History: Historiography, Methods, and Truth

• History is the study of the past.
• The word "history" comes from the Greek word "historia", and it means knowledge acquired through investigation.
• History studies past events and their causes

History in Different Languages

• In Tagalog, history is called "kasaysayan" which means a story that has significance in what is being recounted.
• In Bisaya, history is known as "kaagi", which means past events and stories with value.

Historiography

• Historiography is the study of how historians develop history as an academic discipline.
• Historiography is the analysis of the interpretations of a specific topic by historians or other authors.

The Roles of History

• History helps unite a nation.
• History helps legitimize regimes.
• History forges a sense of collective identity.

Why Study History?

• Studying history helps one to learn about the past and understand the present.
• Studying history helps develop a sense of nationalism.
• Studying history helps understand human society and social relationships.
• Studying history helps appreciate heritage and identity.
• Studying history broadens perspectives.
• Studying history helps one to acquire background for critical thinking.

Positivism

• Positivism emerged between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
• Positivism requires empirical and observable evidence before claiming knowledge is true.
• Positivism entails an objective way of concluding.
• In history, the mantra "no document, no history" comes from positivism.
• Historians were required to present written primary documents for historical narratives.
• Positivist historians must be objective and impartial in arguments and research.

Postcolonialism

• Postcolonialism emerged in the early twentieth century.
• Formerly colonized nations grappled with creating their identities and understanding their societies against the shadows of their colonial past.
• Postcolonial history writing aims to highlight a nation's identity free from colonial discourse.
• Postcolonial history seeks to criticize the methods, effects, and ideas of colonialism.
• Postcolonialism reacts against and forms an alternative to colonial history created and taught by colonial powers.

Perspectives on History

• History is always intended for a certain group of audience.
• Facts themselves can't do all the talking

Historical Methodology

• Historical methodology comprises of techniques and rules that historians follow to properly use sources and historical evidence in writing history.
• Certain rules apply to conflicting accounts in different sources.
• Historical methodology dictates how to properly treat eyewitness accounts and oral sources as valid historical evidence.

The Annales School of History

• The Annales School of History was born in France and challenged the canons of history.
• The Annales School moved away from common historical subjects related to the conduct of states and monarchs.
• Historians in this school study other subjects in a historical manner and focus on social history.
• "History from below" was pioneered by Annales scholars.
• Annales scholars studied history of peasantry, history of medicine, and history of environment.
• Scholars of this school advocated for people and classes not reflected in grand historical narratives to be provided space in the records of mankind.

Historical Sources

Primary Sources

• Primary sources are produced at the same time as the studied event.
• Examples include letters, diaries, memoirs, autobiographies, speeches, oral histories, personal narratives, interviews, and correspondence.
• Other examples include photographs, videos, films, artworks, music, literature, scientific data and reports, and scholarly journal articles.
• Still other examples include statistical and survey data, legal documents, cases, hearings, laws, maps, archeological artifacts, historical documents,

Secondary Sources

• Secondary sources are produced by an author who used primary sources to produce material.
• Secondary sources study certain historical subjects.
• Examples include articles analyzing novels, exhibition catalogs explaining paintings, and biographies of historical figures.
• Other examples include textbooks summarizing a philosopher's ideas, documentaries about historical events, newspaper articles about new policies and blog posts interpreting the results of polls as well as literature reviews that cite the study.

Evaluating Sources

External Criticism

• Establishes authenticity of evidence by examining physical characteristics.
• Checks consistency with the historical characteristics of the time when the evidence was produced and the materials used.
• External criticism examines the quality of the paper, the type of the ink, and the language and words used in the material.

Internal Criticism

• Examines the truthfulness of the evidence.
• Looks at the content of the source and examines its circumstance of production.
• Looks at the truthfulness and factuality of the evidence by looking at the author, its context, the agenda behind its creation, the knowledge which informed it, and its intended purpose.

Philippine Historiography

• History can be used to include and exclude.
• It is important to transcend memorization and begin learning to appreciate history.

Pantayong Pananaw

• Highlights the importance of facilitating an internal conversation and discourse among Filipinos about Philippine history, using language that is understood by everyone.
• It challenges the Western-centric perspective that has often shaped historical narratives in the Philippines.
• Seeks to rectify historical exclusion by giving voice and agency to indigenous peoples in the retelling of their own histories.

Conflicting Views of History

Bipartite View

• This refers to the biased vision of colonialists towards their colony to justify perpetuation of the colonial status quo.
• This advances an idea that the Philippines had no civilization (Kadiliman) before colonialism. However, when the Spaniards came, civilization came afterward (Liwanag).

Tripartite View

• This refers to the idea of colonial subjects against their colonizers, aiming to deny the nobility of colonialism
• The tripartite view focuses on how 300 years of Spanish rule ruined the early Filipinos whose returning is possible only when colonialism is eliminated.

Conclusion

• History still has a lot of remaining tasks to do.
• History does not claim to render absolute judgements.
• History can never be complete.
• The task is to organize the past that is being created so that it can offer lessons for nations, societies, and civilizations.
• It is a duty to seek the meaning of the past to let people see the continuing relevance of memories and historical understanding for present and future.

Test your knowledge of historical methodologies. Questions cover positivism, postcolonial perspectives, the Annales School, source analysis, objectivity, and historiography.