Philippe Ariès (; 21 July 1914 – 8 February 1984) was a French

medievalist The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often v ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

and

childhood A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

, in the style of

Georges Duby Georges Duby (7 October 1919 – 3 December 1996) was a French historian who specialised in the social and economic history of the Middle Ages. He ranks among the most influential medieval historians of the twentieth century and was one of Fran ...

. He wrote many books on the common daily life. His most prominent works regarded the change in the western attitudes towards death.

Work

Ariès was a pioneer in the field of cultural history, the "history of mentalities" as it was called, which flourished from the 1960s to 1980s and dealt with the themes and concerns of ordinary people going about their lives. He focused on the changing nature of childhood from the 15th to the 18th century in his ''Centuries of Childhood''. Overall, his contribution was about placing family life into the context of a larger historical narrative, and the evolution of a distinction between public and private life in the modern era. During his life, his work was often better known in the English-speaking world than it was in France itself. He is known above all for his book ''L’Enfant et la Vie Familiale sous l’Ancien Régime'' (1960), which was translated into English as ''

Centuries of Childhood ' ( en, italic=yes, The Child and Family Life in the Ancien Régime) is a 1960 book on the history of childhood by French historian Philippe Ariès known in English by its 1962 translation, ''Centuries of Childhood: A Social History of Family L ...

'' (1962). This book is pre-eminent in the history of childhood, as it was essentially the first book on the subject (although some antiquarian texts were earlier). Even today, Ariès remains the standard reference to the topic. Ariès is most famous for his statement that "in medieval society, the idea of childhood did not exist". Its central thesis is that attitudes towards children were progressive and evolved over time with economic change and social advancement, until childhood, as a concept and an accepted part of family life, from the 17th century. It was thought that children were too weak to be counted and that they could disappear at any time. However, children were considered as adults as soon as they could live alone. The book has had mixed fortunes. His contribution was profoundly significant both in that it recognised childhood as a social construction rather than as a biological given and in that it founded the history of childhood as a serious field of study. At the same time, his account of childhood has by now been widely criticised. Ariès is likewise remembered for his invention of another field of study: the history of attitudes to death and dying. Ariès saw death, like childhood, as a social construction. His seminal work in this ambit is ''L'Homme devant la mort'' (1977), his last major book, published in the same year when his status as a historian was finally recognised by his induction into the ''

École des hautes études en sciences sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The ...

'' (EHESS), as a ''directeur d'études''.

Criticism of ''Centuries of Childhood''

There has been widespread criticism of the methods that Ariès used to draw his conclusions about the role of childhood in

early modern Europe Early modern Europe, also referred to as the post-medieval period, is the period of European history between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, roughly the late 15th century to the late 18th century. Histor ...

. One of his most noted critics was the historian Geoffrey Elton. Elton's main criticism of Ariès is paraphrased in Richard J. Evans's book on

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians h ...

, ''In Defence of History'': "...in everyday life children were indeed dressed differently to adults; they were just put in adult clothes to have their portraits painted." That is to say that Ariès took early modern portraits as an accurate representation of the look of early modern families whereas a lot of the clients would use them to improve their status. The assertion that the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

world was ignorant of childhood has undergone considerable attack from other writers. Further criticism of Ariès is found in an article from 1992 by Harry Hendrick for the '' Journal of the Economic History Society''. Within the article, entitled “Children and Childhood,” Hendrick lists four criticisms of Ariès's work:

"Firstly that his data are either unrepresentative or unreliable. Secondly that he takes evidence out of context, confuses prescription with practice, and uses atypical examples. Thirdly, that he implicitly denies the immutability of the special needs of children, for food, clothing, shelter, affection and conversation. Fourthly, that he puts undue emphasis on the work of moralists and educationalists while saying little of economic and political factors."

Personal life

Ariès regarded himself as an "anarchist of the right". He was initially close to the '' Action française'' but later distanced himself from it, as he viewed it as too authoritarian, hence his self-description as an "anarchist". Ariès also contributed to ''

La Nation française ''La Nation française'' ("The French Nation") was a French monarchist weekly magazine influenced by Charles Maurras, the founder of the Action française movement. It was founded in 1955 as an offshoot of '' Aspects de la France'', another monarc ...

'', a royalist review. However, he also co-operated with many left-wing French historians, especially with

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault (, ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationship between power and knowledge, and ho ...

, who wrote his obituary.

Works

* 1943. ''Les Traditions sociales dans les pays de France'', Éditions de la Nouvelle France. * 1948. ''Histoire des populations françaises et de leurs attitudes devant la vie depuis le XVIII^e'', Self. * 1949. ''Attitudes devant la vie et devant la mort du XVII^e au XIX^e, quelques aspects de leurs variations'', INED. * 1953. ''Sur les origines de la contraception en France'', from ''Population'' 3 (July–September): pp. 465–72. * 1954. ''Le Temps de l'histoire'', Éditions du Rocher. * 1954. ''Deux contributions à l'histoire des pratiques contraceptives'', from ''Population'' 4 (October–December): pp. 683–98. * 1960. ''L'Enfant et la vie familiale sous l'Ancien Régime'', Plon. English translation: * 1975. ''Essais sur l'histoire de la mort en Occident: du Moyen Âge à nos jours'', Seuil. English translation: * 1977. ''L'Homme devant la mort'', Seuil. English translation: * 1980. ''Un historien du dimanche'' (with Michel Winock), Seuil. * 1983. ''Images de l'homme devant la mort'', Seuil. * 1985–1987. ''Histoire de la vie privée'', (with

), 5 volumes: I. ''De l'Empire romain à l'an mil''; II. ''De l'Europe féodale à la Renaissance''; III. ''De la Renaissance aux Lumières''; IV. ''De la Révolution à la Grande guerre''; V. ''De la Première Guerre mondiale à nos jours'', Seuil. * 1993. ''Essais de mémoire: 1943–1983'', Seuil. * 1997. ''Le présent quotidien, 1955–1966'', Seuil. Collection of articles published in ''

'' between 1955 and 1966. * 2001. ''Histoire de la vie privée'', (with

), le Grand livre du mois.

References

External links