ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that despite the reticence among historians there have been pioneering–albeit isolated–studies of what now would be considered cultural history. It examines a case study the carnival and discusses how historians have approached this extraordinary phenomenon. The chapter explores how an interest in culture has enriched the study of imperialism. In 1971, to take one indicator, a comprehensive survey entitled 'Historical Studies included articles on political, intellectual, local and social history, but there was no mention of cultural history. Since that time, and coincident with the rise of cultural studies, cultural history has blossomed. Culturalists have argued that literature is the embodiment or expression of societies, classes and communities because it represents their lived realities, while structuralists argue that literature expresses nothing, rather it shapes the way people view these lived realities. E. P. Thompson has done much to reveal how the carnivalesque survived in the plebeian culture of Britain well into the twentieth century.
