HISTORIOGRAP

HY
The Meaning and Relevance of History
History
 Greek word
 Ἱστορία (learning/inquiry)

  a systematic account of a set of natural

phenomena
 whether or not chronological ordering

was a factor
History
 “the past of mankind”

 The dilemma of
history is..
 recollection
History
 Goal of historian
 The reconstruction of the total past of
mankind
 It is a goal that is unattainable

 Why??
The Facts of History
 Objectivity vs Subjectivity

1. Objective- The facts of history are derived from testimony and

therefore are facts of meaning. They cannot be seen, felt tasted, heard
or smelled
2. Subjective knowledge- mean illusory…
Objective knowledge Compared over Subjective
knowledge

 Objectivity vs Subjectivity
 Objective-it must have an independent existence outside the human mind

 Representative of something or mere symbolism

only
 Illusory or based upon personal considerations or
based on personal considerations.
 Possibility of being untrue or biased
 Makes it debatable
 The word subjective is not used here to imply disparagement of any sort, it does imply the
neccesity for the application of special kinds of safeguard against errors.
Sources of History
 What makes a good source of history?
 Source is an object from the past or
testimony concerning the past on which
historians depend in order to create their
own depiction of the past

 Artifacts, relics, ruins, parchments, coins

survived from the past
Evidence of objective
 Relics-potsherd
 Artifacts –Ruins
 a broken piece of ceramic material, especially one
found on an archaeological site.
Sources of History
 Are these enough to reconstruct the
historical truth?

 Small parts of the whole

 “Human setting”
 If the parts can be reconstructed to give a
clearer picture of the whole
The Method
 Historical Method
 The process of critically examining and analyzing the
records and survivals of the past
 Historiography
 The imaginative reconstruction of the past from
available data

 The task is directed towards re-creation and not

creation of history
Limited Historical Knowledge
“Only a part of what was observed in the past
was remembered by those who observed it; only
a part of what was remembered was recorded;
only a part of what was recorded has survived;
only a part of what has survived has come to the
historians’ attention; and only a part of what is
credible has been grasped; and only a part of
what has been grasped can be expounded or
narrated by the historian.”
Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History
The Subjective Process of Recreation

 History is the version told to you by your

teacher the way your teacher understood it
 History is the story of victors and winners

 Historians are not perfect and not always

accurate
 The historian tries to get as close as possible

an approximation to the truth about the past

The Method

1. The selection of a subject for

investigation
2. The collection of probable sources of
information on that subject
3. The examination of those sources for
genuineness
4. The extraction of credible particulars
from the sources proven genuine
Historical Sources
Written and Unwritten Sources
 Written Sources – anything in print
1. Narrative/Literary

2. Diplomatic/Juridical

3. Social Documents
Historical Sources
 There are two classes of historical
sources
1. Primary Source

2. Secondary Source
Primary Source
 Contemporary accounts of an event, personally
written or narrated by the person who directly
experienced or participated in the said event.

 Aside from testimonies of eyewitnesses, primary

sources include documents or objects created
during the time of the event.
 Primary Source
 These accounts are considered as
original documents that directly narrate
the details of the event.
E.g. diaries, letters, memoirs,
journals, speeches, oral
testimonies, manuscripts,
interviews, official records such
as government publications,
minutes reports, photographs,
images, art works, artifacts, and
video recordings
Secondary Source
 They serve as interpretations of primary
sources.
 It is the testimony of anyone who is not an

eyewitness.
 Usually the author incorporates his personal

insights and interpretations thus detaching the

original value or her component from the
subject being discussed.
 Secondary Source
 These usually contain analysis and
digestion of primary sources by experts,
academic, and professionals.
 These are usually in the form of
published works such as academic
journals, articles, reviews, books,
conference proceedings, and
documentaries.
 They can also be based on
interpretations of other secondary
sources, or a combination of primary
source data and secondary sources.
Secondary Source
 At present, most
of the sources of
historical records
are under this
category such
that there is great
tendency that the
original
substance of the
historical record
is compromised.
e.g. Documentaries
Primary and Secondary Source
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqXHO7bT
Pnw&feature=
youtu.be
Primary vs Secondary

Which of the two types of sources is

more important?

 Both sources are important because they

contain primary particulars or details that can
lead to primary documents
Evaluation of Sources
1. How does the author know the given details? Was
the author present at the event or how soon was
author on the scene of the event?
2. Where did the information come from? Is it a
personal experience, an eyewitness account, or a
report made by another person?
3. Are the author’s conclusions based on a single
piece of evidence, or many sources have been
taken into account?