Group 4 MERCADO, Ana Selena MOLINA, Joey Leigh PALLES, Kathya Marea M. PAMINTUAN, Katlyn Marie R. RAGAZA, Leonardo S. III TAGABAN, Jiego 2 HST 5 November 2020 USE OF THEORY IN HISTORY I. How does theory frame historical inquiry? - Historical inquiry is more than just the search and retrieval of data from the available evidence. Galgano, Hyser, and Arndt emphasized that theories should be used neither as synthesis of the available evidence nor as a basis that the evidence needs to conform to.1 Rather, it is a tool for many historians in order to formulate hypotheses to have a better discernment of the patterns either outrightly presented or subtly given from the complex and complicated evidence of the past. - Theory frames the historical inquiry through how historians will approach the past through historical evidence that are still available today. Theory and evidence must go hand-inhand. According to E.H. Carr, “theories must be tested against evidence, and evidence viewed through the lens of theory.”2 - The interpretations of the past are based on particular theories and those theories change. One reason they change, or are provisional, is because the context in which one writes changes. - E.P Thompson3 - Tosh explains that it is inevitable for the historian to use theory in their work. “Theory for them [historians] usually means the framework of interpretation that gives impetus to an enquiry and influences its outcome.”4 The very language that historians employ imposes a 1 Michael Galgano, Chris Ardnt & Raymond Hyser, Doing History: Research Writing in the Digital Age, (Boston: Thomson Wadsworth Corporation, 2008), 11. 2 Peter Claus and John Marriott, History: An Introduction to Theory, Method and Practice. (England: Pearson, 2012), 25. 3 E.P. Thompson, interviewed by Mike Merrill, in Visions of History: Interviews, Henry Abelove, Betsy Blackmar, Peter Dimock, and Jonathan Schneer, eds. (New York: Pantheon Books, 1983), 15. 4 John Tosh, The Pursuit of History: Aims, Methods and New Directions in the Study of History, (London: Routledge, 2015), 240. classification on their material and implies comparisons beyond their immediate field of interest.5 - “The current practice of history is strongly influenced by two quite distinct bodies of theories.” 6 - Addressing the problem on meaning and representation - - Concerned with the nature of society - - The broadening scope of cultural history had opened a door to more distant experiences which made past methodologies in interpreting these experiences inadequate. With this, insights from other disciplines such as literature and cultural anthropology have begun to be recognized by historians. Focusing on the structures of society, how it persisted and evolved, social theories were of great help for historians who seek to discern the major (and minor) changes in society of the pre-modern and modern world. “Social theories arise from the problems presented by three aspects of historical explanation” 1. The difficulty of grasping the inter-relatedness of every dimension of human experience at a given time.7 ➔ Total history is unattainable without some concept of how the component aspects of human experience are linked together to form a whole – some theory of the structure of human society in its widest sense 2. Historical Change8 ➔ Historians spend most of their time explaining change – or its absence. This dominant preoccupation inevitably raises the question of whether the major transitions in history display common characteristics. ➔ framing their hypotheses in particular instances, historians are often influenced by this kind of theory / by theory 5 John Tosh, The Pursuit of History: Aims, Methods and New Directions in the Study of History, 247 John Tosh, 205. 7 John Tosh, 241. 8 John Tosh, 242. 6 3. Theories that seek to explain the direction in which all change is moving; these theories are concerned to interpret human destiny by ascribing meaning to history.9 ➔ theories of progressive change still underpin many historical interpretations in the economic and social sphere, as is shown by the frequency with which historians reach for such words as ‘industrialization’ and ‘modernization. - According to Berkhofer, history must be judged by what it is: an organized or synthesized totality.10 It is more than a simple summary or compilation of factual statements, and yet it is less than grand speculations on the ultimate meaning of the human past.11 Historians often see various historical works as belonging to one or another school which they designate and base their interpretations. Thus, there is a role in evaluating past matters and perspectives and giving them meaning. - What differs each history from other histories is not their length, specific subject matter, or medium but how the many synthetic components discussed above are combined in any given project. Each component must be therefore considered in relation to representation or construction in the uses of evidence. - Theories that are identified from historians/philosophers are: 1. Historical Materialism - Karl Marx discussed that social and economic factors primarily contribute to and affect human actions - materialism. The study of history reveals that society has passed through a number of key ‘modes of production’: forms or stages of economic organisation, defined by a characteristic form of relations of production. 2. Challenge and Response theory - Arnold Toynbee used his theory of Challenge and Response to understand the rise and fall of civilizations, which depends on how they react to certain challenges. Human interaction plays a big role in historical development. 