Hey guys, over the History Extension course, you will look at a whole heap of historians, from ancient right through to modern times, and gain a heap of info about their methodologies, purposes, perspectives and prejudices. However, for me personally, whilst it was great to have this extensive bank of historians, I seemed to often fall back on a few from a core group, who I found related to
most questions, and who I could easily use to support my position when approaching the sources in exams. Now, I am by no means an expert or a moderator, but after a lot of hard work I did manage to do very well in this subject, and I thought I would pass on what I found helpful!
So here are the historians, and the quotes, that I loved to pull out in the 'What is History' section.
John Vincent - postmodern position1. "History is deeply male, history is essentially non-young. History is about the rich and famous, not the poor. History favours the articulate, not the silent."
2. "History is about assessing distortions, not copying out truths...distortion is built into the very nature of history."
3. "No evidence, no history, imperfect evidence, imperfect history."
Keith Jenkins - postmodern position1. "History is arguably a verbal artefact, a narrative prose discourse in which the content is as much invented as found, and which is written by present minded, ideologically positioned workers."
2. "The past, appropriated by historians, is never the past itself, but the remaining accessible traces of it."
Eric Hobsbawn - marxist position1. "What historians investigate is real. The point from which they must start, however far from it they may end, is the fundamental distinction between fact and fiction."
E.H. Carr - highly, highly recommend his book 'What is History' - I think Susie does too!1. "facts are like fish swimming around in a vast and sometimes inaccessible ocean, and what the historian catches will depend largely on which part of the ocean he chooses to fish in, and what tackle he chooses to use."
2. “The historian without his facts is rootless and futile; the facts without their historian are dead and meaningless.”
3. “We view the past, and achieve our understanding of the past, only through the eyes of the present”
4. The idea of reciprocity between facts and historian to create meaning
Henry Steele Commanger1. "it is interpretation which is most nearly individual."
2. "Interpretation involves the accumulation of facts, and their skilful organisation, even the most painstaking analysis doesn't guarantee a profound interpretation, that requires judgement, originality, imagination and art."
Keith Windschuttle - empricist position1. "Archive documents have a reality and objectivity of their own. The names, numbers and expressions on the page do not change, no matter who is looking at them."
2. "Historians are not free to interpret evidence according to their theories of prejudices. The evidence itself will restrict the purposes for which it can be used."
Carl Becker1. "The historian must judge the significance of the series of events from one single performance, since the records are incomplete and imperfect...thus into the imagined facts anf their meaning enters the personal equation."
2. "Our imagined picture of the actual event is always determined by our own present desires, purposes, prepossessions and prejudices."
3. "In this wat the present influences our idea of the past, our idea of the past influences the present."
Eric Foner - one of his articles was actually used as a source in a past hsc exam1. "History always has and always will be regularly rewritten in response to new questions, new information, new methodologies and new political, social and cultural imperitives."
2. "That each generation can and must rewrite history does not mean that history is simply a series of myths and legends."
This list is by no means a complete one-stop shop, but hopefully it helps. Ultimately, in Section 1, it is best to draw upon historians who reinforce
your personal position/personal voice on the question. I think that having a personal voice (your own opinion) and engaging consistently/extensively with the source you are given, are the two keys to gaining the most marks possible - so use your historians (and your anlysis of them) to help you achieve these things.