1. Methodological Handbook


What is microhistory? Microhistory takes a specific look at a place, person or event in history that illustrates or explains larger themes in macrohistory (conventional history). In microhistory, we study habits and routines rather than deliberate actions, underlying mentalities rather than explicit views. For microhistory the exception is more interesting than the rule, including the everyday, the overlooked details – all this that can prove to be as important as the "grand" recognized history. This is why the sources of microhistory (diaries, letters, photographs, oral stories etc.) are many times ambiguous as they reflect a polyphony of voices.

Why is microhistory important? Certain political events and social realities cannot be explained adequately by existing macro historical models. Historical accounts do not speak for the experiences of all members of the event, society, or culture being studied. The individual becomes thus the centre of microhistory accounts, in contrast to macro-history where the focus is on groups/society as a whole. Due to its analytical and narrative approach, microhistory can subvert hierarchies established by political views and historical traditions.


Did you know that… Microhistory, as a distinct approach to scientific historiography, grew out of wider post-war concerns about the failings of Western modernity while also contributing to the overarching project of a “history from below”. Led by a group of Italian historians, it gained traction in the ‘70s and received its international breakthrough in 1980, when Carlo Ginzburg’s The Cheese and the Worms was first translated into English. The book has since appeared in over two dozen languages, making microhistory – or at least Ginzburg’s take on it – a truly global academic phenomenon.


Starting your microhistorical investigation. Microhistory starts with a concrete case study (person, place, event) that is being closely explored. This process that is guided by microanalysis (putting the case study under a microscope) and agency (condensing and sharpening the topic through ownership), enable to ask different questions than mainstream history. Neverteless, there is not one established method for conducting microhistorical research. This methodological guidebook includes 4 methods inspired by artistic research and film/media studies that due to the critical and investigative way in which they treat their subject matter, can fruitfully be deployed for a microhistorical investigation. The chosen case study for the exemplification of the 4 methods is ‘Anne Frank house’.