MODULE 1 - DEFINITION, ISSUES AND METHODOLOGY

Introduction

This Module introduces history as a discipline and as a narrative. It presents the definition
of history, which transcends the common definition of history as the study of the past. It
discusses several issues in history that consequently opens up for the theoretical aspects of the
discipline by the use of historical methodologies.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this module, students should be able to:

1. To understand the meaning of History as an academic discipline.
2. To asses and analyze historical narratives through historical philosophy
and methodology
Lesson 1. Definition and Subject Matter

History according to Llewelyn and Thompson (2020) is the study of the past, specifically
the people, societies, events and problems of the past as well as our attempts to understand them.
It is a pursuit common to all human societies.

Candelaria (2018) states that students of general education often dread the subject for its
notoriety in requiring them to memorize dates, places, names, and events from distant eras. This
low appreciation of the discipline may be rooted from the shallow understanding of history's
relevance to their lives and to their respective contexts. While the popular definition of history
as the study of the past is not wrong, it does not give justice to the complexity of the subject and
its importance to human civilization.

Figure 1. History

History was derived from the Greek word “historia” which means knowledge acquired
through inquiry or investigation." History as discipline existed for around 2,400 years and is as
old as mathematics and philosophy. This term was then adapted to classical Latin where it
acquired a new definition (Roxas, 2016).
 Historia became known as the account of the past of a person or of a group of people
through written documents and historical evidences.
That meaning stuck until the early parts of the twentieth century, History became an
important academic discipline. It became the historian's duty to write about the lives of
important individuals like monarchs, heroes, saints, and nobilities (Delgado, n.d.).

History was also focused on writing about wars, revolutions, and other important
breakthroughs. It is thus important to ask: What counts as history? Traditional historians lived
with the mantra of "no document, no history." It means that unless a written document can prove
a certain historical event, then it cannot be considered as a historical fact (San Juan, n.d.).

But as any other academic disciplines, history progressed and opened up to the
possibility of valid historical sources, which were not limited to written documents, like
government records, chroniclers' accounts, or personal letters. Kelly (2008) explains that giving
premium to written documents essentially invalidates the history of other civilizations that do
not keep written records. Some were keener on passing their history by word of mouth. Others
got their historical documents burned or destroyed in the events of war or colonization.

Restricting historical evidence as exclusively written is also discrimination against other

social classes who were not recorded in paper. Nobilities, monarchs, the elite, and even the
middle class would have their birth, education, marriage, and death as matters of government
and historical record. But what of peasant families or indigenous groups were not given much
thought about being registered to government records? Does the absence of written documents
about them mean that they were people of no history or past? Did they even exist?

This loophole was recognized by historians who started using other kinds of historical
sources, which may not be in written form but were just as valid. A few of these examples are
oral traditions in forms of epics and songs, artifacts, architecture, and memory (Launto, n.d.).
 History thus became more inclusive and started collaborating with other disciplines as its
auxiliary disciplines. With the aid of archaeologists, historians can use artifacts from a bygone
era to study ancient civilizations that were formerly ignored in history because of lack of
documents. Linguists can also be helpful in tracing historical evolutions, past connections
among different groups, and flow of cultural influence by studying language and the changes
that it has undergone. Even scientists like biologists and biochemists can help with the study of
the past through analyzing genetic and DNA patterns of human societies (San Juan, n.d.).
Lesson 2. Questions and Issues in History

History as a discipline had already turned into a complex and dynamic inquiry. This
dynamism inevitably produced various perspectives on the discipline regarding different
questions like: What is history? Why study history?

And history for whom? These questions can be answered by historiography. In simple
terms, historiography is the history of history. History and historiography should not be
confused with each other. The former's object of study is the past, the events that happened in
the past and the causes of such events.

Historiography, the writing of history, especially the writing of history based on the
critical examination of sources, the selection of particular details from the authentic materials in
those sources, and the synthesis of those details into a narrative that stands the test of critical
examination. The term historiography also refers to the theory and history of historical writing
(Vann, 2020).

The latter's object of study, on the other hand, is history itself. How certain was a
historical text written? Who wrote it? What was the context of its publication? What particular
historical method was employed? What were the sources used?

Thus, historiography lets the students have a better understanding of history. They do
not only get to learn historical facts, but they are also provided with the understanding of the
facts and the historian's contexts. The methods employed by the historian and the theory and
perspective, which guided him, will also be analyzed. Historiography is important for someone
who studies history because it coaches the student to be critical in the Lessons of history
presented to him.

History has played various roles in the past. States use history to unite a nation. It can be
used as a tool to legitimize regimes and forge a sense of collective identity through collective
memory. Lessons from the past can be used to make sense of the present. Learning of past
mistakes can help people to not repeat them. Being reminded of a great past can inspire people
to keep their good practices to move forward.

Positivism
According to Bourdeau (2018), positivism is a school of thought that emerged between the
eighteenth and nineteenth century. This thought requires evidence before one can claim that a
particular knowledge is true Positivism also entails an objective means of arriving at a
conclusion. In the discipline of history, the mantra "no document, no history" stems
from this very same truth, where historians were required to show written or historical narrative,
primary documents in order to write a particular historical narrative Positivist historians are also
expected to be objective and impart just in their arguments but also on their conduct of historical
research.

Figure 2. Auguste Comte (1798 – 1857) - Father of Positivism

As a narrative, any history that has been taught and written is always intended for a
certain group of audience. When the illustrados, like Jose Rizal Isabelo de los Reyes, and Pedro
Paterno wrote history, they intended it for the Spaniards so that they would realize that Filipinos
are people of their own intellect and culture.

