THE BOYS' BRIGADE

HISTORIOGRAPHY--What is it?
Historiography defined: is writing about rather than of history. Historiography is meta-analysis of descriptions of the past. The analysis usually focuses on the narrative, interpretations, worldview, use of evidence, or method of presentation of other historians.

Historiography example: 
A primary source is an artifact of a particular point in time (something that comes to us first-hand or by someone alive during that time). In the 1850s, for example, many slave owners in the United States kept diaries and journals about their day to day activity. The historian Kenneth Stampp looked at these documents for information about the life of a slave owner in the 1850s, and also derived information from them on the life of the slaves on the plantation; he used the documents as primary sources. The book he created, The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South, is a secondary source (a work produced through the analysis of primary sources). If another historian argues that Stampp's history ignores the economic history of slavery, or that Stampp's work overly emphasizes one aspect of slave life, then this other historian is using Stampp's book -- originally produced as a secondary source -- as a primary source, an artifact of study. This new work which criticizes a secondary source, is a work of historiography.
Much critical historiography in the 1960s focused, for example, on the exclusion of the roles of women, minorities, and labor from written histories of the USA. Because historians in the 1930s and 1940s were themselves products of their times, their models of who was "important" to history reflected the cultural attitudes of that period (namely, well-connected white males). Many historians from that point onward devoted themselves to what they saw as more accurate representations of the past, casting a light on those who had been previously disregarded as non-noteworthy.
The study of historiography demands a critical approach that goes beyond the mere examination of historical fact. Historiographical studies consider the source, often by researching the author, his or her position in society, and the type of history being written at the time. Historiography that is considered controversial or extreme is often pejoratively labeled as historical revisionism.
Basic questions considered in historiography:

• 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 (e.g., is it Marxist, 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 methodology was the evidence compiled?
• In what historical context was the work of history itself written?

Some recent historiographical controversies:
-- the periodization of European history (i.e., how should it be divided)
-- the rate of exploitation of African-Americansduring and after slavery
-- the role of whiteness in U.S. labor struggles, and
-- the attitude of "good Germans" to the Holocaust.


Historiography as varied approaches to history (examples):

• Paleography:  literally old writing, (from the Greek words paleos = old and grapho = write) is the study of script. Its primary aim is to read texts correctly and determine where and when they were written, though it also studies the development of scripts.
• Diplomatic or Political history: sometimes referred to as "Rankian History", focuses on politics, politicians and other high rulers and views them as being the driving force of continuity and change in history.  This is the most common form of history and is often the classical and popular belief of what history should be.
• The Annales School is a school of historical writing named after the French scholarly journal Annales d'histoire économique et sociale (later called Annales. Economies, sociétés, civilisations, then renamed in 1994 as Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales) where it was first expounded. Annales school history is best known for incorporating social scientific methods into history.
• History from below is a form of historical narrative which was developed as a result of the Annales School and popularized in the 1960s. This form of social history focuses on the perspectives of ordinary individuals within society as well as individuals and regions that were not previously considered historically important. This includes women and the working class as well as regions such as India or Africa.
• Social history is an area of historical study considered by some to be a social science that attempts to view historical evidence from the point of view of developing social trends. In this view, it may include areas of economic history, legal history and the analysis of other aspects of civil society that show the evolution of social norms, behaviors and mores. It is distinguished from political history, military history and the so-called history of great white men. While proponents of history from below and the French annales school of historians have considered themselves part of social history, it is seen as a much broader movement among historians in the development of historiography. Unlike other approaches, it tries to see itself as a synthetic form of history not limited to the statement of so-called historical fact but willing to analyse historical data in a more systematic manner.
  Oral history is an account of something passed down by word of mouth from one generation to another. Oral history is considered by some historians to be an unreliable source for the study of history. However, oral history is a valid means for preserving and transmitting history. Experience within literate cultures indicates that each time anyone reconstructs a memory, there are changes in the memory, but the core of the story is usually retained. Over time, however, minor changes can accumulate until the story becomes unrecognizable.  A person within a literate culture thus has presuppositions that may falsely affect her judgement of the validity of oral history within preliterate cultures. In these cultures children are usually selected and specially trained for the role of historian, and develop extraordinary memory skills known as eidetic or photographic memory.
  Deconstruction.  A school of criticism developed in part by the French post-structuralist philosopher Jacques Derrida. Derrida offered what he called deconstructive readings of Western philosophers. Roughly speaking, a deconstructive reading is an analysis of a text that uncovers the difference between the text's structure and its Western metaphysical essence. Deconstructive readings show how texts cannot simply be read as works by individual authors communicating distinct messages, but instead must be read as sites of conflict within a given culture or worldview. A deconstructed text will reveal a multitude of viewpoints simultaneously existing, often in direct conflict with one another. Comparison of a deconstructive reading of a text with a more traditional one will also show how many of these viewpoints are suppressed and ignored.

