Methodological procedures for the construction of epi-historiographies

the case of 'Pires Ferreira (1868-1930)'

Abstract

Situated within the Historiography of Linguistics (HL), a disciplinary field that investigates and narrates the history of knowledge and reflections related to language and languages, this article aims to systematize some possible methodological procedures for the construction of "epi-historiographies" (Swiggers, 2010). Epi-historiography is understood as an activity that results in documentary material selected, organized, and described by the linguistics historiographer to support their interpretative practice. This material largely determines the nature of the research (Altman, 2012) and is usually divided into original documents for observation and historical analysis (primary sources) and biobibliographical and contextual materials about the texts, their agents, and the intellectual and sociocultural atmosphere of the period in which linguistic ideas emerged and circulated (secondary sources). Thus, presented here is the epi-historiographical journey undertaken in Mesquita (2023), a research project investigating the grammatical ideas of Julio Pires Ferreira (1868-1930), a teacher and grammarian who developed teaching materials adopted in schools in Pernambuco between the late 19th century and the first three decades of the 20th century. In addition to consulting digital bibliographic collections from different institutions, other strategies that contributed to the availability and accessibility of primary research sources stand out: consulting computerized library systems and digital book search engines; searching for collections inherited from private libraries of intellectuals contemporary to Pires Ferreira; research and acquisition of copies on book sales websites; contacts with research groups focusing on historiographical studies; contacts with researchers who referenced works by Pires Ferreira in academic works; and contacts with descendants of Pires Ferreira. The abundance and diversity of strategies involved in this journey proved to be quite productive in achieving a comprehensive primary and secondary documentation. These strategies can be replicated or adapted by other researchers in the process of constituting and exploring epi-historiographies. Aligned with the interest in establishing a cooperative science, the article adds to the efforts undertaken by Coelho (2021) to present concrete examples of paths taken by historiographical research with the aim of bringing to light the backstage preceding the writing of the history of linguistic knowledge.