The Concept of Identity: Considerations on its definition and application to the study of medieval history

Abstract

 Since 2007 we undertook a research which the first product was doctoral thesis Societas Studii: the construction of identity and the studies in the Order of Friars Preachers of the thirteenth century, defended in 2011 at the Post Graduate Program in History of UFF. Since then, we broaden the scope of research, aiming for other signs of identity other than the institution of the education system of the Dominican Order. However, the constant element of this research is the concept of identity that guides it. In this article, we intend to weave a debate to establish some possible definitions for the concept and articulate it to our object of study. We argue that their adaptation to the context studied can bring a deeper understanding of historical phenomena.