ASSIGNMENT NO.

1
Name: Bisma Mehma

Class: BS English (Afternoon)

Roll No. : Lhr 2181

Subject: History

Submitted To: Sir Riaz Toor

Topic: Interpretation of History

Interpretation
An interpretation is one specific view about the past. It is the act of explaining, reframing or
showing your own understanding of something.

Historical Interpretation:
Historical interpretation is the process by which we describe, analyze, evaluate and create an
explanation of past events. We base our interpretation on primary and secondary source.

Interpretation in English:
In English, interpretation means:

 To give or provide meaning of

 Explain
 Construct
 To bring out meaning of by performance or execution

Who is an Interpreter?
An interpreter is a person who translates one language into another. Interpreters convert spoken
or sign language statements from one language into another. Interpreting involves listening to,
understanding and memorizing content in the original source language. This is often done only in
one direction, but may be on two-way basis.

Types of Interpretation:
Simultaneous Interpretation: In simultaneous interpreting, the interpreter must translate
the sentence into target language while simultaneously listening to and comprehending the next
sentence. They process and memorize the words that the source-language speaker is saying now.

Consecutive Interpretation: It is when the interpreter listens to the source-language

speaker and after a sentence or part of speech produces speech to target language for the
audience. It is during a speech, the translator stands next to the caller.

Chuchotage Interpretation: It is a form of interpreting where the linguist stands or sits

alongside a small target audience and whisper a simultaneous interpretation of what’s being said.
The term is French of whispering.

Negotiation Interpretation: the action or process of negotiating or being negotiated. It is

often used in plural.

Validity/Reliability:
1. There is probably no branch of history in which access to source is tricky
2. The main obstacle is the security that every country has over its records.
3. Historians have to wait for almost 30 years to declassify the state papers.
4. Each government publishes its own documents, so they have their own point of
view.

Advantages:
1. The information can be distributed to literate people all over the world.
2. They are more accurate compared to other sources especially oral traditions.
3. They may be written/translated into different languages.
4. There are less biases/prejudices from authors.
5. It is less expensive compared to archaeology.
6. Preserve history and can be used as reference.

Disadvantages:
1. Written history doesn’t really tell what happened. It's a summarized version and
lacks the “feel" of what really happened.
2. Written record requires a lot of time and resources to prepare as compared to oral
tradition.
3. It can easily be distorted as written records are mostly written in English which
recipients much easily misunderstand.
4. It is based mainly on writer’s own opinion.
Examples:
1. Adolf Hitler: There are two main schools of thought regarding to Hitler i.e.

 According to the internationalist, Hitler rose the power because of his

dynamic personality and talent. They also argue that the driving force behind
Holocaust was Hitler.
 Functionalists argue that the driving force behind Holocaust came from
bureaucrats and officials under Hitler.