History vs Historiography

Summary

This educational video script delves into the nuanced differences between history and historiography. It clarifies that history is not merely the past or a collection of facts, but a complex, evolving discourse shaped by historians' interpretations and evidence. Historiography, on the other hand, is a meta-analysis, examining the methods and evolution of historical study itself. The script emphasizes the importance of understanding historiography to transition from passive consumers to active producers of historical knowledge.

Takeaways

• 🎭 The script discusses a scene from the movie 'White Christmas', highlighting the difference between dance and choreography as a metaphor for the differences between history and historiography.
• 📚 The lecturer introduces the topic of historiography by comparing it to choreography, suggesting that historiography is a more complex and intellectual approach to history.
• 🤔 The script challenges the simplistic view of history as just 'what happened', emphasizing that history is an interpretation and argument made by historians based on evidence.
• 🧩 History is described as not being the past itself, but the work of historians who interpret and argue about the past, making it a dynamic and complex field.
• 🔍 Historians are portrayed as 'present-minded workers' who produce history within a certain cultural, epistemological, methodological, ideological, and practical context.
• 📈 The script explains that history is empirical, meaning it is rooted in evidence and makes claims about what actually happened, distinguishing it from fictional stories.
• 🌟 History is presented as having multiple perspectives, with no single definitive version, which is why it is referred to as a 'shifting, problematic discourse'.
• 🕵️‍♂️ The study of history is about understanding the past in its historical context, focusing on the contingent nature of events and their causes.
• 📖 Historiography is defined as a meta-analysis of history, which can include the history of the historical discipline itself or the historical writing on a particular topic.
• 🔑 Understanding historiography is crucial for moving from being a consumer of history to a producer, as it involves assessing previous historical scholarship and contributing new insights.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the dance number 'Choreography' in the movie 'White Christmas'?

The dance number 'Choreography' in 'White Christmas' is a commentary on how actors in theater have moved from traditional dance to more complex and intellectual forms of movement, which are referred to as choreography.

What is the difference between history and historiography according to the script?

History is the work of historians, involving argument and interpretation based on evidence about the past. Historiography, on the other hand, is a meta-analysis of history, which includes the history of the historical discipline itself and the historical writing on specific topics.

Why is it important to distinguish between history and historiography?

Distinguishing between history and historiography is important because it helps to understand the evolution of historical thought and the various approaches to studying the past. It also allows historians to avoid repeating the same narratives and to find new ways to describe and explain history.

What does Keith Jenkins define history as in the script?

Keith Jenkins defines history as a shifting, problematic discourse about the past, produced by present-minded workers, which is subject to various uses and abuses that correspond to power bases and distribute the meanings of histories.

What are the three main aspects that differentiate history from mere facts or stories about the past?

History is differentiated from mere facts or stories about the past by being the work of historians involving argument and interpretation, being an empirical discipline based on the interpretation of evidence, and being complex and continuous with many different perspectives.

How does the script describe the nature of history as a discipline?

The script describes history as a complex and continuous discipline, with no single definitive version. It is a collection of arguments and interpretations that change over time and is fundamentally rooted in evidence.

What is the purpose of studying historiography in the context of the script?

The purpose of studying historiography is to understand the ways historians have investigated the past, both in terms of the development of the historical discipline and the specific historical writing on various topics.

Why does the script suggest that historians make terrible fortune tellers?

The script suggests that historians make terrible fortune tellers because they respect the past as different from the present and the future, and they focus on understanding the past in its historical context rather than predicting the future.

What is the role of historiography in the process of writing history, as per the script?

Historiography plays a crucial role in the process of writing history by providing an assessment of what has been written about a topic before, allowing historians to build upon previous scholarship and find new ways to describe and explain the past.

How does understanding historiography help students and researchers, according to the script?

Understanding historiography helps students and researchers move from being consumers of history to producers of history by providing them with knowledge of previous historical scholarship and different approaches to studying the past.

Outlines

00:00

🎭 Understanding the Distinction Between History and Historiography

This paragraph explores the nuanced difference between history and historiography, using the analogy of a dance number from the movie 'White Christmas' to introduce the concept. The speaker clarifies that history is not merely a recounting of past events but an interpretation constructed by historians. It is empirical, based on evidence, and is not to be confused with fictional narratives. History is depicted as a complex, continuous discourse with multiple perspectives, emphasizing the importance of understanding historiography to move from being a passive consumer to an active producer of historical knowledge.

