Readings in Philippine History Lecture 4 PDF

DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Readings in Philippine History Lecture 4: The Source: The Basis of Our Knowledge about the Past By Martha Howell & Walter Prevenier  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Learning Agenda qWhat is a source? qWhat are...

DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Readings in Philippine History Lecture 4: The Source: The Basis of Our Knowledge about the Past By Martha Howell & Walter Prevenier  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Learning Agenda qWhat is a source? qWhat are source typologies, their evolution and complementarity?  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University 1.What is a Source? q Artifacts that have been left by the past 1) Relics: “remains” 2) Testimonies of witnesses to the past  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Relics or remains Offers a clue about the past by virtue of their existence E.g. Wooden columns in prehistoric settlements = culture Compare with other places = (commercial or intellectual relations) e.g. Cycladen island of Santorini and Crete (frescos)  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Testimonies Oral or written reports (event) Simple or complex (e.g. record of property exchange, donations, speeches, commentaries) Historical information that provide: What happened? How and in what circumstances the event occurred? Why is occurred? Historian supplements the raw material available in the source itself  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Relics and testimonies q Created for specific purpose of the age § Relics: objects of practical use => historical source § Testimonies: oral or written contemporary proof of an act or a right; inform about a fact; content more important than its form q Historian’s principal task: § to uncover the original purpose or function of the relics or testimonies that have come down to posterity § to divine what they were intended to serve and what purposes they actually served at the time they were created  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Testimonies and artifacts q ORIGINALLY TO SERVE AS RECORDS => intentional q Other purpose => unintentional e.g. Kennedy’s assassination filmed for private enjoyment § No historical question in mind q Historians: to consider the conditions under which source produced = Intentions that motivated it 1. reliability 2. historical context q Historical and historiographical contexts: the HEART OF HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Testimonies and artifacts q ORIGINALLY TO SERVE AS RECORDS => intentional q Other purpose => unintentional e.g. Kennedy’s assassination filmed for private enjoyment § No historical question in mind q Historians: to consider the conditions under which source produced = Intentions that motivated it 1. reliability 2. historical context q Historical and historiographical contexts: the HEART OF HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Example: Birth of Filipino Nationalism Execution of the GOMBURZA in 1872 Rizal’s writing of the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo A. Bonifacio’s Revolutionary Movement (Katipunan)  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University SOURCES q MATERIALS from which historians construct meanings q object from the past or testimony which historians depend >>>> create own depiction of the past q Historical work or interpretation is the result E.g. Diary is the source (colonial New England)>>>> a Midwife’s Tale 1990 by Laurel Tatcher Ulrich  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Another example: q Fr. Schumacher’s using Rizal’s writings as a framework to write his essays on Filipino nationalism q Source provides existence of an event; a historical interpretation is an argument about the event  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Primary sources q Direct or indirect q Indirect source: q Direct Primary Source: e.g. 18th century inventory e.g. letters or chronicles from listing the letters and books 18th century businessman found in an educated law code written in 846 woman’s study Poem penned yesterday Ø Scholars could deduce about the kind of training she had received and her intellectual interests  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Unclear boundary between a source and a historical study q Not always clear q Herodotus & Thucydides: § both historians of their ages § creators of historical interpretations § authors of sources in that they provide modern historians evidence both about these events and about the intellectual culture of the ages in which they wrote § Sources of former historians ---lost >>>their historical interpretation becomes “source of sources” q Historian’s task: to distinguish carefully information from source itself or a personal interpretation of the material  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Example of primary source : indirect § Church history left by Eusebius of Caesaria (265-340) § MENTIONS countless texts lost § Interpreting first Christian history § HISTORIANS: for the literal content of a citation---what is transcribed from the source itself—historians have no ethical responsibility Accountable for the meaning they impart to that material  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University B. Source Typologies, Their Evolution and Complementarity qWRITTEN SOURCES TRIPARTITE SCHEME: 1. Narrative or “literary” 2. Diplomatic/juridical 3. Social documents  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University 1) Narrative or literary q