Alain Corbin (born January 12, 1936 in

Lonlay-l'Abbaye Lonlay-l'Abbaye () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France, situated midway between the towns of Domfront and Flers. It has a beautiful abbey and town square and is surrounded by walks and scenery, including the local viewpoin ...

) is a French historian. He is a specialist of the 19th century in France and in

microhistory Microhistory is a genre of history that focuses on small units of research, such as an event, community, individual or a settlement. In its ambition, however, microhistory can be distinguished from a simple case study insofar as microhistory aspires ...

. Trained in the Annales School, Corbin's work has moved away from the large-scale collective structures studied by

Fernand Braudel Fernand Braudel (; 24 August 1902 – 27 November 1985) was a French historian and leader of the Annales School. His scholarship focused on three main projects: ''The Mediterranean'' (1923–49, then 1949–66), ''Civilization and Capitalism'' ...

towards a history of sensibilities which is closer to

Lucien Febvre Lucien Paul Victor Febvre (, ; 22 July 1878 – 11 September 1956) was a French historian best known for the role he played in establishing the Annales School of history. He was the initial editor of the '' Encyclopédie française'' together wi ...

's history of ''mentalités''. His books have explored the histories of such subjects as male desire and prostitution, sensory experience of smell and sound, and the 1870 burning of a young nobleman in a

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is name ...

village.

Works

* **Translation: ''Women for Hire: Prostitution and Sexuality in France after 1850'', (published 1996) * **Translation: ''The Lure of the Sea: The Discovery of the Seaside in the Western World, 1750-1840'', (published 1994) * **Translation: ''The Foul and the Fragrant: Odor and the French Social Imagination)'', (published 1988) * **Translation: ''The Village of Cannibals: Rage and Murder in France, 1870'', (published 1993) * **Translation: ''Village Bells: Sound and Meaning in the 19th-century French Countryside'', (published 1998) * **Translation: ''Time, Desire, and Horror: Towards a History of the Senses'', (published 1995) * **Translation: ''The Life of an Unknown: The Rediscovered World of a Clog Maker in Nineteenth-century France'', (published 2001) * **Translation: ''A History of Silence: From the Renaissance to the Present Day'', (published 2018) * **Translation: ''Terra Incognita: A History of Ignorance in the 18th and 19th Centuries'', (published 2021)

Bibliography

* For a general overview on his work, see S. Godfrey "Alain Corbin : Making Sense of French History », ''French Historical Studies'', vol. 25, n° 2, 2002, p. 381-398 * See also Dominique kalifa, "L’expérience, le désir et l’histoire. Alain Corbin ou le tournant culturel silencieux", in “Alain Corbin and the writing of History”, ''French Politics, Culture & Society'', vol. 22, n° 2, 2004, p. 14-25.

References

1936 births Living people Microhistorians 20th-century French historians 21st-century French historians People from Orne French male non-fiction writers Blaise Pascal University alumni {{France-historian-stub