User:LGreg/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge (LG seminar 2020/21)/Seminar 18/History/History of History

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Etymology[edit | edit source]

The term history has its roots in the Greek word ἱστορία, historia, which means 'inquiry or knowledge acquired by investigation.’ [1] Therefore, history is also the study of the past.

Origin[edit | edit source]

From its very beginning, history was intimately tied to literature (understood as poetry, rhetoric, or belles letters), before separating off to emerge as a science in the nineteenth century. [2] This is due to its narrative nature and that writing history is a literary act. [3] However, the nature of history itself causes a lot of debates between historians.

Role[edit | edit source]

History plays a vital role in the society and as outlined by Professor Arthur Marwick, history has three main roles,

  1. History as ‘the past’ – everything that happened
  2. History as ‘the attempt made by man throughout the centuries to describe, reconstruct, interpret the past.’
  3. History as ‘the attempt to do this in a scholarly fashion, sticking to certain definite rules of establishing fact, interpreting evidence, delating with source material, etc. [4]

Methodology[edit | edit source]

Historians study history through narratives. These narratives describe past events, examine the rationale behind what has happened and allows room for analysis about a sequence of past events, its causes and effects. [5] These narratives can be attained through historical sources, including oral accounts, historical objects and written documents. [6] These narratives can be attained through historical sources, including oral accounts, historical objects and written documents. [7] The historical sources, however, must undergo a process of evaluation known as sources criticism. This process is mainly divided into six inquiries: [8]

  1. When was the source written, produced? (date)
  2. Where was it produced? (localisation)
  3. By whom was it produced? (authorship)
  4. From what pre-existing material was it produced? (analysis)
  5. In what original from was it produced? (integrity)
  6. What is the evidential value of its contents? (credibility)

Discipline[edit | edit source]

In the mid nineteenth century, history branched off in becoming a discipline of its own. This started in Germany, where the historians were impressed by the natural sciences, and asserted that their craft too had become a science. [9] There are several indicators that demonstrate history has become a separate discipline. Firstly, the creation of the first historical journal in 1859, Historiche Zeitschrift. [10] This marks the beginning of interaction within history as a network of people, such as editors contribute to the spread of historical knowledge. Secondly, in the same year, history was recognised as an academic study in Germany. [11] This suggests a further expansion of the network of people as there is now interaction between university students and scholars, creating a student-teacher relationship.




References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Joseph, Brian; Janda, Richard, eds. (2008) [2004]. The Handbook of Historical Linguistics. Blackwell Publishing. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-4051-2747-9.
  2. ↑ “Historians, Orators, and Writers.” History Is a Contemporary Literature: Manifesto for the Social Sciences, by Ivan Jablonka and Nathan J. Bracher, Cornell University Press, Ithaca; London, 2018, pp. 15. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt1w0dchk.5. Accessed 17 Oct. 2020.
  3. ↑ “History and Literature.” Clio among the Muses: Essays on History and the Humanities, by Peter Charles Hoffer, NYU Press, New York; London, 2014, pp. 72–87. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qfdgh.8. Accessed 17 Oct. 2020.
  4. ↑ Scott, Brian. “What Is History?” Teaching History, no. 20, 1978, pp. 5–7. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43253671. Accessed 18 Oct. 2020.
  5. ↑ Professor Alun Munslow (2001). "What History Is". History in Focus, Issue 2: What is History?. University of London.
  6. ↑ ibid.
  7. ↑ Arnold J. A very short introoduction. [Place of publication not identified]: Oxford University Press; 2000.
  8. ↑ Shafer R, Bennett D. A guide to historical method. Homewood, Ill.: Dorsey Press; 1980.
  9. ↑ Stern F. The varieties of history. Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin; 1970.
  10. ↑ Stieg, Margaret F. (1986). "The Historische Zeitschrift". The Origin and Development of Scholarly Historical Periodicals. Tuscaloosa: University Alabama Press. pp. 20–38. ISBN 0-8173-0273-5.
  11. ↑ ibid.
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