible kinds of answers to the question: what can explain the behavior and the actions of human beings? Namely, it analyses the answers to this question that stress a determinant human nature, be it genetic, otherwise natural, or not clearly attributed to natural factors. Critiques and alternatives, supported by the paper’s author, are also examined