4/8/22, 2:47 AM HISTORIOGRAPHY AND HISTORICAL METHOD: External Criticism

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HISTORIOGRAPHY AND HISTORICAL METHOD

Blog for students interested in the History of History and its Practices

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Tu e s d a y, 1 9 M a y 2 0 2 0 About Me

Dr. John Palliveettil

External Criticism
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Historical criticism of the sources

is one of the most important duties of a
historian in research. It is the part
of the analytical operation in historical
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method. Source criticism helps the
historian to find out a reliable account of
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the past. The aim of historical
criticism is to establish the authenticity and
reliability of a historical
document. There are two levels of source criticism
Blog Archive
namely: External Criticism
and Internal Criticism. The external criticism aims
May 2021 (1)
to find out the
authenticity of the document. On the other hand,
internal
February 2021 (2)
criticism aims to establish the credibility of the content of the
document.
January 2021 (1)
November 2020 (3)
External Criticism June 2020 (4)
May 2020 (7)
External criticism, also called
lower criticism, determines the authenticity of
March 2020 (4)
the source. The method of
external criticism is also known as heuristics. The February 2020 (3)
term heuristics is derived
from the Greek word heuriskein, which means to December 2019 (1)
find or discover. Heuristics is
a technique to detect, trace and locate November 2019 (9)

historical evidence. In another way,

it is a method to find out the authenticity October 2019 (3)
February 2019 (5)
of the document. Many historical
records lack precise authorship, title,
October 2018 (2)
location and dates. Before accepting
the document as a valid source, its
September 2018 (2)
genuineness must be tested with critical
examination. External criticism August 2018 (6)
generally conducts examinations of document
like manuscripts, books, April 2018 (4)
pamphlets, maps, inscriptions and monuments. The
problem of authenticity March 2018 (1)

of document arises more in the case of manuscripts than the

printed November 2017 (2)
August 2017 (19)
documents because the printed document has already been authenticated
by its author or publisher.
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Functions of External Criticism Historical Method

Historiography
The
functions of external criticism are many. Primarily, external criticism sets
three questions to test the authenticity of a document:
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Who produced the document?
When was it produced?
Where was it produced?

Through these questions of external

criticism, historian tries to establish:

The
authorship of the document
The
period/date/time of the document
The
location/place of the document

Elements of Enquires in External Criticism

1.  
Authorship

Authorship is the first question

while examining the authenticity of a
document. Even anonymous writings can
provide useful and important
knowledge to a historian. But the discovery of an
author’s name will add
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4/8/22, 2:47 AM HISTORIOGRAPHY AND HISTORICAL METHOD: External Criticism

authenticity of the information. The character,

connections and
trustworthiness of author often reflects in his writings. Thus
to identify the
author of a document is very important. If the ideas and style
do not match or
resemble the idea and style of the author it can be safely
assumed that they
were not the parts of the original manuscript and were forged
by the later
ones. Moreover, the historian should ask questions like: Is there
just one
author, or are there several, and whether the name provided in the
document
is an editor or translator. A few sources may have several individuals
who
contributed to the fundamental creation and presentation of the work. All
these must be considered.

2.  
Period/Date/Time

Period of the document must be

inquired to determine its authenticity. In
modern publications, the year can be
found on the book or document on the
title page or backside. However, in the
old manuscript where the date is
absent, it can be found out from the language
or from the date of birth and
death of the author. The archaeologists and
numismatists provide valuable
assistance to the historians to fix the
chronology of ancient remains and also
deciphering the inscriptions. Extensive
knowledge of the period of enquiry is
also a prerequisite.

3.  
Location/Place

The place of publication of the

document must be inquired to determine the
authenticity of the document. In the
modern publications, place of publication
is indicated on the book or document
on the title page or backside. However,
in the old manuscript where the place
is absent, it can be found out from the
language or from the life of the
author.

Highly specialized techniques like,

carbon dating, linguistic analysis,
chemical analysis, etc., are required to
authenticate some documents and
artefacts.

Other Enquiries

Apart from these basic enquiries,

the ‘title of the document’ should be
examined to authenticate the document. In
edited works and journals, there
may be two titles – the title of edited
book/journal and the title of the article.
This must be verified. In the case of secondary sources, the details of
the
publication are also necessary. The name of the publisher/publishing house,
place of the publication and year of first publication should be validated. For
online resources, it means the URL and retrieved date.  

Some sources may be reproduced and

the original document may be lost or
not available. In this case, unintentional
or deliberately committed textual
errors can take place in the subsequent
copies of the original documents.
These mistakes may be caused by the scribe,
typist or printer. This problem
can be overcome through the collection and
comparison of as many copies
of the same documents.

Thus,
the process of external criticism allows the historian to establish the
authenticity of the document and thereby accept it for higher levels of
criticism.

on
May 19, 2020

Labels:
Historical Method

1 comment:

Reshma Brassin 26 October 2021 at 21:32

https://historiographyandmethod.blogspot.com/2020/05/external-criticism.html 2/3
4/8/22, 2:47 AM HISTORIOGRAPHY AND HISTORICAL METHOD: External Criticism
Thankyou sir.. Really very usefull

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