[Evolution and situation of the historiography of psychiatry in Argentina]

Historical researches focusing on the study of the ideas on madness and on psychiatry as a medical specialty in Argentina published until 1980 were few, and they were scattered throughout a time period covering more than a century. Some of them, however, constituted sources of useful data that contributed to subsequent developments which are still, in great measure, under way. New collective projects adopting new methodological approaches to address the subject have emerged in recent years. In this respect, the establishment of a vast plan for the research and compilation of primary sources, the organization and development of a formation of human resources that may adequately meet future research work, and a more solid assurance of the publication and divulgement of this research work are still pending. This article, of an introductory nature and predominantly descriptive and panoramic, reviews the main works and authors and their theoretical conceptions, situating them in the context of their time.