Phrase: "the notion of discontinuity"

Foucault in this text is somewhat hard to follow, but his main idea is clear enough. His focus is on the study of history, and how certain methods disrupt the flow of history. Foucault uses the phrase

"the notion of discontinuity assumes a major role in the hostoric disciplines" (8)

when describing the consequences of archaic methods of looking at history (8). The traditional ways of looking at the past can be flawed. An archaeologist or historian studying artifacts or documents cannot get the whole picture of what has happened in the period, they are studying just one moment or one object. In this way, the time line of history is interrupted and the historian is not getting an adequate view of his or her subject.