Longue durée

Okay, imagine you have a book. A really long book. And you want to study it to learn about the past. But this is not just any past, it's a really long time ago, like hundreds of years ago.

So, you decide to study this book in a special way. Instead of just looking at one page or chapter, you're going to read the whole book from beginning to end. And not just once, but many times, over many years.

This special way of studying is called "longue durée." It's a French term that means "long duration." It's all about looking at things over a really long time period, and seeing how they change and evolve over time.

Think of it like watching a tree grow. If you just look at it for a few hours, you might not notice any changes. But if you come back and check on it every day or every week, you'll start to see how it grows and changes over time.

So, when historians use longue durée, they're looking at events, people, cultures, and societies over a very long time period. They might look at things like how technology changes over centuries, or how economic systems evolve over generations.

The idea is that by studying things in this way, you can see patterns and trends that you wouldn't be able to see if you only looked at a short period of time. It's like zooming out from a picture to see the bigger picture.

In summary, longue durée is a way of studying history that looks at things over a very long time period, to see how they change and evolve over time. It's like watching a movie in slow motion, so you can see all the details and patterns that you might miss if you just watch a short clip.