Fragments of ethics: figurations of the nineteenth-century historian in Alexandre Herculano

Abstract

This paper analyzes texts written by the nineteenth-century journalist, writer and historian Alexandre Herculano (1810-1877) that have been little explored in Brazilian studies of history of historiography. Mostly produced between 1841 and 1850, the texts present discussions about the process of Portuguese liberal reforms. By examining the confrontations between Herculano and the clergymen from Lisbon concerning public education and religious beliefs approached by him in his historical works, the general objective of this paper is to verify the construction of the historiographical figuration of the discourse produced by historians in their practices of criticism and instruments of verification, and particularly through the public action of those who were dedicated to study the past. The experience of reading such documents has pointed out important issues regarding the process of historicization of the historian’s role as a critic of society, something that would later be conceived as the central function of an intellectual.