Scribd
Upload
914 views

Making Sense of The Past:: Historical Interpretation

The document discusses historical interpretation and how historians analyze fragmented evidence from the past. It notes that historical judgments are not factual, but are interpretations based on available evidence. The challenges of historical interpretation are outlined, including how to critically evaluate competing accounts and interpretations from different perspectives to develop a reliable understanding of the past. Multiperspectivity, or considering multiple viewpoints, is important to offset biases and allow for a more comprehensive analysis.

Uploaded by

King Daniel Azurin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
914 views

Making Sense of The Past:: Historical Interpretation

The document discusses historical interpretation and how historians analyze fragmented evidence from the past. It notes that historical judgments are not factual, but are interpretations based on available evidence. The challenges of historical interpretation are outlined, including how to critically evaluate competing accounts and interpretations from different perspectives to develop a reliable understanding of the past. Multiperspectivity, or considering multiple viewpoints, is important to offset biases and allow for a more comprehensive analysis.

Uploaded by

King Daniel Azurin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 17

Making Sense of the Past:

Historical Interpretation
RACHEL ANN M. SURLA
CONTEMPORARY
DEFINITION
HISTORY- its more on how it impacts the present
through its consequences.

Geoffrey Barraclough- study of history on the basis of


fragmentary evidence.
- history is what we read, though based on facts is NOT FACTUAL AT
ALL---- rather a series of accepted judgments.
- HISTORICAL JUDGMENTS of historians as to how history should be
seen is the BASIS OF HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION.
CODE OF KALANTIAW
BEFORE PRESENT
Source of pride of - Considered a HOAX
AKLAN (a historical (1968) by William
marker in Batan, Aklan Henry Scott
was made.
HOW TO UTILIZE FACTS?
1. collect facts from primary
sources
2. draw reading so that intended
audience will understand the
historical event.
ISSUE AS TO UTILIZATION OF
FACTS
-not all primary sources are accessible to a
general audience, and without the proper
training and background, A NON-HISTORIAN
interpreting a primary source may do more
harm than good---a primary source may
even cause misunderstandings.
INTERPRETATIONS OF
THE PAST
- vary according to
who reads the primary
source, when, and
how it was read.
So, what’s the challenge on our
part?
1. we must be well equipped to recognize
different types of interpretations.
2. Why these interpretations may differ from
each other
3. How to critically sift these interpretations
through HISTORICAL EVALUATION.
HOW TO TRACK CHANGES
TO UNDERSTAND THE
PAST?
Let’s do HISTORICAL
EVALUATION!
THINK-PAIR-SHARE
SA AKING MGA KABABATA by Jose Rizal

“Ang hindi magmahal sa kanyang salita/ mahigit


sa hayop at malansang isda.”
HISTORY AS A CONSTRUCT
Things in the past that are true but are considered today
as no longer true.
This will give us the idea that HISTORY IS SUBJECT TO
INTERPRETATION.

What will you do with competing accounts of the past?


CONCLUSION:
Competing accounts can impact our view of history and
our identity. This needs our attention.
It is important to do EVALUATION and not to limit it to
primary sources.
It is important to EVALUATE historical interpretations
PURPOSE: to ensure that the current interpretation is
reliable to support our acceptance of events of the past.
MULTIPERSPECTIVITY
This is a way of looking
at events, personalities,
developments,
cultures, and societies
from different
perspectives.
HISTORICAL WRITING
Is biased, partial, and contains pre-
conceptions.
Historian decides on what sources to use
What interpretation to make more
apparent, depending on what his end is…
Let’s critique historical
writing…
What’s is wrong when
historians look at the evidence?
What’s wrong when
historians look at the subject?
So, what’s the role now of
multiperspectivity?
1. We will understand that historical interpretations contain
discrepancies, contradictions, ambiguities, and are often
the focus of dissent.
2. Multiperspectivity requires incorporating materials that
reflect different views of an event in history--- so it means
there’s a lot more room to investigate. Thereby providing
for more evidence for those truths that the sources agree
on.
So, what’s the role now of
multiperspectivity?
1. It renders more validity to the historical
scholarship.
2. It provides for the audience a more complex,
but also a more complete and richer
understanding of the past.

You might also like