GE Hist 1- Readings in Philippine History

Week 1

Unit 1: Introduction to History: Definition, Issues, Sources

and Methodology

Topic: Definition and Etymology of History

Learning Outcomes:
1. Define history and give its relevance.
Concept Digest

This unit introduces us to history as a discipline and

as a narrative. We are presented with the definition of the
history, which transcends the common definition of history
as the study of the past. Ultimately, this unit also tackles
the task of the historian as the arbiter of facts and
evidences in making his interpretation and forming the
historical narrative.

Definition and Etymology of History

History has always been known as the study of the

past. The low appreciation of this discipline may be rooted
from the shallow understanding of history’s relevance to
their lives and to their respected contexts.
While the popular definition of history as the study
of the past is not wrong, it does not give justice to the
complexity of the subject and its importance to human
civilizations.
The origin of the word History is associated with the
Greek word “historia” which means “information” or “an
enquiry designed to elicit truth”. History has been defined
differently by different scholars. Following are the
definitions indicating the meaning and scope of history:
Burckhardt: “History is the record of what one age finds
worthy of note in another.” Henry Johnson: “History, in its
broadest sense, is everything that ever happened.”
Jawaharlal Nehru: “History is the story of Man’s struggle
through the ages against Nature and the elements; against
wild beasts and the jungle and some of his own kind who have
tried to keep him down and to exploit him for their own
benefit.”

Today, modern history has gone beyond the traditional

status of an antiquarian and leisure time pursuit to a very
useful and indispensable part of a man’s education. It is
more scientific and more comprehensive. It has expanded in
all directions both vertically and horizontally. It has
become broad-based and attractive.
 According to modern concept, history does not contain
only the history of kings and queens, battles and generals,
but the history of the common man-his house and clothing,
his fields and their cultivation, his continued efforts to
protect his home and hearth, and to obtain a just
government, his aspirations, achievements, disappointments,
defeats and failures. It is not only the individual but the
communities and the societies are the subject of study of
history. Study of history deepens our understanding of the
potentialities and limitations of the present. It has thus
become a future-oriented study related to contemporary
problems. For all these reasons, history has assumed the
role of a human science.

Significance of Studying History

Why do we need to study history?

In 1998, an article entitled "Why Study History?",

Peter Stearns made the following observations: “People live
in the present. They plan for and worry about the future.
History, however, is the study of the past. Given all the
demands that press in from living in the present and
anticipating what is yet to come, why bother with what has
been? Given all the desirable and available branches of
knowledge, why insist—as most American [and, in this case,
British] educational programs do—on a good bit of history?
And why urge many students to study even more history than
they are required to?”

He also added the following importance of history:

a. History helps us understand people and societies.
b. History helps us understand change and how the society we
live in came to be.
c. History contributes to moral understanding.
d. History provides identity.
e. Studying history is essential for good citizenship

Questions and Issues in History

History as a discipline has turned into complex and

dynamic inquiry. This dynamism produced various questions
like: What is history? Why study history? And history for
whom? These questions can be answered by historiography. In
simple terms, historiography is the history of history.

History and historiography are two different things.

History is a discipline that focuses on studying the past;
while historiography or historical method is the history
itself.
To make it clearer, historiography lets the students
have a better understanding of history. They do not only get
to learn historical facts, but they are also provided with
the understanding of the facts’ and historians’ contexts.
The methods employed by the historian and the theory and
perspective, which guided him, will also, be analyzed.

Essentially, historiography comprises the techniques

and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and
other evidence to research and then to write histories in
the form of accounts of the past. The question of the
nature, and even the possibility, of a sound historical
method is raised.

One of the problems being confronted in history is the

accusation that the history is always written by victors
which connotes that the narrative of the past is always
written from the bias and the powerful and more dominant
player. For instance, the history of the Second World War in
the Philippines will always depict the Unites States as the
hero and the imperial Japanese Army as oppressors. Filipinos
who collaborated with the Japanese were categorized as
traitors or collaborators. However, a thorough investigation
will reveal more nuanced account of history of that period
instead of a simplified narrative as a story of hero and
villain.

History and Historian

If history is written with agenda or is heavily

influenced by the historian, is it possible to come up with
an absolute historical truth?

It is the historian’s job not just to seek historical

evidences and facts but also to interpret these facts.
“Facts cannot speak for themselves”. It is the job of the
historian to give meaning to these facts and organize them
into a timeline, establish causes and write history.
Meanwhile, historians cannot mechanically interprets and
analyzes present historical fact. His subjectivity will
inevitably influence the process of his historical research:
the methodology that he will use, the facts that he shall
select and deem relevant, his interpretation, and even the
form of his writings. Thus, history is always subjective. If
so, can history still be considered as an academic and
scientific inquiry?

Historical research requires rigor. Despite the fact

that historians cannot ascertain absolute objectivity, the
study of history remains scientific because of the rigor of
research and methodology that historians employ. Historical
methodology is comprised of certain techniques and rules
that historians follow in order to properly sources and
historical evidences in writing history. Certain rules apply
in cases of conflicting accounts in different sources and on
how to properly treat eyewitness accounts and oral sources
as valid historical evidence. In doing so, historical claims
done by historians and the arguments that they forward in
their historical writing while may be influenced by the
historian’s inclinations can still be validated by using
reliable evidences and employing correct and meticulous
historical methodology. Therefore, while bias is inevitable,
the historian can balance this out by relying to evidences
that back up his claim. In this sense, the historian need
not let his bias blind his judgment and such bias is only
acceptable if he maintained his rigor as a researcher.

References:

1. 2Candelaria, J.L. et. al. (2018) Readings in

Philippine History. Rex Book Store. Manila.

2. History: Pallavi Talekau, Dr. Jyotrimayee Nayak,

Dr.S.Harichanda
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