Jump to content

Historiography: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Stbalbach (talk | contribs)
24,748 edits
No edit summary
TallulahBelle (talk | contribs)
1,144 edits
m revert edit. see discussion.
Line 1: Line 1:
'''Historiography''' is the study of the academic discipline known as [[history]]. There are two basic issues involved in historiography:
<!--NOTE: The [[WP:LEAD]] (Lead Section) is a summary of the article contents. It should reflect what is written in the article body, in summary format. Please see [[WP:LEAD]] for more information on how to write this section. -->
'''Historiography''' is a term with multiple meanings that has changed with time, place and observer, and is thus somewhat resistant to a single encompassing definition. Broadly speaking it is related to the study of the writing of [[history]], such as how historical writing, methods and tools have changed over time, but it can also refer a corpus or body of historical works. Historiography is often broken down topically, such as "Historiography of Islam" or "Historiography of China". There are many approaches or genres of history, such as [[Oral history]] and [[Social history]]. Beginning in the 20th century with the rise of professional historians a corpus of literature related to historiography has come into existence, with classic philosophical works such as [[E. H. Carr]]'s, ''[[What is History?]]'' (1961) and [[Hayden White]]'s ''[[Metahistory]]'' (1974).<!--NOTE: [[WP:LEAD]] is a summary of the article contents. It should reflect what is written below, in summary format. -->


* The study of the development of history as an academic discipline over time, as well as its development in different cultures and epochs.
⚫
== Defining historiography ==
* The study of the academic tools, methods and approaches that have been and are being used, including the [[historical method]].
<!--NOTE: Definitions must be sourced.-->


⚫
The term "historiography" can also be used to refer to a specific body of historical writing that was written during a specific time concerning a specific issue. For instance, "medieval historiography during the 1960s" would be taken to mean the methodological approaches and ideas about medieval history that were developed during that decade.
There are two basic issues involved in historiography.{{fact|date=March 2007}} First, the study of the development of history as an academic discipline over time, as well as its development in different cultures and epochs. Second, the study of the academic tools, methods and approaches that have been and are being used, including the [[historical method]].


⚫
== Defining historiography ==
⚫
The term "historiography" can also be used to refer to a specific body of historical writing that was written during a specific time concerning a specific issue. For instance, "medieval historiography during the 1960s" would be taken to mean the methodological approaches and ideas about medieval history that were developed during that decade.


[[Conal Furay]] and [[Michael J. Salevouris]] define "historiography" as "the study of the way history has been and is written — the history of historical writing... When you study 'historiography' you do not study the events of the past directly, but the changing interpretations of those events in the works of individual historians." <ref>(''The Methods and Skills of History: A Practical Guide'', 1988, p. 223, ISBN 0-88295-982-4)</ref>
Conal Furay and Michael J. Salevouris define "historiography" as "the study of the way history has been and is written — the history of historical writing... When you study 'historiography' you do not study the events of the past directly, but the changing interpretations of those events in the works of individual historians." (''The Methods and Skills of History: A Practical Guide'', 1988, p. 223, ISBN 0-88295-982-4)


==Questions studied ==
== Basic issues studied in historiography ==


Some of the common questions of historiography are:
Some of the common questions of historiography are:

Revision as of 04:29, 18 March 2007

Historiography is the study of the academic discipline known as history. There are two basic issues involved in historiography:

  • The study of the development of history as an academic discipline over time, as well as its development in different cultures and epochs.
  • The study of the academic tools, methods and approaches that have been and are being used, including the historical method.

The term "historiography" can also be used to refer to a specific body of historical writing that was written during a specific time concerning a specific issue. For instance, "medieval historiography during the 1960s" would be taken to mean the methodological approaches and ideas about medieval history that were developed during that decade.

Defining historiography

Conal Furay and Michael J. Salevouris define "historiography" as "the study of the way history has been and is written — the history of historical writing... When you study 'historiography' you do not study the events of the past directly, but the changing interpretations of those events in the works of individual historians." (The Methods and Skills of History: A Practical Guide, 1988, p. 223, ISBN 0-88295-982-4)

Basic issues studied in historiography

Some of the common questions of historiography are:

  • Who wrote the source (primary or secondary)?
  • For primary sources, we look at the person in his or her society, for secondary sources, we consider the theoretical orientation of the approach for example, Marxist or Annales School, ("total history"), political history, etc.
  • What is the authenticity, authority, bias/interest, and intelligibility of the source?
  • What was the view of history when the source was written?
  • Was history supposed to provide moral lessons?
  • What or who was the intended audience?
  • What sources were privileged or ignored in the narrative?
  • By what method was the evidence compiled?
  • In what historical context was the work of history itself written?

Issues engaged in so-called critical historiography includes topics such as:

  • What constitutes an historical "event"?
  • In what modes does a historian write and produce statements of "truth" and "fact"?
  • How does the medium (novel, textbook, film, theatre, comic) through which historical information is conveyed influence its meaning?
  • What inherent epistemological problems does archive-based history contain?
  • How does the historian establish their own objectivity or come to terms with their own subjectivity?
  • What is the relation of historical theory to historical practice?
  • What is the "goal" of history?
  • What is history?

