Comparative reading of The cheese and the worms by Carlo Ginzburg and The Inheriting Power by Giovanni Levi

Abstract

The Cheese and the Worms and Inheriting Power are two emblematic works of Italian microhistory. This is a comparative exercise between both publications, in an attempt to identify some clues about the microhistorical paradigm. The method used is a synchronous comparison by similarity and contrast, using the classic microhistory’s premises as terms of analysis. The sources consulted, besides the books in question, privilege the direct testimony of the authors in interviews and theoretical texts in order to capture the spirit of their ideas with the minimum mediation. The parallel exhibited a high degree of conceptual dissonance incompatible with the microhistory’s perception as a monolithic trend at least as far as its two Italian leaders are concerned. In conclusion, rather than the uniform criteria, the writings reflect on the coexistance under a same model of two ways of approching the past.

Keywords

• microhistory
• historiography
• methodology