  Marxist or historical materialist historiography is an influential school of historiography.  The chief tenets of are the centrality of social class and economic constraints in determining historical outcomes.  Marxist historiography has made contributions to the history of the working class, oppressed nationalities, and the methodology of history from below.  The chief problematic aspect of Marxist historiography has been an argument on the nature of history as determined or dialectical; this can also be stated as the relative importance of subjective and objective factors in creating outcomes.  Marxist history is generally teleological, in that it posits a direction of history, towards an end state of history as classless human society. Marxist historiography, that is, the writing of Marxist history in line with the given historiographical principles, is generally seen as a tool. Its aim is to bring those oppressed by history to self-consciousness, and to arm them with tactics and strategies from history: it is both a historical and a liberatory project.

Suggested Reading:

• Michael Bentley (ed.), Companion to Historiography, Routledge 1997
• Ranajit Guha, Dominance Without Hegemony: History and Power in Colonial India, Harvard UP 1998
• Gerda Lerner, THE MAJORITY FINDS ITS PAST: PLACING WOMEN IN HISTORY. New York: Oxford University Press 1979
• 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
• Bonnie G. Smith, The Gender of History: Men, Women, and Historical Practice, Harvard UP 2000
  PART II:  ONE'S WORLDVIEW & HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION
  Basically, a worldview is a view of the world — a mental model of reality, a set of theories (believed by a person or a community) about what exists, how and why things happen, and what it means — that is used for living in the world, that serves as a foundation for our thoughts, decisions, and actions. Our "worldview" is our way of thinking about truth and reality--it is what influences our interpretation of history (inductive reasoning is observation + EXPERIENCE = conclusion).
  James Sire suggests the following seven questions we can ask ourselves in determining our own particular worldview. In summary, they are as follows:
  
• What is prime reality - the really real?
  To this we might answer: God, the gods, or the material universe.
• What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?
  Do we see the world as created or autonomous, as chaotic or orderly, as matter or spirit? Do we emphasise our subjective, personal relationship to the world or its objectivity apart from us?
• What is a human being?
  Are we highly complex machines, sleeping gods, people made in the image of God, or "naked apes"?
• What happens to a person at death?
  Is it personal extinction, transformation to a higher state, or departure to a shadowy existence on "the other side"?
• Why is it possible to know anything at all?
  Sample answers include the idea that we are made in the image of an all-knowing God or that consciousness and intelligence have developed under the pressures of survival in a long process of evolution.
• How do we know what is right and wrong?
  Is it because we are made in the image of God whose character is good? Are right and wrong determined by human choice alone? Or have the notions simply developed under the pressures of cultural and physical survival?
• What is the meaning of human history?
  Is it to realise the purposes of God or the gods, to make a paradise on earth, to prepare people for a life in community with a loving and holy God, or something else?
  GLADIATOR: Strength & Honor
  
  PART III:  JUDGMENT & HIERARCHY OF VALUES
  Values provide the energetic driving force behind all our decisions and actions. They are the rules we have for ourselves.  Consciously or unconsciously we rank our values in order of importance to us, and we satisfy our values according to our ranking. For example if power is the most important value to us, we will unconsciously strive to satisfy our need for power before any other value.  In the film Gladiator, the principle character expresses his hierarchy of values as strength and honor.
  
  Samples of values:  these were some characteristic values during the time of Ancient Rome.

  -Auctoritas: "Spiritual Authority" The sense of one's social standing, built up through experience, Pietas, and Industria. -Comitas: "Humor" Ease of manner, courtesy, openness, and friendliness. -Clementia: "Mercy" Mildness and gentleness. -Dignitas: "Dignity" A sense of self-worth, personal pride. -Firmitas: "Tenacity" Strength of mind, the ability to stick to one's purpose. -Frugalitas: "Frugalness" Economy and simplicity of style, without being miserly. -Gravitas: "Gravity" A sense of the importance of the matter at hand, responsibility and earnestness.   -Honestas: "Respectibility" The image that one presents as a respectable member of society. -Humanitas: "Humanity" Refinement, civilization, learning, and being cultured. Industria: "Industriousness" Hard work. -Pietas: "Dutifulness" More than religious piety; a respect for the natural order socially, politically, and religiously. Includes the ideas of patriotism and devotion to others. -Prudentia: "Prudence" Foresight, wisdom, and personal discretion. -Salubritas: "Wholesomeness" Health and cleanliness. -Severitas: "Sternness" Gravity, self-control. -Veritas: "Truthfulness" Honesty in dealing with others.

  -Fides: "Confidence" Good faith in all commercial and governmental dealings. -Fortuna: "Fortune" An acknowledgement of positive events. -Genius: "Spirit of Rome" Acknowledgement of the combined spirit of Rome, and its people. -Hilaritas: "Mirth, rejoicing" An expression of happy times. -Iustitia: "Justice" As expressed by sensible laws and governance. -Liberalitas: "Liberality" Generous giving. -Libertas: "Freedom" A Virtue which has been subsequently aspired to by all cultures. -Nobilitas: "Noblility" Noble action within the public sphere. -Ops: "Wealth" Acknowledgement of the prosperity of the Roman world. -Patientia: "Endurance, Patience" The ability to weather storms and crisis. -Pax: "Peace" A celebration of peace among society and between nations. -Pietas: "Piety, Dutifulness" People paying honor to the gods. -Spes: "Hope" Especially during times of difficulty. -Uberitas: "Fertility" Particularly concerning agriculture. -Virtus: "Courage" Especially of leaders within society and government.