The history of written history

Understanding the past appears to be a universal human need and the telling of history has emerged independently in civilisations around the world. What constitutes history is a philosophical question. For the purposes of this survey it is written history recorded in a narrative format for the purpose of informing future generations about events. The earliest critical historical thought emerged in Greece, a development which would be an important influence on the writing of history elsewhere in the world.

Early Western historiography

Written history appeared first with the ancient Greeks, whose historians greatly contributed to the development of historical methodology. The very first historical works were The Histories composed by Herodotus of Halicarnassus (484 BC–ca.425 BC), who became later known as the 'father of history' (Cicero). Herodotus personally conducted research into the history of various Mediterranean cultures, and attempted to distinguish between more and less reliable accounts. His research confirmed for him the belief that divinity plays a crucial role in the determination of historical events. Thucydides, on the other hand, largely eliminated divine causality from his account of the war between Athens and Sparta, and the same holds true for his successors, such as Xenophon and Polybius.

Reports exist of other near-eastern histories, such as that composed by the Phoenician historian Sanchuniathon; but his very existence is considered semi-fabled and writings attributed to him are fragmentary, known only through the later historians Philo of Byblos and Eusebius, who asserted that he wrote before even the Trojan war.

Concerning the Bible, there is considerable debate about its historiographical character. To some scholars the use of a divinity to provide historical explanations contradicts the basic aim of any truly historical work, namely to provide rational explanations for events. Others argue that the Biblical search for an underlying cause of historical events is itself a characteristic of historiographical research, and point moreover to the Bible's frequent recourse to double-causation, whereby events are attributed to both human and divine causation. Controversy over this issue is complicated by the fact that the Bible is seen as an inspired text by many members of Western society today.

Writing history was popular among Christian monks in the Middle Ages. They wrote about the history of the Church and of their patrons, the dynastic history of the local rulers. History was written about states or nations during the Renaissance. The study of history changed during the Enlightenment and Romanticism. Voltaire described the history of certain ages that were important according to him, instead of describing events in a chronological order. History became an independent discipline. It was not called philosophia historiae anymore, but merely history (historiae).

Chinese historiography

Main article: Chinese historiography

The writing of history in China began with the work of Sima Qian around 100 BC. Its scope extends as far back as the 16th century BC. Traditionalist Chinese historiography describes history in terms of dynastic cycles. In this view, each new dynasty is founded by a morally righteous founder. Over time, the dynasty becomes morally corrupt and dissolute. Eventually, the dynasty becomes so weak as to allow its replacement by a new dynasty.

Islamic historiography

Main article: Historiography of early Islam
Further information: Ilm ar-Rijal, Science of hadith, and Isnad

Islamic historiography began developing with the reconstruction of Muhammad's life in the centuries following his death. Due to numerous conflicting narratives regarding Muhammad and his companions from various sources, it was necessary to verify which sources were more reliable. In order to evaluate these sources, various methodologies were developed, such as the "science of biography", "science of hadith" and "Isnad" (chain of transmission). These methodologies were later applied to other historical figures in the Islamic World. Famous Muslim historians included Urwah (d. 712), Ibn Ishaq (d. 768), Al-Waqidi (745 - 822), Ibn Hisham (d. 834), Al-Tabari (838 - 923), Ibn Khaldun (1332 - 1406) and Ibn Hajar (1372 - 1449) among others.

Ilm ar-Rijal (Arabic) is the "science of biography" especially as practiced in Islam, where it was first applied to the sira, the life of the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, and then the lives of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs who expanded Islamic dominance rapidly. Since validating the sayings of Muhammad is a major study ("Isnad"), accurate biography has always been of great interest to Muslim biographers, who accordingly became experts at sorting out facts from accusations, bias from evidence, etc., and were renowned throughout the known world for their honesty in recording history. Modern practices of scientific citation and historical method owe a great deal to the rigor of the Isnad tradition of early Muslims. The earliest surviving Islamic biography is Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah, written in the 8th century.

The "science of hadith" is the process that Muslim scholars use to evaluate hadith. The classification of Hadith into Sahih (sound), Hasan (good) and Da'if (weak) was firmly established by Ali ibn al-Madini (161 AH - 234 AH). Later, al-Madini's student Muhammad al-Bukhari (810 - 870) authored a collection that he believed contained only Sahih hadith, which is now known as the Sahih Bukhari.

Until the 10th century, history most often meant political history and military history, but this was not so with Persian historian Abu-Rayhan Biruni. In his Kitab fi Tahqiq ma l'il-Hind (Researches on India), he did not not record the political and military history of India in any detail, but wrote more on India's cultural, scientific, social and religious history, thus showing that he had as wide a concept of history as that of a modern historian. He also discussed more on his idea of history in another work The Chronology of the Ancient Nations.[1]

Modern historiography

Modern historiography began with Ranke in the 19th century, who was very critical on the sources used in history. He was opposed to analyses and rationalizations. His adagium was writing history the way it was. He wanted eyewitness accounts and wanted an emphasis on the point of view of the eyewitness. Hegel and Marx introduced the change of society in history. Former historians had focused on cyclical events of the rise and decline of rulers and nations. A new discipline emerged in the late nineteenth century that analyzed and compared these perspectives on a larger scale and that discipline was sociology.

