Issues with “History”

What is “history”?The study of the past, through written works.

Anything prior to the development of writing is prehistory.

Definition is very ethnocentric - Some cultures lack a writing system, so were traditionally excluded from “history”

Definition has shifted to avoid racism, exclusion.

The problem with history…Written history is not entirely reliableFocus of study may be narrow or

exclusionary.Author/historian may be biased (racism,

gender bias, tokenism, stereotyping, ethnocentrism, etc..)

The purpose of the writing may not to accurately describe historical events, but to promote an ideology, flatter a government, or justify a nation’s actions

A translation may be unreliable, or be more poetic than accurate.

Solutions?Historiography – examining how we study

history. Helps us understand ways in which written accounts might be biased.

Archaeology – study of human cultures/societies through physical remains and environmental data.

Anthropology - study of humans, past and present; mixes cultural, social, linguistic, and forensic

Constantly reevaluate our conclusions and understandings.

Written Sources of InformationPrimary, Secondary, and Tertiary

Primary SourcesWritten by someone who witnessed or

participated in events being described, or something from the time Letters, diaries, historical documents, books

Can be non-written, like photographs, artifacts, etc.

Can be fiction – novels written in a specific time period can provide information about lifestyles and attitudes.

Problems With Primary SourcesCan be inaccurate due to author bias,

incomplete information, etc..Use the time and place rule - the closer it

is, the more accurateQuestions to ask:

Who wrote it?Who was the intended audience?When was it written?Why did they write it?

Secondary SourcesThe writer did not witness the events being

described, but based the information on first-hand accounts

Books, scholarly articles about historyCan be inaccurate

Author biasIncomplete researchPoor translationUnreliable primary sources

Tertiary SourcesCollections and abbreviations of other

research; work based on secondary sourcesEncyclopedias, textbooksConsidered the least reliable; rarely

considered acceptable in academic research

A Grey Area…Depending on what is being studied, primary

sources vary - while someone describing what they heard about an event would be a secondary source, looking at the way people understood that event at the time of writing would make it a primary source; also, a source that might be considered so biased as to be unreliable when looking for a factual representation of events might be acceptable if looking at prevailing ideas at the time of writing.

Source ActivityRead the excerpts from the handoutAssess the reliability of this as a source of

historical informationWhat type of source is this?Discuss any issues that might impact reliability.

Be detailed and specific.What information could this reliably tell us?What information should we not trust from

this?