1981年,美国历史协会主席伯纳德·贝林在该协会第96届年会上发表了他的离职讲演,他把当代史学归纳为三种总的发展趋势,“第一,把潜在的事件同明显的事件融合起来;第二,对作为外围和核心而组成的大规模领域和系统进行描述;第三,对人的内在思想状态及其同客观条件和外界事件的关系进行叙述。”他在作出这样的三个归纳的时候,心情是既复杂又怀疑的,因为他一方面看到历史领域由于这些新的发展变得广泛而有趣,另一方面历史的研究却又变得漫无边际,不易驾驭,因此有茫茫然的感叹。 In 1981, Bernard Behring, president of the American Historical Society, delivered his resignation address at the 96th Annual Conference of the Association, which summarized contemporary history as three general trends: “First, the potential events With the obvious events; secondly, to describe the large-scale fields and systems that constitute the periphery and the core; third, to describe the internal state of mind and its relationship with the objective conditions and external events. ”He At the time of such three inductions, mood is both complex and doubtful, for on the one hand he sees the historical realm becoming wider and more interesting as a result of these new developments; on the other hand, the study of history has become endless and not easy Control, so there is boundless sigh.