Contemporary history

why the popular memory should be disregarded as history, as it is just as valuable as the scholarly history itself, it just needs to be analyzed for different purposed. Historical events viewed in a scholarly way are widely more accepted by academia, where memory is seen as separate from history. “Memory is not history” an article in The Economist proposes. It states that “memory is by its nature subjective and selective. It cannot substitute for history” (The Economist), which is a view that is…

the various changes in history that influenced the development of the footnote. Grafton chose this unique chronology in order to help him reveal to the reader “where, when, and why historians adopted [the footnote’s] distinctive form of narrative architecture.” In choosing a non-linear chronology, Grafton is not constrained by the need to show the evolution of the footnote from a single, “primitive” form to the modern form used today. Rather, he is able to show the history of the footnote as a…

Twenty-five years ago, Robert Darnton offered a highly original perspective on historical understanding in his The Great Cat Massacre: And Other Episodes in French Cultural History (1984), and the book still warrants close attention. He proposes to bring an ethnographic perspective to bear on historical research, attempting to arrive at nuanced interpretation of the mentalities and worldviews of ordinary folk in early modern France. (Significantly, Darnton collaborated with Clifford Geertz at…

History is a mirror that reflects the future, and by examining it we understand what is yet to come. In all aspects of life the past impacts the present and the future; with restorative justice this is no different. In recent times restorative justice has emerged in various semblances, with different names, and in many countries (Daly, 2002). The genesis of Restorative Justice can be traced to agrarian society, and the thrust towards its serves as a resurrection of historically prevalent…

historical knowledge is an important part of the study. This explains the importance attached to the study of history in every discipline. The study of history attempts to trace the beginning or origin of an event, its progress and the present status. Historical study tries to reinterpret the past by asking questions and seeking information to bring change where necessary. Understanding history brings the perspective of new knowledge and experience to in explaining the old and the improvement in…

History is a composition of past events. It is real and honest. However, the materials used by historians (which are called sources) to study history are only records of history, so they need not to be absolutely true and unbiased. If a group of scholars were to evaluate a set of clues surrounding a play, they would mainly use texts and written records of the play and all these evidences are considered sources which therefore need to be carefully examined before put into use. To these scholars,…

Forging the Partial Narrative: The Causatum of the Human Historian History is a truly fascinating concept. It is a recorded truth; an inevitable phenomenon that remains dormant until acted upon; exhumed by the discerning historian to forge a coherent narrative. This historical construct, however, is subject to the personal biases and interpretation of a single human individual whose views are shaped by upbringing and a unique life experience. Alexander Pope’s age-old adage, to err is human, is…

of not disconnecting the pre-conquest past with contemporary indigenous people, but trying to connect one and another (Earle). In believing this concept, it is important to have some sort of connection to the past with artifacts that are visible rather than melted for gold or silver as they did back then. I understand that during the nineteenth century most people cared more about providing for their family rather than retaining a piece of history but we can see how important it is for cultures…

similarities than differences, but those differences transform them completely. Jill Lepore conveys this succinctly, writing, If biography is largely founded on a belief in the singularity and significance of an individual's life and his contribution to history, microhistory is founded upon almost the opposite assumption: however singular a person's life may be, the value of examining it lies not in its uniqueness, but in its exemplariness, in how that individual's life serves as an allegory…

Producing a History: A Case Study of the Alexander the Great Wikipedia Article Trouillot believes in analyzing the narrative, or history being told, to see how it works and under what conditions it was created, to understand the powers at play and what narratives are being silenced. In the Alexander the Great Wikipedia page, a narrative is being told, and according to Trouillot, rather than define what the history is by coming at it directly (which will only yield frustrating results), we…