TOWARDS HISTORIOGRAPHY

Simon Hughes

McKinnon Secondary College

Having an understanding of what the text is saying

Being aware of the context which prompted the production of the text

Understanding that an account of an historical event is but one interpretation

Understanding that multiple interpretations are required to be studied before a ‘true’ picture of the past can be constructed

Understanding that there is no such thing as a true picture of the past, only a version of a possible past

Understanding that there is no such thing as an absence of bias

Understanding that bias is a misused word and should not be confused with an interpretation

Understanding the differences between a traditional, a revisionist and a post-revisionist interpretation of an historical event

Being aware that an interpretation of an historical event is also trying to persuade us of that interpretation

Being able to analyse the ways a text is attempting to persuade us through language choice and techniques and selection of evidence

IT’S A CAN OF WORMS!

IT ALL BEGINS WITH THE HUMBLE DOC STUDY

DOCUMENT CHECKLIST

1.Who is writing this and when?

2.What is the context?

3.What is being depicted? (oops)

4.How is the event being portrayed?

5.What is being emphasised? Any exaggeration?

6.What is missing?

6a. What is the message?

7. What is the author’s intended effect?

8. Who is the target audience?

9. What evidence is there to support the author’s perspective?

10. How useful is the document in understanding the event?

YEAR 9 HISTORY

DEPTH STUDIES:1. Making a Better

World?:Progressive Ideas and Movements

2. Making a Nation3. World War I

HISTORIOGRAPHICAL EXERCISES

Step 1

Match the statement to an appropriate quote

Step 2

Successfully incorporate quote into students’ writing

Step 3

Making sure the quote is apposite

THE GALLIPOLI LANDING

FOUR PERSPECTIVES

TASK 1

IDENTIFY THE FOCUS OF EACH SOURCE

Bean – focuses on mix-up in landing sites; intent on setting the scene; emphasises that there was still the order to go forward despite the mix-up

Ashmead-Bartlett – intent on highlighting the bravery of the ‘colonials’; emphasises imperialistic/nationalistic spirit; glorifies war

Loch – makes certain we understand that death is integral to war; the disorder is emphasised as is the lying

Usher – again death is the focus emphasising that it is a waste of life; the confusion is a feature

TASK 2

ISOLATE A SENTENCE OR PHRASE WHICH SUMS UP BOTH THE FOCUS AND THE AUTHOR’S CONTENTION

BEAN‘The men were ashore and mostly alive, but the place was clearly the wrong one.’ ‘Anyone who depended upon a set plan for the next move was completely bewildered.’‘Everything seemed wrong…The country was unrecognisable.’‘“Everything is in a terrible muddle.”’‘“You must get on, whatever the opposition.”’

ASHMEAD-BARTLETT‘They were happy because they knew they had been tried for the first time and not found wanting.’

‘The scene at the height of the engagement was sombre, magnificent and unique.’

LOCH‘There seemed no regimental order here.’

‘there were many liars creating disturbing rumours on that beach that day’

USHER‘You’re only looking after yourself, you couldn’t worry about the other bloke’

‘they weren’t prepared for it, for the slaughter’.

TASK 3

IDENTIFY STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS

BEAN: Strengths

Quotes from eye-witnesses

Identifies cause of confusion

Assessment of quality of command

Insight into importance placed on the demeanour of the soldiers

BEAN: Limitations

The literary element

Nothing about context of conflict in terms of empires

Nothing about Australia’s reasons for being there

ASHMEAD-BARTLETT: Strengths

Glorification of war and the Australian soldiers suggests that the war effort was in need of bolstering

The glowing assessment by an English writer was valued in Australia

Glorification of war was a natural thing

ASHMEAD-BARTLETT: Limitations

Propaganda designed to encourage recruitment

Facts are tailored to desired patriotic response

LOCH: Strengths

Based on personal experience

Not coloured by patriotism or bellicosity

Reminds us war is all about killing

LOCH: Limitations

No political or strategic context for the action

Author appears to have chip on his shoulder about the treatment of soldiers

USHER: Strengths

We start to appreciate that soldiers were not privy to military strategy but given limited objectives

USHER: Limitations

Heartfelt and dramatic but limited to what the soldier himself experienced

Based on an interview many years after the event

TASK 4

WRITE A SUMMARY OF KEY ASPECTS OF THE GALLIPOLI LANDING•THE LANDING•THE MEN•WAR

APPLYING ENGLISH SKILLS TO HISTORIOGRAPHY

LANGUAGE ANALYSIS

Introduction

* Identify ISSUE that prompted the texts* Identify TEXT TYPE (letter to the editor, opinion piece, blog etc.) and its PROVENANCE (author and where published) * Identify the CONTENTION of the texts including the TONE

Body Paragraphs* WHAT is being portrayed (in a discussion of law and order, for example, it might be the police)* HOW it is being portrayed (the portrayal is CONSTRUCTED through language choice, evidence presented and techniques including appeals to the reader)* WHY the portrayal has been constructed in this way (what is the intended EFFECT with the target audience)

INFERENCE

He watched the orchestra through stupid tears.

VIEWS AND VALUES

Identify three portrayals

Identify how these portrayals are constructed through language choice and techniques

Decide what effect the portrayals are designed to have on the reader

* appeal to patriotism* appeal to nationalism* the use of direct quotes* connotations of key terms (esp. Ashmead-Bartlett)* tone

* to encourage enlistment* to bolster belief in the cause of the British Empire* to remind us of the futility and ugliness of war* to suggest that war is the making of a country

• they know how to identify apt quotes• they can incorporate these quotes into their own writing• they are twigging to the idea that history is not just facts but the interpretation of those facts• they are beginning to understand that all historians have an agenda• they are able to synthesise multiple sources to produce their own narrative of an event

www.answers.com/topic/world-war-ii-1939-45-changing-interpretations

www.macgregorishistory.com/english/ib/WWII/causesww.html

Historical revisionism ‘is the reinterpretation of orthodox views on evidence, motivations, and decision-making processes surrounding a historical event.’Wikipedia

‘History is a continuing dialogue between the present and the past…The unending quest of historians for understanding the past – that is, “revisionism” – is what makes history vital and meaningful.’ James McPherson

Who are the traditionalists?

‘historians who work within the existing establishment and who have a body of of existing work from which they claim authority’

Who are the revisionists?

Revisionist history often derives from those who are in the minority

‘they have the most to gain and the least to lose in challenging the status quo’

‘revisionism is an essential part of the process by which history, through the posing of new problems and the investigation of new possibilities, enlarges its perspectives and enriches its insights.’Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.

‘each generation has a right to look upon and re-interpret history in its own way’Karl Popper

Who are the post-revisionists?

They’re revisionists!