What is History?
After reading a selection of E.H.Carr’s book “What is History?” I was able to methodize this issue in a clearer way. What is a historical fact? Why are certain facts more relevant than others? How is the past arranged? These are a few of the questions which I had been reflecting for a long time. Now that I’ve understood Carr’s opinion and reflected on my interpretation of it, I can start to formulate an idea of how these interrogations might be oriented towards answers. The text’s excerpt starts with a reflection on what is an historical fact. “What is the criterion which distinguishes the facts of history from other facts about the past?”, asks the author. Through this simple question, one is introduced to the author’s perspective on the relation between History and the Past. The past is not History, even though the latter is based on the former. The past is everything that happened in time and space, all the events, actions, moments (nothing is excluded, the Battle of Hastings, the lady who sneezed on 13th November 1756, your last shower, etc). On the other hand, History is only a restrictive selection of those past events. Emphasizing this distinction is very important when analyzing reality: without it clearly organized, one will perceive the world in a more constrained way, only seeing a smaller fraction of how it really was/is. Which is the process that determines which past events are “historical facts” and which are “irrelevant moments”? History is simply based in stories. However, not all stories are accepted by historians as valid and significant, not every fact belongs to the elite club of historical facts. To start with, even the stories which are at the historians’ disposal are specific perspectives and selections of the past, the appraised Documents. These were “preselected and predetermined by people who were consciously and unconsciously imbued with a particular view and thought the facts which supported that view worth preserving.” Resuming, these documents that the historians have access to, and base History on, are no more than enclosed stories describing moments of the past in specific points of view. The stories have value and importance, help us shape ideas about the past, but are not entirely accurate. As the author later explains, “No document can tell us more than what the author of the document thought- what he thought had happen, what he thought ought to happen or would happen, or perhaps only what he wanted others to think he thought, or even only what he himself thought he thought.” Every document is embedded with subjectiveness, therefore believing that there are historical facts existing independently and objectively from the interpretation of its contemporaries, is a fallacy. The same applies to the post-interpretation of the documents and facts: it is the historian’s job to decide which facts to give importance to, and in what order or context, attempting to find patterns and coherence in it. This selection process is merely an interpretation, it’s not objective, depends on the current perspective of reality, what matters to society in the present time. In Carr’s words, “All History is a History of the Present”. It’s the process of consensus -The facts that are highlighted about the past depend on the position from which the past is being observed. The most effective way to construct and manipulate opinions is by the selection and arrangement of the appropriate facts to sustain those reasonings. This happens frequently within contemporary modern-life. The media holds control of the majority of our access to facts and information, with television, journals, social media, news-reports, etc. That access is not organized randomly, it is the media’s most powerful tool, since it shapes our view of the world: the issues that we care about, the people we talk about, the nations that have value to us, etc. Wether that tool is used for our benefit or not, it’s a matter of personal opinion. But it’s impossible to deny how much this selection of facts motivates our perception of reality, influencing our values, ideas, concerns, etc. History is constructed: The past, the present, and the future. It is of extreme importance to be aware of this process, and reflect about it. (based on E.H Carr’s “What is History?” - chapter 1, pages 10-16)
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