UNDERSTANDING HISTORY

DEFINITION OF HISTORY
 derived from the Greek noun ἱστορία
ἱστορία (historia) = learning; inquiry

 “the past of mankind”

 Geschichte = the German word for

history
Geschehen = to happena

- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

History - chronological record of
significant events, the study of past
events.
-Webster’s Vest Pocket Dictionary(Springfield:
Merriam Webster, Inc., Publishers), p. 149
KASAYSAYAN IN THE LANGUAGE AND PERSPECTIVE
OF FILIPINO
KASAYSAYAN
• saysay (narrative or salaysay)
• saysay (relevance, importance)
• If relevant, for whom?
• Zeus Salazar definition: Salaysay na may
saysay para sa sinasalaysayang grupo ng tao
(Relevant stories/narrative of the people).
HISTORY AS RECONSTRUCTION

the historian is many times removed from the

events under investigation

historians rely on surviving records

HISTORY DEFINED BY E.H. CARR

the inquiry conducted by the historian and the series of

past events into which he inquires
is the continuous process of interaction between the
historian and his facts, an unending dialogue between
the present and the past
History means interpretation
History is what the historian makes
History is the re-enactment in the historian's
mind of the thought whose history he is
studying. -Collingwood

History is the historian's experience.

-Oakeshott

History is “a selective system” not only of

cognitive, but of causal, orientations to
reality. -Parsons
“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 historian’s attention; only a part of
what has come to their attention is
credible; 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
HISTORIANS HAVE TO VERIFY
SOURCES, TO DATE THEM, LOCATE
THEIR PLACE OF ORIGIN AND
IDENTIFY THEIR INTENDED
FUNCTIONS

Historical Method
 The process of critically
examining and analyzing
the records and survivals
of the past

Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

“Each generation of historians
develops its own perspectives, and
that our understanding of the past
is constantly reshaped by the
historian and the world he or she
inhabits”
-Howell & Prevenier
HISTORICAL SOURCES
 These are objects from the past or testimonies concerning the past on which
historians depend in order to create their own depiction of that past.
- Howell and Prevenier, From Reliable Sources an
Introduction to Historical Method

 Tangible remains of the past - Anthony

Brundage, Going to Sources
Historical Sources

 materials used for the writing of

history.
They are classified into two:
1. Primary Sources
2. Secondary Sources
Another type of classification are:
1. written and non-written,
2. published or unpublished,
3. textual, oral or visual sources
Written Sources

1. Published materials
 Books, magazines, journals,
 Travelogue
 transcription of speech

2. Manuscript [any handwritten or

typed record that has not been
printed]
 Archival materials
 Memoirs, diary
Non- written Sources
Oral history
Artifact
Ruins
Fossils
Art works
Videorecordings
Audiorecordings
What are Primary Sources?
Testimony of an eyewitness

A primary source must have

been produced by a
contemporary of the event it
narrates
-Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History
 materials produced by people or
groups directly involved in the event
or topic being studied.
they are either participants or
witnesses.
these sources range from
eyewitness accounts, diaries, letters,
legal documents, and official
documents (government or private)
and even photographs
Four Main Categories of Primary
Sources

1. Written sources
2. Images
3. Artifacts
4. Oral testimony
What are Secondary Sources?

A secondary source interprets

and analyzes primary sources.
These sources are one or more
steps removed from the event.

Secondary sources may have

pictures, quotes or graphics of
primary sources in them.
- http://www.princeton.edu/~refdesk/primary2.html
Examples of secondary sources:

History textbook

Printed materials (serials,

periodicals which interprets
previous research)
“ The historian without his
fact is rootless and futile; the
facts without their historian
are dead and meaningless”

- E. H. Carr
WHAT IS HISTORICAL CRITICISM?

What is Historical Criticism?

In order for a source to be used as evidence in
history, basic matters about its form and
content must be settled

1. External Criticism
2. Internal Criticism
WHAT IS EXTERNAL CRITICISM?

The problem of authenticity

To spot fabricated, forged, faked documents

To distinguish a hoax or misrepresentation

TESTS OF AUTHENTICITY

1. Determine the date of the document to see whether they are anachronistic
e.g. pencils did not exist before the 16th Century

2. Determine the author

e.g. handwriting, signature, seal

- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

TESTS OF AUTHENTICITY

3. Anachronistic style
e.g. idiom, ortography, punctuation

4. Anachronistic reference to events

e.g. too early, too late, too remote

5. Provenance or custody
- determines its genuineness
- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History
6. Semantics – determining the meaning of a text or word

7. Hermeneutics – determining ambiguities

-Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

WHAT IS INTERNAL CRITICISM

The Problem of Credibility

Relevant particulars in the document – is it credible?
Verisimilar – as close as what really happened from a critical examination of best
available sources

- Louis Gottschalk,
Understanding History
TESTS OF CREDIBILITY

1. Identification of the author

e.g. to determine his reliability; mental
processes, personal attitudes

2. Determination of the approximate date

3. Ability to tell the truth
- nearness to the event, competence of witness, degree of attention
4. Willingness to tell the truth
- to determine if the author consciously or unconsciously tells
falsehoods
5. Corroboration
i.e. historical facts – particulars which rest upon the independent testimony of two
or more reliable witnesses

- Louis Gottschalk, Understanding History

THREE MAJOR COMPONENTS TO EFFECTIVE
HISTORICAL THINKING

1. Sensitivity to Multiple Causation

2. Sensitivity to Context

3. Awareness of the interplay of continuity and change in human affairs

“All historians, whatever their professional status, have ethical obligations to be
humane, accurate, selfaware and judicious.”

- Ludmilla Jordanova
ACKNOWLEDGMENT/REFERENCES:
Ma. Florina Orillos-Juan, Ph.D. Department of History, De la
Salle University Manila

Gottschalk, L.(1969). Understanding History: A Primer of Historical

Method. New York: A.A. Knopf.
Howell, M. & Walter, P.(2001).From Reliable Sources:An
Introduction to Historical Methods.Ithaca, New York:Cornell
University Press.
Maraming salamat po!