Can you remember when you studied history at school or university? Was it that interesting? Most likely, your answer will depend on how your teacher presented the material. If he simply made you memorize certain dates, then it is not surprising that history seemed to you "mortal boredom." However, perhaps everything was not so at all, and your teacher could breathe life into historical science. When he talked about life in ancient Egypt or in the time of Sparta, the historical narrative literally came to life in the minds of inquisitive students. Did it seem to you that historical figures literally came to life in your mind? Well, if that was the case. What's the matter? Why might one teacher's approach be so different from another's? The difference between a good history teacher and a bad one is the same as the difference between dry history and historiography. It turns out that the stages of historiography tend to describe events much more vividly. Like thishappening? Let's find out.
What is historiography?
Historiography is, simply put, the availability of complete systematized information that reveals the essence of a certain direction in history. A simple example can be given. Biblical historiography is a collection of collected information about the Jewish people of biblical times, the availability of relevant research in the field of archeology, vocabulary of the Hebrew language and available scientific discoveries; a clear system of facts on a historical line or evidence that is themed.
If we talk about this type of research as a science, then historiography is a discipline that studies history and its directions. Historiography monitors the quality of scientific research and its clear design. This includes checking the relevance of the information for the researchers for whom it was covered. According to Ozhegov's dictionary, the historiography of history is the science of the development of historical knowledge and the methods of historical research.
The origin of historiography
Historiography is a method of researching history, perfected by Croce, thanks to which it is possible to see the connection between history and philosophy. Why is there a need for this science? The fact is that in addition to observing and recording facts, there is always a need to give an explanation for the events that have occurred. And, as you know, people have different opinions. Therefore, a correct perception of reality must necessarily affect how the story describes its point of view. In addition, Croce great valuegave a modern touch.
Since historical documents are often just a presentation of a purely subjective point of view of the author, which can radically differ from reality, both chronology and the correct approach to research are important. True, these two concepts cannot be called opposites. Rather, they are two completely different points of view. Chronology only tells facts, while history is life. The chronicle is lost in the past, and history is modern at all times. In addition, any meaningless story turns into a banal chronology. According to Croce, history could not come from the chronicle, just as the living does not come from the dead.
Philological history
What is philological history? This is an approach, thanks to which, for example, from several historical works or books you can get one. This technique in Russian is called compilation - combining other people's research and ideas, without independent processing of primary sources. A person who uses this approach does not need to go through a mountain of books, but the end result obtained as a result of such research is of practically no use. We get dry facts, perhaps not always reliable, but we lose the most important thing - living history. Thus, a history based on philology may be true, but there is no truth in it. Those who use this method can and want to convince both others and themselves that a certain document is an indisputable argument in favor of the truth. So they are likecompilers of the chronology seek the truth within themselves, but miss the most important thing. Such an approach can in no way affect the true development of historiography.
One more thing about the origin of historiography
If we talk about what Soviet historiography or any other is, it can be noted that earlier this term meant what it means, namely "history in writing" (graphos - writing). However, later everything changed, and today behind this expression they see the history of history itself. Among those who stood at the origins of historiography, one can name S. M. Solovyov, V. O. Klyuchevsky and P. N. Milyukov. They, like some others, explored both factual assumptions and already proven systems. By the end of the 19th century, scientists had developed the entire palette of scientific historical research. In addition to the researchers listed above, one can name others who brought clarity to the significance of historiography as a science and who described the process of formation of the study of the past using a scientific approach. As we said above, historiography is above the narrow philological view of the world. Rather, it is an attempt to recreate the world as it was hundreds and even thousands of years ago, a desire to penetrate the gaze of thought into those ancient times and even resurrect the life and life of people who lived a long time ago.
The meaning of historiography
The main goal of historiography is a complete understanding of both the past and the present, history as a science. Thanks to it, it becomes possible to determine in which direction it will develophistory, and make scientific research more accurate. Thanks to historiography, it becomes possible to train more experienced specialists in the field of history.
In fact, there would be a huge gap between science and practice if they were not connected by historiography, which turns theory into practical application. In addition, if a professional historian knows well the origin of the science that he researches and teaches, this helps him to be an excellent professional in his field.
Modern attempts to expand the view of historiography
In the past few decades, a lot of efforts have been made to bring a new look at the history of historical science. Among the published literature, one can especially note the collection "Soviet historiography", published in 1996, as well as the book "Domestic historical science in the Soviet era" (2002). We should not be surprised by the special interest in historiography in recent times, since it opens the way to a deeper study of historical science.
Russian historiography
Efforts to better understand Russian history are not a new idea. Years passed, people changed, which means that approaches to learning also changed. Previously, history was studied more in order to discover precedents of the past. However, at all times, Russian historiography was formed under the influence of the philosophy of the time in which the researcher lived. Providentialism, in no way connected with the true teachings of Holy Scripture, served in the Middle Agesthe main engine of the desire to understand history. Then any event or incident was attributed to God's intervention, ignoring the fact that the Bible clearly says: "Man rules man to his detriment." Thus, Scripture indicates that for any turn of events in history, the people who produce them are primarily responsible. Russian historiography has also gone through such non-factual reasoning.
Representation of the Slavs
Although today all the ideas of people that existed in the days of Kievan Rus are not exactly known, but examining the facts, one can still notice that in those days there were many legends and songs that reflect the world of the views of the ancient Slavs. Their ideas about the world around them are fundamentally different from today's. And although there may be grains of truth in them, in general, no one will treat such quirks with confidence. However, one can heed the words of one writer who called all Slavic songs, epics, fairy tales and proverbs "the dignity and mind of the people." In other words, the people who wrote them thought the same way.
However, over time, with the emergence of new historical facts and an increase in knowledge in the field of approach to the study of history, science itself has improved. With the emergence of new points of view and the writing of the latest scientific essays, history has changed and the principles of its research have improved.
Long time attempts at chronology
Reading mostancient scientific works on history, you can notice one interesting characteristic feature - the narration of any events usually began from time immemorial and ended with the time in which the author himself lived. For modern scientists, the information that the historian recorded about the time in which he himself lived is of greater importance, since this information is the most plausible and reliable. A study of the writings of different authors shows that even then there was a difference in the views of different people on the same issues. Thus, different people often had completely different opinions about a particular historical event.
What did we learn?
Thus, we could plunge into the Middle Ages and see how strikingly different approaches to scientific research were compared to our time. We were able to briefly see what influenced the development of history as a science, and considered how the flat scientific method differs from really living research, the door to which opens the scientific approach, known today as historiography. By applying what you have learned in your personal research, you can make your study of history more interesting for yourself and others. The historiography of Kievan Rus or the historiography of Russia is no longer a problem for you.
