HISTORICAL

INTERPRETATIO
N AND
MULTIPERSPECT
IVITY
RPH MTH 10:30-12:00
 LEARNING
WHAT WE'LL DISCUSS

OBJECTIVES
• To interpret historical events using primary
sources.
• To recognize the multiplicity of interpretation
than can be read from a historical text
• To identify the advantages and disadvantages
of employing critical tools in interpreting
historical events through primary sources.
• To demonstrate ability to argue for or against a
particular issue using primary sources,
MAKING SENSE OF THE PAST:
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION

• Geoffrey Barraclough define history as "the attempt to discover, on the basis of

fragmentary evidence, the significant things about the past"
• "the history we read, though based on facts, is strictly speaking, not factual at all,
but a series of accepted judgements"
• Historians utilize facts collected from primary sources of history then draw their
own reading so that their intended audience may understand the historical
events, a process that in essence, "make sense of the past"
• Non-historian interpreting primary source may do more harm than good.
 MAKING SENSE OF THE PAST:
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION
• Interpretations of the past, therefore vary according to who reads the primary
source, when it was read and how it was read.
• As students of history, we must well equipped to recognize different types of
interpretations, why these differ from each other and how to critically sift these
interpretations through historical evaluation.
• Interpretations of historical events change over time
• Many of the things we accept as "true" about the past might not be the case
anymore
• It is important, therefore, to subject to evaluation not only the primary source,
but also the historical interpretation of the same.
 The Code of Kalantiaw is a mythical legal code in the epic history
Maragtas. Before it was revealed as a hoax, it was a source of pride for
the people of Aklan. In fact, historical marker was installed in the town of
Batan, Aklan in 1956, with the following text:
INTERPRETATION " CODE OF KALANTIAW. Datu Bendehara Kalantiaw, third Chief of Panay,
born in Aklan, established his government in the peninsula of Batang,
HISTORICAL

Aklan Sakup. Considered the First FIlipino Lawgiver, he promulgated in

about 1433 a penal code now known as Code of Kalantiaw containing 18
articles. Don Marcelino Orilla of Zaragoza, Spain, obtained the original
manuscript from an old chief of Panay which was later translated into
Spanish by Rafael Murviedo Yzamaney"
It was only in 1968 that it was proved a hoax, when William Henry Scott,
doctoral candidate at the UST, defended his research on pre-Hispanic
sources in Philippine History. He attributed the code to historical fiction
written in 1913 by Jose E. Marco titled Las Antiguas Leyendas de la Isla de
Negros.Marco attributed the code itself to a priest named Jose Maria
Pavon.
 Sa Aking mga Kabata is a poem purportedly written by Jose Rizal, when he
was eight years old and is probably one of the Rizal's most prominent
works. There is no evidence to support the claim that this poem, with the
INTERPRETATION now immortalized lines "Ang hindi magmahal sa kanyang salita/mahigit sa
hayop at malansang isda" was written by Rizal, and worse, the evidence
HISTORICAL

against Rizal's authorship of the poem seems all unassailable.

There exists no manuscript of the poem handwritten by Rizal. The poem

was first published in 1906, in a book by Hermenegildo Cruz. Cruz said he
received the poem from Gabriel Beato Francisco, who claimed to have
received it in 1884 from Rizal's close friend, Saturnino Raselis. Rizal never
mentioned writing this poem anywhere in his writings and more
importantly he never mentioned of having a close friend by the person
Raselis.
Multiperspectivity

DEFINED AS A WAY OF HISTORICAL WRITING IS,

LOOKING AT HISTORICAL BY DEFINITION, BIASED,
EVENTS, PERSONALITIES, PARTIAL AND CONTAINS
DEVELOPMENTS, PRECONCEPTIONS.
CULTURES AND SOCIETIES
FROM DIFFERENT
PERSPECTIVE
Multiperspectivity

WITH MULTIPERPECTIVITY EXPLORING MULTIPLE

AS AN APPROACH IN PERSPECTIVES IN HISTORY
HISTORY, WE MUST REQUIRES INCORPORATING
UNDERSTAND THAT SOUCES MATERIALS THAT
HISTORICAL REFLECT DIFFERENT VIEWS
INTERPRETATIONS OF AN EVENT IN HISTORY.
CONTAIN DISCREPANCIES,
CONTRADICTIONS,
AMBIGUITIES AND ARE
OFTEN FOCUS OF DISSENT
Multiperspectivity

DIFFERENT KINDS OF TAKING THESE IN CLOSE

SOURCES ALSO PROVIDE REGARD IN THE READING
DIFFERENT HISTORICAL OF HISTORICAL
TRUTHS INTERPRETATIONS, IT
PROVIDES FOR THE
AUDIENCE MORE COMPLEX
BUT ALSO A MORE
COMPLETE AND RICHER
UNDERSTANDING OF THE
PAST