教育・モダニティ・歴史分析-〈習作〉群の位置と課題-  [in Japanese] Education, Modernity and Historical Analysis : Methodological Reflection on Recent Tendencies  [in Japanese]

Since the works written by P.Aries and M.Foucault were introduced and translated into Japanese, they have had much influence on historical research in Japan. Some educational sociologists, as well as other sociologists or historians, have paid attention to them and tried to study Japanese history of education empirically by applying their methodological tools. Many of the papers based on such a new research interest have the common characteristic that they try to deconstruct all educational theories, concepts and beliefs. In my view, however, this new direction has some peculiar difficulties and weak points in pursuing historical research. The purpose of this paper is to examine (1) the kind of difficulties encountered when we thoroughly apply deconstructive perspectives (2) the weak points found in recent historical studies which have adopted Aries' or Foucault's methodology or concepts, and (3) how we can overcome these weak points. This paper suggests : (1) If we try to apply deconstructive perspectives, we are obliged to adopt a somewhat contradictory point of view comprising both unreflecting scienticism and fundamental postmodernism. We are also forced to take ambiguous standpoints between two disciplines - sociology and history. (2) The recent studies under Aries' or Foucault's influence have two weak points. Firstly, they are deficient in academic creativity because of their uncritical borrowing of the ideas proposed by Aries' or Foucault, although it seems that this may be not so serious. Secondly, their framework is too narrow to examine and distinguish many kinds of historical factors, making their description of historical changes too simplistic. (3) In the end, three ways to overcome these weak points are proposed. The first is a thorough text-reading and theoretical speculation, the second is to apply longer or more minute perspectives on historical changes, and the last is to examine the structural relations between the many factors around the object on which the study focuses.