When American historians depicted the Filipino people as uncivilized in their

publications, they intended that narrative for their fellow Americans to justify their colonization
of the islands. They wanted the colonization to appear not as a means of undermining the
Philippines sovereignty, but as a civilizing mission to fulfill what they called as the "white man's
burden." The same is true for nations which prescribe official versions of their history like
North Korea, the Nazi Germany during the war period, and Thailand. The same was attempted
by Marcos in the Philippine during the 1970s.

Figure 3. Edward Said (1935 – 2003) - Father of Post-Colonialism

Post-colonialism

Larena (2018) cited that post-colonialism is the school of thought that emerged in the
early twentieth century when formerly colonized nations grappled with the idea of creating their
identities and understanding their societies against the shadows of their colonial past.
Postcolonial history looks at two things in writing history:

First is to tell the history of their nation that will highlight their identity free from that of
colonial discourse and knowledge.

Second is to criticize the methods, effects, and idea of colonialism.

Postcolonial history is therefore a reaction and an alternative to the colonial history that
colonial powers created and taught to their subjects. One of the problems confronted by
history is the accusation that the history is always written by victors. This connotes that the
narrative of the past is always written from the bias of the powerful and the more dominant
player. For instance, the history of the Second World War in the Philippines always depicts the
United States as the hero and the Imperial Japanese Army as the oppressors. Filipinos who
collaborated with the Japanese were lumped in the category of traitors or collaborators.
However, a more thorough historical investigation will reveal a more nuanced account of the
history of that period instead of a simplified narrative as a story of hero versus villain.

Figure 4. Herodotus (485 B.C. – 425 B.C.) - Father of History

Lesson 3. History and the Historian

Jusserand (n.d.) states that history is written with agenda or is heavily influenced by the
historian, is it possible to come up with an absolute historical truth? Is history an objective
discipline? If it is not, is it still worthwhile to study history? These questions have haunted
historians for many generations. Indeed, an exact and accurate account of the past is impossible
for the very simple reason that we cannot go back to the past. We cannot access the past directly
as our subject matter.

Historians only get to access representation of the past through historical sources and
evidence. Therefore, it is the historian's job not just to seek historical evidence and facts but also
to interpret these facts. "Facts cannot speak for themselves." it is the job of the historian to give
meaning to these facts and organize them into a timeline, establish causes, and write history.
Meanwhile, the historian is not a blank paper who mechanically interprets and analyzes present
historical fact.

He is a person of his own who is influenced by his own context, environment, ideology,
education, and influences, among others. In that sense, according to McCullagh (2020), his
interpretation of the historical fact is affected by his context and circumstances. His subjectivity
will inevitably influence the process of his historical research: the methodology that he will use,
the facts that he shall select and deem relevant, his interpretation, and even the form of his
writings. Thus, in one way or another, history is always subjective. If that is so, can history still
be considered as an academic and scientific inquiry?

Historical research requires rigor. Despite the fact that historians cannot ascertain absolute
objectivity, the study of history remains scientific because of the rigor of research and
methodology that historians employ. Historical methodology comprises certain techniques and
rules that historians follow in order to properly utilize sources and historical evidence in writing
history (Larena, 2018).

Certain rules apply in cases of conflicting accounts in different sources, and on how to
properly treat eyewitness accounts and oral sources as valid historical evidence. In doing so,
historical claims done by historians and the arguments that they forward in their historical
writings, while may be influenced by the historian's inclinations, can still be validated by using
reliable evidences and employing correct and meticulous historical methodology.

LUCIEN FIBVRE MARC BLOCH

(1878 – 1956) (1886 – 1944)

Figure 5. Founders Of Annales School Of History

Annales School of History

The school of history born in France that challenged the canons of history. This school of
thought did away with the common historical subjects that were almost always related to the
conduct of states and monarchs.
 Annales scholars like Lucien Febvre, Marc Bloch, Fernand Braudel, and Jacques Le
Goff studied other subjects in a historical manner. They were concerned with social history and
studied longer historical periods. For example, Annales scholars studied the history of peasantry,
the history of medicine, or even the history of environment. The history from below was
pioneered by the same scholars.
They advocated that the people and classes who were not reflected in the history of the
society in the grand manner be provided with space in the records of mankind. In doing this,
Annales thinkers married history with other disciplines like geography, anthropology,
archaeology, and linguistics (Wikipedia Contributors, 2020).

For example, if a historian chooses to use an oral account as his data in studying the
ethnic history of the Ifugaos in the Cordilleras during the American Occupation, he needs to
validate the claims of his informant through comparing and corroborating it with written
sources. Therefore, while bias is inevitable, the historian can balance this out by relying to
evidences that back up his claim. In this sense, the historian need not let his bias blind his
judgment and such bias is only acceptable if he maintains his rigor as a researcher.
SUMMARY

This module provided us the traditional definition and meaning of history. It covered
The philosophy and methodology of writing history and the moral discipline of its implications.
It provided us the questions and issues confronting history as a field of study in its development
as a subject in the academic discipline. It also enable us to understand the significance and
importance of writing history in the truest sense and most accurate applications.

REFERENCES

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Candelaria, J. P. (2018) Readings in Philippine History, Quezon City, Rex Book Store
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Jusserand, Jean Jules (n.d), The Historian's Work American Historial Association Retrieved
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Llewellyn Jennifer and Thompson, Steven, (2020) What is History? Retrieved August 31, 2020
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McCullagh, Behan C. (2000), Bias in Historical Description, Interpretation, and Explanation
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