The Meaning of History,

Sources of Historical Data,

& Historical Criticisms
CHAPTER 1
BSA-2
ANGELO SANTIN
FRANCHEZCA ELIZE JUATCO
 LESSON 1
Introduces history as a discipline and as a
narrative. It discusses the limitation of historical
knowledge, history as the subjective process of
re-creation and historical method and
historiography.
What is History?
 History
History is derived from the Greek
word “historia” which means
“learning by inquiry”.
 Aristotle
• A Greek philosopher
• as the systematic accounting of a set of
natural phenomena
• taking into consideration the
chronological arrangement of the
account.
 History
•Referred usually for accounts of phenomena,
specially human affairs in chronological order.
•Deals with the study of past events.
Theories in Investigating History
1. Factual History – answers What, When and Who
2. Speculative History - answers Why and How
 HISTORIANS HISTORIOGRAPHY
•Individuals who write •The practice of
about history. historical writing
THE LIMITATIONS OF HISTORICAL
KNOWLEDGE
The incompleteness of record has
limited man’s knowledge of history.
•History-as-actuality - whole history of
the past.
•History-as-record – surviving records
HISTORY AS THE SUBJECTIVE PROCESS
OF RE-CREATION
•Verisimilitude – historians aim of searching the
truth, authenticity and plausibility.
 HISTORICAL METHOD AND
HISTORIOGRAPHY
•Historical method – the process of critically examining
and analyzing the records survivals of the past.
•Historiography – the imaginative reconstruction of the
past from the data derived from historical method.
 Historical analysis
(1) select the subject to investigate
(2) collect the probable sources of information on the
subject;
(3) examine the sources of genuineness, in part of in
whole;
(4) extract credible “particulars” from the sources (or parts of
sources). The synthesis of the “particulars” thus derived is
historiography.
 LESSON 2
Presents the sources of historical data, the
written and non-written sources of history as
well as the differentiation of primary and
secondary sources of information or data
 Chapter 1: Lesson 2
Written Sources of History
I. Narrative or Literary
II. Diplomatic Sources
III. Social Documents
 NARRATIVE or LITERARY
 These are chronicles or tracts presented in
narrative form to impart a message whose
motives for their composition vary widely.
 A narrative source is therefore broader
than what is usually considered fiction
 Diplomatic Sources
 Document/record an existing legal situation and
the kind of sources that professional historians
once treated as the purest and best source.
 Possess specific formal properties such as hand
and print style, ink, seal etc.
 Social Documents
 Information pertaining to economic, social,
political or judicial significance.
They are kept by bureaucracies.
Examples: government reports, research findings,
civil registry records, census, property records.
 CHAPTER 1: Lesson 2
Non-Written Sources of History
Material Evidence
Oral Evidence
 Material Evidence
 Also known as archaeological evidence.
 One of the most important evidences including
pottery, jewelry, dwellings, graves, churches, roads
and others that tell a story about the past.
 Oral Evidence
Also an important source of information for
historians. Much are told by the tales or sagas of
ancient people and the folk songs or popular rituals
from the premodern period of Philippine history.
Interview is another form
 Chapter 1: Lesson 2
Primary Sources
vs
Secondary Sources
 Primary Sources
 These are original, first-hand account of an event
or period.
 These sources are factual, not interpretative.
Examples are: diaries, journals, letters, newspaper,
government records, recorded speeches, etc.
 Secondary Sources
 These are materials made by people long after the
events being described had taken place.
Analyzes and interprets primary sources.
Examples: literary criticisms, reviews,
interpretations.
 LESSON 3
Discusses historical criticisms, namely, external
and internal criticisms. These are important
aspects in ascertaining the authenticity and
reliability of primary sources upon which
narratives are crafted.
CHAPTER 1: Lesson 3

Historical
Criticisms
 Historical Criticisms
 Examines the origins of earliest text to appreciate
the underlying circumstances upon which the text
came to be.
 Rooted in the 17th century during the Protestant
Reformation.
 Historical Criticisms
 Two important goals: First, to discover the
original meaning of the text in its primitive or
historical context and second, to establish a
reconstruction of the historical situation of the
author and recipients of the text.
 HISTORICAL CRITICISM METHODOLOGIES
FORM CRITICISM – seeks to determine the
original form and historical context of the literary
tradition.
REDACTION CRITICISM – which regards the
author of the text as editor of the source materials.
 HISTORICAL CRITICISM METHODOLOGIES
 TRADITIONAL CRITICISM – attempts to trace the
developmental stages of the oral tradition from its
historical emergence
 CANONICAL CRITICISM – which focuses its
interpretation of the bible on the text of biblical canon
 TWO PARTS OF HISTORICAL CRITICISM

FIRST SECOND
To determine the authenticity of To weigh the testimony to the
the material, also called truth. The critic must examine
provenance of a source. the trustworthiness of the
testimonies.
 TWO TYPES OF HISTORICAL CRITICISM

INTERNAL
Determines the historicity of EXTERNAL
the facts contained in the Determines the authenticity
document and not of the source. Can be tested
necessarily the authenticity. through Paleographical and
Diplomatic criticism.
 TEST OF AUTHENTICITY

To distinguish a hoax or a
misrepresentation from a genuine
document, the historian must use tests
common in police and legal detection.
 TEST OF AUTHENTICITY

Examples are: Identifying handwriting,

signature, seal, letterhead, or watermark,
palaeography, diplomatics and
Anachronistic Styles.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!
HAVE A NICE DAY!