3. Total history concept – Annales comprises the exploration of mentalities and structures over the long term, pointing at no less than the development of the total history. Annales historians have written history in accordance with their use 9 John Tosh, 245. Robert F. Berkhofer Jr., Fashioning History: Current Practices and Principles, (New York: Berkhofer, 2008), 49 10 11 Robert F. Berkhofer Jr., Fashioning History: Current Practices and Principles, 50 of history as a kind of education for active citizenship and them being anti-fascist. Methodological Structuralism - Fernand Braudel elaborated that the Study of Historical Writing is not short-term. History is not just about distinguished people, ordinary people also make history. He also emphasized that historiography must broaden and deepen our understanding and insights throughout history. Three Levels of Historical Time:12 -Geographical time (longue durée) - long-span, and recurring cycles -Social time (medium durée) - social, economic and cultural changes -Individual time (histoire événementielle) - day-to-day, short-span changes 4. Discontinuity - Michel Foucault emphasized the ‘discontinuity’ in the process of history. The idea that Historians should seek out the historical gaps in knowledge throughout history. In addition, he attempts to challenge the traditional way of how historians study history. 5. Philosophy of History - R.G. Collingwood explained that through re-enactment of events humans can gain knowledge of the human past. HISTORIOGRAPHY - 12 13 Historical writing in western traditions began with the ancient Hebrews. Their approach to history was God-centered. The Greeks on the other hand understood history as a product of human actions and decisions.13 The different ideas of how history should be written began with them. These two beginnings were the starting point of the further development of historiography. Peter Claus and John Marriott, History: An Introduction to Theory, Method and Practice, 242-243. Michael Salevouris and Conal Furay. The Methods and Skills of History: A Practical Guide, (U.K.: Wiley Blackwell, 2015), 256. - According to Salevouris, historiography is the “history of historical writing.” It is how a specific subject or topic about the past has been and is being interpreted and written by individual historians through the course of time.14 As Tosh had described it to be “the range of historians’ writings on a particular theme.”15 - The role of historians’ verified knowledge about the past significantly contributes to the data of histories that add to the present knowledge and the development of imaginative understanding of a historical event. - Galgano, Hyser and Arndt mentioned that historiography is “the study of history and methodology of historical interpretation” that change and evolve over time.16 It involves critical examination of historical works and assessment of how the evidence was approached and interpreted by the historians underlining the values, perspectives, and biases prevailing in [authors] historians’ own time. With this, careful reading and study of secondary sources are important in conveying a sense of historiographical context. - Historiography also allows the value of historical works to be assessed in terms of modern standards. It is significant in identifying the gaps in the sources - “What questions have received much or little attention,… that might be ready for a second look.”17 - According to Iggers, “the study of history in the modern period is closely associated with the emergence of powerful nationalism.” Along with this, historical scholarship has also contributed to the construction of national memories and the legitimization of nationstates.18 CONCLUSION - - 14 Historiography is the study of the methodology, and writing of history. It employs theories that can frame perspectives in the interpretation of the past using the available evidence. Identifying theories in a historical work can help deepen the understanding of different approaches employed by the historians, and determine how they relate various available sources in the writing of history. This can be used to study the different viewpoints of historians and how a specific topic or historical event is reinterpreted over time. Without historiography there will be no direction or guidance to historical writing. The interpretation of facts and evidence could end up becoming faulty. Michael Salevouris and Conal Furay. The Methods and Skills of History: A Practical Guide, 255. Josh Tosh, 83. 16 Michael Galgano, Chris Ardnt & Raymond Hyser, Doing History: Research Writing in the Digital Age, 6. 17 Michael Galgano, Chris Ardnt & Raymond Hyser, 6. 18 George G. Iggers and Q. Edward Wan, A Global History of Modern Historiography, U.K.: Pearson Longman, 2006), 4 15 - Learning about the theories of historiography teaches the development of the writing of historical knowledge which is essential for future contributions to historical writing. References: Berkhofer, Jr. Robert F. Fashioning History: Current Practices and Principles. New York: Berkhofer, 2008. Claus, Peter and Marriott, John. History: An Introduction to Theory, Method and Practice. England: Pearson, 2012. Galgano, Michael, Arndt, Chris & Hyser, Raymond. Doing History: Research Writing in the Digital Age. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth Corporation, 2008. Harlaftis, Gelina, Karapidakis, Nikos, Sbonias, Kostas, Vaiopoulos, Vaios, Eds. The New Ways of History: Developments in Historiography. New York: Tauris Academic Studies, 2010 Hastings, Marilu. Sustainable Development: The Challenge of Transition. Edited by Jurgen Schmandt and C. H. Ward. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511536021. Hughes-Warrington, Marnie. Fifty Key https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203762622 Thinkers on History. London: Routledge, 2015. Iggers, George G. and Q. Edward Wang. A Global History of Modern Historiography. U.K.: Pearson Longman, 2006. Lambert, Peter and Philipp Schofied. Eds. Making History: An Introduction to the history and practices of a discipline. New York: Routledge, 2004. Salevouris, Michael, and Conal Furay. The Methods and Skills of History: A Practical Guide. U.K.: Wiley Blackwell, 2015. Tosh, John. The Pursuit of History: Aims, Methods and New Directions in the Study of History. London: Routledge, 2015. Tucker, Aviezer. Ed. Companion to the Philosophy of History and Historiography. U.K.: Wiley Blackwell, 2009.