The French Annales School radically changed history during the 20th century. Fernand Braudel wanted history to become more scientific by demanding more mathematical evidence in history, in order to make the history discipline less subjective. Furthermore, he added a social-economic and geographic framework to answer historical questions. Other French historians, like Philippe Ariès and Michel Foucault described history of daily life topics as death and sexuality. They wanted history to be written about all topics and that all questions should be asked.

Foundation of important historical journals

Approaches to history

Relevant literature

Philosophy of history

  • Frank Ankersmit (ed), A New Philosophy of History, 1995, ISBN 0-226-02100-9
  • E. H. Carr, What is History? 1961, ISBN 0-394-70391-X
  • R.G. Collingwood, The Idea of History, 1936, ISBN 0-19-285306-6
  • Geoffrey Elton, The Practice of History, 1969, ISBN 0-631-22980-9
  • Richard J. Evans In Defence of History, 1997, ISBN 1862071047
  • Keith Jenkins, Rethinking History, 1991, ISBN 0-415-30443-1
  • Arthur Marwick, The Nature of History, 1970, ISBN 0-333-10941-4
  • John Tosh, The Pursuit of History, 2002, ISBN 0-582-77254-0
  • W.H. Walsh, An Introduction to Philosophy of History, 1951.
  • Hayden White, The Content of Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation, 1987, ISBN 0-8018-4115-1

Broad histories of historical writing

  • Michael Bentley (ed.), Companion to Historiography, Routledge, 1997, ISBN 0-415-28557-7
  • Michael Bentley, Modern Historiography: An Introduction, 1999 ISBN 0-415-20267-1
  • Ernst Breisach, Historiography: Ancient, Medieval and Modern, 1994, ISBN 0-226-07278-9
  • Peter Burke, History and Social Theory, Polity Press, Oxford, 1992
  • H. Floris Cohen, The Scientific Revolution: A Historiographical Inquiry, Chicago, 1994, ISBN 0-226-11280-2
  • Mark T. Gilderhus, History and Historiographical Introduction, 2002, ISBN 0-13-044824-9
  • Georg G. Iggers, Historiography in the 20th Century, Wesleyan, 1997, 0-8195-6306-4
  • Susan Kinnell, Historiography: An Annotated Bibliography of Journal Article, Books and Dissertations, 1987, ISBN 0-87436-168-0
  • Arnaldo Momigliano, The Classical Foundation of Modern Historiography, 1990, ISBN 0-520-07870-5
  • Philippe Poirrier, Aborder l'histoire, Paris, Seuil, 2000.
  • Philippe Poirrier,Les enjeux de l'histoire culturelle, Paris, Seuil, 20004.

Feminist historiography

  • Mary Ritter Beard, Woman as force in history: A study in traditions and realities
  • Gerda Lerner, The Majority Finds its Past: Placing Women in History, New York: Oxford University Press 1979
  • Bonnie G. Smith, The Gender of History: Men, Women, and Historical Practice, Harvard UP 2000
  • Mary Spongberg, Writing women's history since the Renaissance , Basingstoke [etc.] : Palgrave Macmillan, 2002

Regional or thematic

  • John Ernest. Liberation Historiography: African American Writers and the Challenge of History, 1794-1861. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004
  • Marc Ferro, Cinema and History, Wayne State University Press, 1988
  • Ranajit Guha, Dominance Without Hegemony: History and Power in Colonial India, Harvard UP 1998
  • M. Ismail Marcinkowski, Persian Historiography and Geography: Bertold Spuler on Major Works Produced in Iran, the Caucasus, Central Asia, India and Early Ottoman Turkey, Singapore: Pustaka Nasional, 2003.
  • Tessa Morris-Suzuki, The Past Within Us: Media, Memory, History, 2005, ISBN 1-85984-513-4
  • Peter Novick, That Noble Dream: The "Objectivity Question" and the American Historical Profession 1988, ISBN 0-521-34328-3
  • Roland Oliver, In the Realms of Gold: Pioneering in African History, University of Wisconsin Press 1997
  • Christopher Saunders, The making of the South African past : major historians on race and class, Totowa, N.J. : Barnes & Noble, 1988
  • Jan Vansina, "Oral Tradition as History," University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, 1985

Teaching History

  • James W. Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, Touchstone Books 1996
  • David Hackett Fischer, Historians' Fallacies: Towards a Logic of Historical Thought, Harper & Row, 1970.

Journals

References

  1. ^ M. S. Khan (1976). "al-Biruni and the Political History of India", Oriens 25, p. 86-115.

See also

External links

Template:Link FA

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Historiography&oldid=115948252"