05:01

📚 Delving into the Layers of Historiography

The second paragraph delves deeper into the concept of historiography, distinguishing it from history by defining it as a meta-analysis of historical work. It serves as an investigation into the evolution of the historical discipline and the diverse approaches historians have taken over time. The paragraph outlines two aspects of historiography: the historical development of the discipline and the specific scholarly contributions to particular historical topics. Understanding historiography is crucial for historians to build upon previous scholarship and to contribute new insights, thereby enriching the ongoing dialogue about the past.

Keywords

💡Choreography

Choreography refers to the art of creating and arranging dance movements or patterns. In the context of the video, it is used metaphorically to discuss how actors in theater have shifted from traditional dance to more complex, intellectual forms of movement. The scene from 'White Christmas' is mentioned to illustrate this point, highlighting a change in approach within the performing arts.

💡Historiography

Historiography is the study of the methods and practices of historians in their approach to the past. It is a meta-analysis of history, focusing on the evolution of historical thought and writing. The video uses the term to distinguish between the study of past events (history) and the analysis of how those events are studied and interpreted by historians over time.

💡History

History, as discussed in the video, is the study of past events and the work of historians who interpret and analyze those events. It is not merely a compilation of facts but an argument and interpretation based on evidence. The video emphasizes that history is complex, continuous, and contingent, focusing on understanding why and how things happened.

💡Interpretation

Interpretation in the context of history refers to the way historians analyze and present historical evidence to construct narratives about the past. The video stresses that history is not just a collection of facts but involves interpretations that reflect the historian's perspective and the context in which they work.

💡Empirical

Empirical in this video refers to the discipline of history being grounded in observable evidence. It highlights that historical narratives are not mere stories but are based on tangible, verifiable data that historians use to make claims about what actually happened in the past.

💡Discourse

Discourse, as used in the video, denotes a complex and evolving conversation among historians about the interpretation of historical events. It suggests that history is not static but is a dynamic field where different historians offer varying perspectives and analyses.

💡Contingent

Contingent, in the context of the video, means that historical events are dependent on specific circumstances and conditions. It underscores the importance of studying history in its proper context, rather than applying present-day perspectives or trying to predict the future.

💡Meta-analysis

Meta-analysis in the video is used to describe historiography as it pertains to analyzing the methods and approaches of historical research. It is a secondary level of analysis that looks at how historians have studied and written about the past.

💡Power Bases

Power bases refer to the various social, political, and cultural influences that can shape the way history is written and understood. The video mentions that historical narratives can be influenced by the power structures of a given time, affecting how history is interpreted and disseminated.

💡Narrative

A narrative in history is a story constructed by historians to explain past events. The video discusses how historians create narratives based on evidence and interpretation, distinguishing historical narratives from fictional stories like those found in novels.

💡Epistemologically

Epistemologically in the video refers to the way historians understand and justify their knowledge about the past. It touches on the philosophical underpinnings of historical research and how historians' beliefs about what constitutes knowledge influence their work.

Highlights

The dance number 'Choreography' in the movie 'White Christmas' is used as a metaphor to introduce the difference between history and historiography.

Historiography is not just a fancy term for history; it has significant differences and implications.

History is a complex and continuous discourse, not a simple recounting of past facts.

Historians today view history as an interpretation and argument about the past, not just a collection of facts.

History is not the past itself but the work of historians who write about the past.

History is empirical, based on the interpretation of evidence, distinguishing it from fictional literature.

The complexity of history is emphasized by the idea that there is no single, definitive version of historical events.

History is the study of the contingent, focusing on why and how things happened in the past.

Historiography is introduced as a meta-analysis of history, the investigation of how history is studied.

Two aspects of historiography are identified: the history of the historical discipline and the historical writing on specific topics.

Historiography helps students and researchers understand the existing scholarship on a historical topic.

The relationship between history and historiography is interdependent; all history is based on previous historiographical work.

Understanding historiography enables one to transition from being a consumer to a producer of historical knowledge.

The importance of historiography lies in its ability to prevent historians from repeating the same narratives and to encourage new perspectives.

The lesson concludes with an encouragement for students to engage with historiography to enhance their historical studies.

Transcripts

so one of my favorite scenes in the

classic holiday movie

white christmas is a dance number called

choreography

and in the number um danny k the sort of

lead actor of the scene

does this whole bit about how actors in

the theater no longer

uh do dance they do choreography and

what he means here is essentially that

they don't do dance the way that it has

always been they do things that are much

more sort of highbrow

and unintelligible and intellectual

the theater the theater

what's happened to the theater

especially

where dancing is concerned

[Music]

every time i teach the difference

between history and historiography to

students i always kind of wonder

if they have feelings about

historiography

like danny k has about choreography i

mean

isn't just historiography a fancy kind

of convoluted way of saying history

no there are big differences between

history and historiography in this

lesson we're going to look at the

definitions of these two terms

how they're different and why this

matters

all right let's get going

[Music]

