New cultural history and old history of mentalities

In eighteenth-century Stockholm, merchants and artisans had a change in mentality that reflected a shift in the cultural frames of reference. The change was barely noticeable at first, but its effects became evident over time. Some, including the French historian Roger Chartier and several other advocates of a new cultural history, have argued that quantitative series are ineffective in understanding how human thought changes with the passage of time. Cultural historians disagree about two issues: folk culture and the extent to which it is possible to talk about collective symbolic structures. This chapter examines the debate on the history of culture and mentality.