Railway History and Academic Research: Consolidation of the Topic in Postgraduate Studies in Brazil (1972-2016)

ABSTRACT The main goal of this paper is to broadly present dissertations or theses dedicated to the topic of railways from the creation of postgraduate programs in Brazil until the current days, between 1972 and 2016. Our intention is to problematize the changes and theoretical or methodological tendencies in the various periods stipulated for analysis, thus presenting an overview of these academic works, with an emphasis on the sources and historiographic foundations used, and on the places of production and interpretation/approach of the railway as an object of study. Finally, we discuss whether the railway historical studies actually changed or not throughout the studied period. As sources, we used the dissertations, which were selected after a previous reading; we then chose those that presented methodologies and problematizations regarding History, even if from other areas (CNPq).

摘要 本研究的核心目标为全面呈现1972年至2016年间，亦即巴西研究生培养体系创立以来，所有以铁路为主题的学位论文。本研究旨在针对预设的各分析时段，对该领域的发展变迁、理论取向与方法论趋势进行问题化探讨，进而对这批学术成果展开全景式梳理，重点考察其所采用的研究资料与史学研究基础，以及铁路作为研究对象的产出场域、阐释路径与研究视角。最后，本研究将探讨在所考察的时段内，铁路史学研究是否确实发生了实质性变革。本研究的资料来源为经预读后遴选的学位论文：首先通过初读完成初步筛选，随后筛选出那些即便隶属于其他学科领域，仍围绕历史学议题展现出研究方法与问题意识的论文（CNPq）。