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History
History is the study of the past, particularly using document|written records. New technology, such as photography, and computer text files now sometimes complement traditional archival sources. History is a field of research producing a continuous story|narrative and a systematic analysis of past events of importance to the human race.[WordNet Search - 3.0, "History"] Those who study history as a profession are called historians.
Etymology
The word ''history'' comes from Greek language|Greek '' ἱστορία'' (''historia''), from the Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European ''*wid-tor-'', from the Root (linguistics)|root ''*weid-'', "to know, to see".[Ferrater-Mora, José. ''Diccionario de Filosofia''. Barcelona: Editorial Ariel, 1994. ] The term is derived from '''', ''hístōr'' meaning ''wise man'', ''witness'', or ''judge''. We can see early attestations of in Homeric Hymns, Heraclitus, the Athens|Athenian ephebes' oath, and in Boeotia|Boiotic inscriptions (in a legal sense, either "judge" or "witness," or similar). The spirant is problematic, and not present in cognate Greek ''eídomai'' ("to appear"). The form ''historeîn'', "to inquire", is an Ionic Greek|Ionic derivation, which spread first in Classical Greece and ultimately over all of Hellenistic civilization.
It was still in the Greek sense that Francis Bacon used the term in the late 16th century, when he wrote about "Natural history|Natural History". For him, ''historia'' was "the knowledge of objects determined by space and time", that sort of knowledge provided by memory (while science was provided by reason, and poetry was provided by fantasy).
The word entered the English language in 1390 with the meaning of "relation of incidents, story". In Middle English, the meaning was "story" in general. The restriction to the meaning "record of past events" arises in the late 15th century. In German, French, and most Germanic and Romance languages, the same word is still used to mean both "history" and "story". The adjective ''historical'' is attested from 1661, and ''historic'' from 1669.[Whitney, W. D. ''The Century dictionary; an encyclopedic lexicon of the English language''. New York: The Century Co, 1889. ]
Historian in the sense of a "researcher of history" is attested from 1531. In all European languages, the substantive "history" is still used to mean both "what happened with men", and "the scholarly study of the happened", the latter sense sometimes distinguished with a capital letter, "History", or the word ''historiography''.[Ferrater-Mora, José. ''Diccionario de Filosofia''. Barcelona: Editorial Ariel, 1994.]
Also there is a history that is called unwritten history. This is a time when we did not have paper or pencil or ink and paper; we did not use stone or rocks. This is a time when history was still in the making.
Description
Since historians are simultaneously observers of and participants in the historical process, the historical works they produce are written from the perspective of their own time and sometimes with due concern for possible lessons for their own future. In the words of Benedetto Croce, "All history is contemporary history". History is facilitated by the formation of a 'true discourse of past' through the production of narrative and analysis of past events relating to the human race.[Whitney, W. D. (1889). The Century dictionary; an encyclopedic lexicon of the English language. New York: The Century Co. Page 2842.] The modern discipline of history is dedicated to the institutional production of this discourse.
All events that are remembered and preserved in some authentic form constitute the historical record.[WordNet Search - 3.0, "History".] The task of historical discourse is to identify the sources which can most usefully contribute to the production of accurate accounts of past. Therefore, the constitution of the historian's archive is a result of circumscribing a more general archive by invalidating the usage of certain texts and documents (by falsifying their claims to represent the 'true past').
The study of history has sometimes been classified as part of the humanities and at other times as part of the social sciences[Scott Gordon and James Gordon Irving, ''The History and Philosophy of Social Science''. Routledge 1991. Page 1. ISBN 0415056829] It can also be seen as a bridge between those two broad areas, incorporating methodologies from both. Some individual historians strongly support one or the other classification.[Ritter, H. (1986). Dictionary of concepts in history. Reference sources for the social sciences and humanities, no. 3. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. Page 416.] In modern academia, history is increasingly classified as a social science. In the 20th century, French historian Fernand Braudel revolutionized the study of history, by using such outside disciplines as economics, anthropology, and geography in the study of global history.
Traditionally, historians have recorded events of the past, either in writing or by passing on an oral tradition, and have attempted to answer historical questions through the study of written documents and oral accounts. For the beginning, historians have also used such sources as monuments, inscriptions, and pictures. In general, the sources of historical knowledge can be separated into three categories: what is written, what is said, and what is physically preserved, and historians often consult all three.[Michael C. Lemon (1995).The Discipline of History and the History of Thought. Routledge. Page 201. ISBN 0415123461] But writing is the marker that separates history from what comes before.
Archaeology is a discipline that is especially helpful in dealing with buried sites and objects, which, once unearthed, contribute to the study of history. But archaeology rarely stands alone. It uses narrative sources to complement its discoveries.
