Microhistory in Brazil: Receptions, Trajectories, and Continuities

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes how, over the past three decades, Italian microhistory has influenced historiographical debates in Brazil. Without intending to provide an exhaustive review of all studies inspired by this perspective, the article seeks to reflect on how the methodology has been received and interpreted in research across various thematic fields. Particular attention is given to the reception of the microhistorical model proposed by Giovanni Levi, one of the leading exponents of the approach. The article also highlights how Levi’s model has driven a renewal in migration studies, contributing to the emergence of a new social history of migrations and to the expansion of research topics related to immigrants in different contexts. By drawing on sources of varied nature and cross-referencing information, it aims to reconstruct migration dynamics, individual and collective strategies, and the logics that shaped behaviors in both the places of origin and arrival in Brazil.

KEYWORDS:
Microhistory; Historiographical debate; Method; Social history; Brazil; Migration studies