Study Of Robert Darnton's "the Great Cat Massacre" From The New Cultural History Perspective

"The New Cultural History" rose in the late 1960s. "The Great Cat Massacre"that written by he American Professor Robert Darnton in the 1980s is one of the representatives that indicated the tendency of maturity in theory and research methods of such history genre. By "obscurely" exerting methods of New Cultural History on the base of Neuchatel Co. file, Professor Robert Darnton not only outlined different intentions of estates before Great French Revolution, but also presented another culture history of France from the Old Regime Time to the Great French Revolution Time. This book reflects Darnton's special angle of history view and his excellent competence of using and unscrambling historical materials, of which offered a real mode for the exertion of Collective Psychology of History,Comprehensive History,Anthropology. By slightly referring to the New Culture History, this paper analyses the New Culture History Research character of "The Great Cat Massacre"by discussing Professor Robert Darnton's discovery and exertion of historical materials as well as his breakthrough on the research method.This paper is divided into four parts.The Foreword resumptively narrates the general study instance of "The Great Cat Massacre"in academe after its pubulication. Part One discusses the rise of New Culture History. After first analyzing it's rise reasons and background, then come to the characteristic of New Culture History. The academic background of New Culture History can also be regarded as the background of "The Great Cat Massacre"and such discussion provides a theory preparation for the analysis of "The Great Cat Massacre".Part Two analyses the reasons why Professor Robert Darnton wrote "The Great Cat Massacre". From discussing his career of reporter, the discovery of Neuchatel file in his Oxford Days, his teaching experience in Princeton University and dissatisfaction to Measurement History of The Annales School,we can see how "The Great Cat Massacre"come into being. Part Three dissertates the New Culture History characteristic of "The Great Cat Massacre". It embodies from the explore of the text, the exertion of Individual-Collectivity Psychology of History and Historical Anthropology,and so on. Such characteristic is where Professor Robert Darnton's ingenuity lies in.After summarizing the historical writing traits and research methods which embodied form "The Great Cat Massacre", Part Four focus on its revelation to history and reference significance for China.