{"id":154,"date":"2023-03-13T15:38:02","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T15:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppschis1220ushistsincecivilwar\/chapter\/module-4\/"},"modified":"2023-04-27T22:39:59","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T22:39:59","slug":"module-4","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppschis1220ushistsincecivilwar\/chapter\/module-4\/","title":{"raw":"4.1 Historiography","rendered":"4.1 Historiography"},"content":{"raw":"Historiography is the study of historical writing. More simply put, it is the study of how historians have written history over time. As Professor Robert Hatch reveals, \u201cit also involves the history and biography of historians, the context in which they lived and wrote, and not least, the assumptions, philosophies, theories, and methods they used.\u201d<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a> All historians are human beings, subject to personal biases, influenced by the culture in which they live, and also the limitations of their knowledge about history. As new documents and ideas become available, and as recent events shape our thoughts, interpretations of history change. One of the important things any study of history must be able to do is evaluate the work of historians, their point-of-view, and message.<\/span>\r\n
\r\n\r\nHistoriography has existed since Ancient Greece, perhaps earlier. It is only in modern times that it has been given its own name. \u201cDuring the last fifty years it has woven itself into the fabric of graduate study, tied as it is to the major current of thoughts since the Enlightenment, whether philosophic, political, or ideological. Arguably, historiography has always played a key role in training potential historians.\u201d2<\/sup><\/a> While past events never change, our interpretation of these events, and thus our understanding of history does. It is important, therefore, for scholars to consider how history was written at a given time through the lens or perspective of the historian. Thus history is always evolving.\r\n\r\nThere is a trite saying that \u201chistory is written by the victors.\u201d This is true to some extent, though it is more accurate to say that history written by the victors is preserved. In the modern world with our plethora of information from all roles, historiography has become even more important to understand. As Jennifer Llewellyn and Steve Thompson tell us \u201cOur understanding of the past is not immune to criticism, challenge or revision. One must also understand the critical difference between historical facts \u2026 and history\u2026.\u201d3<\/sup><\/a> The role of the historian is to interpret historical facts and make sense of them. Historiography then is the study of how the historian has interpreted these facts, providing the criticism Llewellyn and Thompson identify.\r\n
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Historians are required to answer several specific questions when interpreting history, particularly:<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

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