Bodies and gender in the history of historiography

the possibilities of “being a historian” through Alice Canabrava’s memories

Abstract

This paper is driven by the observation of an absence in intellectual history and the history of historiography: that of thinking about the body of historians. Corporality, along with gender, is repressed in most historiographical works, thus
excluding one of the founding elements of the power relations that continue to marginalize those who escape from the norms of gender, race, and sexuality (among other markers), whether in the production of knowledge or as objects of
research. The proposal of this work is to investigate the memories of the brazilian historian Alice Canabrava in order to understand the role of gender and corporal performances in her formulation of historian identities. Whether in Alice’s reflection of her own academic trajectory or in the characterization of certain historians as ideal types, gender and body are repeatedly evoked. The historian, through her memories and in shaping herself in the image of certain canonized historians like Fernand Braudel, reaffirmed cultural models that established gender norms for historians at the end of
the 20th century.