There are varieties of ways in which history can be organized, including chronologically, culture|culturally, territorially, and thematically. These divisions are not mutually exclusive, and significant overlaps are often present, as in "The International Women's Movement in an Age of Transition, 1800–1945." It is possible for historians to concern themselves with both the very specific and the very general, although the modern trend has been toward specialization. The area called Big History resists this specialization, and searches for universal patterns or trends. History has often been studied with some practical or theory|theoretical aim, but also may be studied out of simple intellectual curiosity.History and prehistory
The history of the world is the memory of the past experience of ''Homo sapiens'' around the world, as that experience has been preserved, largely in written records. By "prehistory", historians mean the recovery of knowledge of the past in an area where no written records exist, or where the writing of a culture is not understood. Human history is marked both by a gradual List of discoveries|accretion of discoveries and List of inventions|inventions, as well as by quantum leaps — paradigm shifts, revolutions — that comprise epochs in the material and spiritual evolution of humankind. By studying painting, drawings, carvings, and other artifacts, some information can be recovered even in the absence of a written record. Since the 20th century, the study of prehistory is considered essential to avoid history's implicit exclusion of certain civilizations, such as those of Sub-Saharan Africa and pre-Columbian America. Historians in the West have been criticized for focusing disproportionately on the Western world.[Jack Goody (2007) ''The Theft of History'' (from Google Books)] In 1961, British historian E. H. Carr wrote:
- ''The line of demarcation between prehistoric and historical times is crossed when people cease to live only in the present, and become consciously interested both in their past and in their future. History begins with the handing down of tradition; and tradition means the carrying of the habits and lessons of the past into the future. Records of the past begin to be kept for the benefit of future generations.''[Carr, Edward H. (1961). ''What is History?'', p.108, ISBN 0140206523]
Such a definition would include within the scope of history peoples such as Australian Aboriginals and New Zealand Maori who, before contact with Europeans, already possessed a strong interest in the past and maintained oral records transmitted to succeeding generations.
Historiography
Historiography has a number of related meanings. Firstly, it can refer to how history has been produced: the story of the development of Historical method|methodology and practices (for example, the move from short-term biographical narrative towards long-term thematic analysis). Secondly, it can refer to what has been produced: a specific body of historical writing (for example, "medieval historiography during the 1960s" means "Works of medieval history written during the 1960s"). Thirdly, it may refer to why history is produced: the Philosophy of history. As a meta-level analysis of descriptions of the past, this third conception can relate to the first two in that the analysis usually focuses on the narratives, interpretations, worldview, use of evidence, or method of presentation of other historians. Professional historians also debate the question of whether history can be taught as a single coherent narrative or a series of competing narratives.
Philosophy of history
- Historian, a person who studies and writes history
Lists
- List of centuries
- List of decades
- List of historians
- List of historians by area of study
- List of history journals
- List of history topics
- List of timelines (Timeline)
Methods and tools
- Contemporaneous corroboration: A method historians use to establish facts beyond their limited lifespan.
- Prosopography: A methodological tool for the collection of all known information about individuals within a given period.
Related disciplines
- Archaeology: the systematic study of our human past, based on the investigation of material culture and context, together forming the archaeological record.
- Archontology: study of historical offices and important positions in state, international, political, religious and other organizations and societies.
Other
- Changelog: log or record of changes made to a project, such as a website or software project.
- Historical drama film: The portrayal of history on film.
- Social change: changes in the nature, the social institutions, the social behavior, or the social relations of a society or community of people.
References
Notes
Bibliography
- Asimov, Isaac; ''Asimov's Chronology of the World''; Harper Collins, 1991, ISBN 0062700367.
- Carr, E.H. with a new introduction by Richard J. Evans; ''What is History?''; Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001, ISBN 0333977017.
- Durant, Will & Ariel; ''The Lessons of History''; MJF Books, (1997), ISBN 1567310249.
- Evans, Richard J.; ''In Defence of History''; W. W. Norton (2000), ISBN 0393319598.
- Tosh, John; ''The Pursuit of History''; Longman (2006), ISBN 1405823518.
External links
Further reading
- Williams, H. S. (1907). The historians' history of the world. (ed., This is Book 1 of 25 Volumes; PDF version is available)
- Wells, H. G. (1921). The outline of history, being a plain history of life and mankind. (ed., This is Book 1 of multi-volume set.)
- Tilly, Chrles; ''Why and How History Matters'', in Robert Goodin & Charles Tilly, eds., Oxford Handbook of Contextual Political Analysis (2006) Oxford: Oxford University Press, onlineGeneral Informationµ
- BBC History Site
- Internet History Sourcebooks Project See also Internet History Sourcebooks Project. Collections of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts for educational use.
- Mapping History Project - University of Oregon
- The History Channel Online
Category:History|
Category:Social sciences
Category:Greek loanwords
zh-min-nan:Le̍k-sú
be-x-old:Гісторыя
zh-classical:史
nds-nl:Geschiedenis
simple:History
fiu-vro:Aolugu
zh-yue:史
bat-smg:Istuorėjė
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