Chronicles or tracts presented in a narrative form (written) To impart a particular message Motives for their composition vary widely a) SCIENTIFIC TRACT- inform contemporaries or succeeding generations b) NEWSPAPER- shape opinion  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University c) EGO DOCUMENT (personal narratives) e.g. diary or memoir - justice of the author’s action d) FILM or NOVEL- to entertain e) MORAL TEACHING – religious cause f) BIOGRAPHY- praise the subject’s worth or achievement q NARRATIVE SOURCE: broader than “fiction” like novels and poetry  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University On questions of intentionality q “EGO DOCUMENTS” E.g.1 diaries: almost never treated as reliable reports about an event; must be read in terms of the very individual perspectives from which they were written >>> “intellectual author” E.g.2. memories: selective accounts>>>highly edited accounts of the life being recorded q Ego documents: record the author’s perception of events (author’s experiences) >>>>tells the writer’s political intentions and tactics, ideology and culture of the age  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University 2. Diplomatic Sources qOnce treated as best source qClassic diplomatic source: Charter; a “legal instrument” Urkunde (German); charte or diplome (France) § Usually sealed/authenticated; intended to provide evidence of the COMPLETION OF A LEGAL TRANSACTION, proof of juristic fact, serve as evidence in judicial proceeding a. Issued by public authorities (kings pope, congress) b. Private parties (will or mortgage agreement)  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University 3 parts of a diplomatic source 1. PROTOCAL 2. CONTENT ITSELF 3. CLOSING FUNCTIONS LAWGIVING= ordinances, declaration of law, statutes JURIDICAL=judgements of courts VOLUNTARY AGREEMENTS= contracts, wills, social agreements  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University 3. Social Documents qProducts of record keeping bureaucracy such as state ministries, charitable organizations, foundations, churches and schools q Content information: Economic, social, political and judicial import (ambassador’s reports, municipal accounts, findings of a commission) qAccount particular charges, meetings, business policy fiscal structure, social structure, political administration q HISTORIAN: NOT THE ONLY KIND OF SOURCE; UNWRITTEN/ORAL ARE ALSO IMPORTANT  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Archaeological evidence q One of the most important category of unwritten evidence q Tells: Culture, way of life, ambitions, commercial, socio cultural interconnections  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University qCoin hoards, paper currencies= government, economic condition, trade relations, fiscal policy qORAL EVIDENCE= TALES AND SAGAS OF ANCIENT PEOPLE qPROTEST SONGS, ARTISTIC PERFORMANCES qHistorian: use depends upon period being studied (oral or material) qModern scholars use a mixture of oral, written, and other sources as the situation requires  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University qTechnological innovations 3000 B.C. writing was invented 12th century written communication was dominant Writing and printing ORAL WRITTEN MATERIAL SOURCES MIXTURE 1900 FILMS, DOCUMENTARIES SOUND RECORDINGS 1887 1980S COMPACT DISC RADIO 1896 TAPE RECORDER 1931 TELEVISION 1927 (LONDON 1936, NEW YORK 1941) 1940-1970- WIDELY USED IN THE WORLD COMPUTER 1983- LOST RECORDS (risk of erasure and inaccessibility) 1983 U.S. using Japanese technology political and financial commitment qAll complementary DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University q Jan Vansina, Flemish historian teaching in US q One of the first to recognize the relation of oral traditions to written texts q Contributed to historical methodology q Student of West African culture: stories handed down are stable and reliable like written chronicles and personal narratives that survived Western European past q Several tests: a) external to text? (narrator/writer member of the group?) b) internal: reporter’s tale conform to the linguistic, stylistic, ritualistic norms of the period q Oral testimonies verifiable?  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University q War and historical accounts social upheaval e.g. Al Santoli of the Vietnam War 33 veterans never made it to official documents (personal account that cannot be written) q INTERVIEW- NO SIMPLE ART carefully designed questions flexible interviewer hard interviews-real value to historian soft interviews q FACT FINDING EXPEDITION WITH EXTREME CARE Story becomes richer, more nuanced more understandable, not where innocence is proven or cause vindicated  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Additional notes: In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source or evidence) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under study.  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Sreedharan believes that primary sources have the most direct connection to the past and that they "speak for themselves" in ways that cannot be captured through the filter of secondary sources. ---Sreedharan, E. (2004). A Textbook of Historiography, 500 B.C. to A.D. 2000. Orient Longman. p. 302. ISBN 81- 250-2657-6. DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University  DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University Are quotes primary sources? § NO They have been removed from the original document by someone else. FIND THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT DPSS-STELA, Saint Louis University