[Music]

okay the first place to start is to ask

the question

what is history this question is

actually far more complicated than you

might believe

historians have debated what precisely

history is for a long time

and we'll study this debate as it

changed over time later in the class

but for now let's focus on what

historians today tend to think history

is

well how about we just look at a

definition that one notable historian

has given for history

here's what keith jenkins has said

history is a shifting problematic

discourse ostensibly about an aspect of

the world the past

that is produced by a group of

present-minded workers overwhelmingly in

our culture salaried historians who go

about their work in mutually

recognizable ways that are

epistemologically methodologically

ideologically and practically positioned

and whose products once in circulation

are subject to a series of uses and

abuses that are logically

infinite but which in actuality

generally correspond to a range of power

bases that exist at any given moment

and which structure and distribute the

meanings of histories along a dominant

marginal spectrum okay

got it

all right maybe we should take this a

little more slowly actually the best way

to start

to define history is to look at what

history is not

first history is not the past in other

words history is not simply what

happened before

right now what happened and what is

written about

are two very different things second

history isn't just facts about the past

it's not just some random compilation of

interesting details about yesteryear

it's more than that third

history isn't just stories about the

past history is somehow

different from fictional literature the

harry potter novels

much as i love them are not history

history's something different than that

okay so then what is history well first

history is the work of historians it is

argument and interpretation what this

means is that history is not the past

it's what historians

write about the past and in this writing

historians are making

interpretations and not simply compiling

unrelated facts

second history is an empirical

discipline

it's based on the interpretation of

evidence this is how it's different from

harry potter novels history is a story

about the past that's fundamentally

rooted

in evidence and that way it makes claims

about

truth about what really happened

third history is complex and continuous

this

there's no one history but rather

many histories and this is what jenkins

meant by a shifting

problematic discourse it's a

conversation history is a collection of

arguments and interpretations about the

past

many of which agree and many of which

don't

because there is no such thing as one

definitive history

the process of writing history is

continuous and keeps going

on and on and on good thing or else i'd

be out of a job

finally history is the study of the

contingent

it is the study of why and how things

happen the way that they did in other

words

history is the study of the past in its

historical context

it's not the use of the past for the

purpose of telling the future

as a professor once told me historians

make terrible fortune tellers

that's because historians respect the

past as different from the present

and the future for that matter too all

right great

now that we know what history is we can

just shut this whole thing

down and take a nap right

all right all right we know what history

is we have one more thing to cover

what is historiography now this is the

magic question of the class

the first thing to know is that history

and historiography are not

the same historiography is a

meta-analysis of history

it is the investigation of history or

another way of putting it

the history of history now this can mean

a lot of different things but in this

class we're going to treat

historiography in two ways

first historiography will mean the

history of the historical discipline

itself it's a narrative account of how

the discipline

originated and developed over time it is

a story about the many people

who've changed that way the way that we

have studied history

and it shows us how the discipline

itself is complex

meaning people approach it in lots of

different ways and for lots of different

purposes

this definition of historiography is

really what we're going to focus on

in module one of the class

second historiography will also mean the

historical writing on a particular topic

any topic from the french revolution to

the punic

wars will have its own historiography

in other words its own collection of

historical interpretations from

historians over a long stretch of time

this definition of historiography

includes not the big names of the

discipline so much as the specific

historians who have contributed

scholarship on a particular topic

it focuses on the ways that these

historians differ in approach

and argument its purpose is essentially

to function as

a literature review for students and

researchers to know

what has been written about a topic and

how and this is really the definition of

historiography that we'll work on

in the second module of the class

so in sum historiography is the study of

the ways that historians have

investigated the past this includes

classic historians

and the way that they've approached the

discipline itself and

more recent historians in the way that

they have approached specific

topics all right so

what is the difference between history

and historiography

well i think in summary the best way to

think about it is through

levels of analysis history is an

analysis of the past historiography

is an analysis of history or to put it

differently

historiography is the analysis of the

analysis of

the past okay so why does all this

matter well the short answer is because

history and historiography are

fundamentally related to each other

they are interdependent with each other

and that's because all history

starts with an assessment of what has

been written about a topic

before what has gone before in terms of

the historical scholarship

and that's really important because it's

important that historians aren't just

repeating the same narratives over and

over again but are finding new ways to

describe

and explain the past so the reason that

it's important for you to understand

what historiography

is is knowing what historiography is

allows you to move from being just a

consumer of history

to a producer of history okay that's it

from this lesson

i hope that you now know the difference

between history and historiography

don't forget to bring your notes to

class because they will help you out so

much in our class discussions

and in our classroom activities good

luck great work

see you soon

you