history

1. HISTORY

2. WHAT IS
HISTORY?

3.  IT IS A CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD
OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTS (AS
AFFECTING A NATION OR
INSTITUTION) OFTEN INCLUDING AN
EXPLANATION OF THEIR CAUSES.
HISTORY IS FROM THE GREEK WORD
“ISTORIA” MEANING “INQUIRY”.

4. EVENTS OCCURING BEFORE WRITTEN
RECORDS ARE CALLED PREHISTORY.
 HISTORY IS AN UMRELLA TERM THAT
RELATES THE PAST EVENTS AS WELL
AS MEMORY, DISCOVERY,
COLLECTION, ORGANIZATION,
INTERPRETATION, AND PRESENTATION

5. HISTORY ALSO INCLUDES THE
ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE WHICH
USES A NARRATIVE TO EXAMINE
AND ANALYSE A SEQUENCE OF
PAST EVENTS AND OBJECTIVELY
DETERMINE THE PATTERNS OF
CAUSE AND EFFECT THAT
DETERMINE THEM.

6. HISTORIANS SOMETIMES DEBATE
THE NATURE OF HISTORY AND ITS
USEFULNESS BY DISCUSSING THE
STUDY OF THE DISCIPLINE AS AN
END IN ITSELF AND AS A WAY OF
PROVIDING “PERSPECTIVE” ON THE
PROBLEMS OF THE PRESENT.

7. HERODOTUS, A 5th-CENTURY BC
GREEK HISTORIAN IS CONSIDERED
WITHIN THE WESTERN TRADITON TO
BE THE “FATHER OF HISTORY”, AND
ALONG WITH HIS CONTEMPORARY
THUCYDIDES, HELPED FORM THE
FOUNDATIONS FOR THE MODERN
STUDY OF HUMAN HISTORY.

8. THEIR WORKS CONTINUE TO BE
READ TODAY, AND THE GAP
BETWEEN THE CULTURED-
FOCUSED HERODOTUS AND THE
MILITARY-FOCUSED
THUCYDIDES REMAINS A POINT
OF APPROACH IN MODERN
HISTORICAL WRITING.

9. HERODOTUS
Herodotus (c. 484 – 425/413 BCE) was
a Greek writer who invented the field of
study known today as `history’. He was called `The
Father of History’ by the Roman writer and
orator Cicero for his famous work The Histories but
has also been called “The Father of Lies” by critics
who claim these `histories’ are little more than tall
tales.

10. THUCYDIDES
Thucydides, greatest of ancient Greek
historians and author of the History of
the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the
struggle between Athens and Sparta in the 5th
century BC. His work was the first recorded
political and moral analysis of a nation’s war
policies.

11. METHODS OF
CREATING
HISTORY

12. POSITIVISM
A PHILOSOPHICAL SYSTEM THAT HOLDS THAT
EVERY RATIONALLY JUSTIFIABLE ASSERTION.
IT EMBRACES HUMAN AGENCY IN HISTORY. IT
USES SOURCES TO PROVIDE AND ACCURATE
AND COMPLETE VISION OF PAST. IT ALSO
EMBRACES AND EMPATHETIC APPROACH
TOWARDS PEOPLE IN THE PAST.

13. IT CAN BE SCIENTIFICALLY
VERIFIED OR IS CAPABLE
OF LOGICAL OR
MATHEMATICAL PROOF,
AND THAT THEREFORE
REJECTS METAPHYSICS
AND THEISM

14. NARRATIVE-CHRONOLOGY
USING CHRONOLOGY AS
NARRATION INVOLVES RELATING
EVENTS IN THE ORDER IN WHICH
THEY OCCUR.
A SPEAKER WILL ALMOST
CERTAINLY EMPLOY NARRATIVE
CHRONOLOGY IF HE/SHE USES AN
ANECDOTE.

15. A NARRATION, RATHER
THAN BROKEN INTO
STEPS, IS BROKEN
INTO EPISODES.

16. BIOGRAPHY AND HAGIOGRAPHY
ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION FROM AN
EARLY PERIOD. THE “ILM AL-RIJAL”
OR SCIENCE OF MEN WAS A BRANCH
OF ISLAMIC HISTORIOGRAPHY
VERIFYING THE RELIABILITY OF
HADITH TRANSMITTERS.

17. DIALECT-ANALYSIS
IT IS A PRINCIPAL WAY TO PROBE A THINKER.
THE GOAL OF THE DIALECT ANALYSIS IS TO
GO BEYOND A SUMMARY TO PROBE THE
IDEAS AND VALUES, THEIR SIGNIFICANCE,
AND THEIR LIMITATIONS. IT DOESN’T MATTER
WHAT YOUR FINAL CONCLUSION IS, AS LONG
AS YOU SHOW GOOD DIALECTICAL ANALYSIS
IN GETTING THERE. THE MAIN THING TO
AVOID IS TOO EASY ACCEPTANCE AND TOO
EASY DISMISSAL.

18. A DIALECT ANALYSIS DOESN’T
REQUIRE STRUCTURE, BUT THE
DIALECT NEEDS TO ANIMATE AND
INFORM THE ANALYSIS IN SOME WAY.
IN THIS WAY TO PROBE BENEATH THE
SURFACE. AND IN THIS WAY, YOUR
CONCLUSION IS MORE SOPHISTICATED
AND MORE COMPELLING EVEN IF IT IS
MORE COMPLEX.

19. META-NARRATIVE-TOTAL HISTORY
THE WORKS OF ANNALES SCHOOL
ARE CHARACTERIZED BY A MULTI-
LAYERED APPROACH WHICH SEEK
TO INTEGRATE LONG-TERM, MID
TERM AND SHORT TERM OF TOTAL
HISTORY.

20. A META-NARRATIVE IN CRITICAL
THEORY AND PARTICULARLY IN
POSTMODERNISM IS A NARRATIVE
ABOUT NARRATIVES OF HISTORICAL
MEANING, EXPERIENCE OR
KNOWLEDGE, WHICH OFFERS A
SOCIETY LEGITIMATING THROUGH
THE ANTICIPATED COMPLETION OF
A MASTER IDEA.

21. NEGATIVISM
IT IS AN ATTITUDE OF MIND
MARKED BY SKEPTICISM
ESPECIALLY ABOUT NEARLY
EVERYTHING AFFIRMED BY
OTHER.

22. A TENDENCY TO
REFUSE TO DO, TO DO
THE OPPOSITE OF, OR
TO DO SOMETHING AT
VARIANCE WITH
WHAT IS ASKED.