“Editing Manuals, Building a Dialogue between the Natural and Social Sciences: The Traité and the Nouveau Traité De Psychologie by Georges Dumas»

Marcia Consolim, Federal University of Sao Paulo

The Traité de Psychologie and the Nouveau Traité de Psychologie represent the first and the second edition of the most important manual of scientific psychology published in France during the first part ofthe 20 century. This paper aims to investigate the social and intellectual conditions of publishing these huge manuals, published in 2 volumes (1923/1924) and in 8 volumes (1930/1948), and to identify the strategies used to diffuse these manuals abroad, which bring together multiple sciences (biology, psychology, sociology). In the first part of the paper, I present statistical analyses of the 35 trajectories of the authors who contributed to both manuals. In the second part, I present statistical analyses of the 7.930 bibliographical items. I intend to demonstrate that Georges Dumas, the director of both manuals, tried to legitimate "French science" by recruiting authors most endowed with academic credentials in the area of philosophy and natural sciences. Concerning the bibliographical analyses, the data show that, on the second edition, during the 30s, the “pioneers” of the area are less mentioned in bibliography comparing to the new generation and, concerning to the language of the bibliography, the use of English references is clearly growing in importance compared to French bibliography. I conclude that this publication represents a position taken concerning the conflit between the "French science" against "American" specialisation.

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 Presented in Session 63. Discursive Developments Across Disciplines and Ideologies