CHAPTER 1: Meaning and Relevance of History

A. Meaning and Relevance of History

B. Distinction of Primary and Secondary Sources; External and Internal Criticism

A. MEANING AND RELEVANCE OF HISTORY

HISTORY

➔ TRADITIONAL UNDERSTANDING :
● Study of the past
● Chronological record of significant events often including an explanation of their causes

➔ MODERN UNDERSTANDING :
● Came from greek word “historia” that means knowledge acquired through inquiry or
investigation”
● Sources are oral traditions in forms of epics, songs, artifacts, architecture, memory etc.

“Ang kasaysayan ay SALAYSAY na may SAYSAY sa SINASALAYSAYANG SALINGLAHI”

- Zeus Salazar

PANTAYONG PANANAW ( salazar, 1974)

DIVISIONS OF HISTORY

1. PRE-HISTORY
● period where no written records exist or when the writings of people were not
preserved
● Analyzed through fossils and artifacts by archeologists and anthropologists

2. HISTORY
● Period when man started to write and record events using a system of writing
● Analyzed through wood carves, engraved metals, written papyrus, written
papers.

It is studied by “HISTORIANS’’

ROLE OF HISTORIANS:
● To look at the available sources and select the most relevant for history and subject of
study
● To organize the past that is being created
● To seek for the meaning of recovering the past to let the people see the continuing
relevance of memories (Historical Understanding)
HISTORIOGRAPHY
● “Writings of History” (Historical Writing)
● Based on critical examination of sources, selection of particular details from authentic
materials in those sources and the synthesis of those details into a narrative
● Done through “Historical Research” with the aid of “Historical Methodology”

1. Choosing a topic.
2. Looking for data through Historical Sources.
3. Determining the data as a Primary or Secondary source.
4. Analyze the data through historical criticisms.
5. Writing the entire narrative.

IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY
● To unite a nation
● To legitimize regime and forge a sense of collective identity through collective memory
● To make sense of the present
● To not repeat mistakes of the past
● To inspire people to keep their good practices to move forward
B. DISTINCTION OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES; EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL
CRITICISM

1. HISTORICAL SOURCES
● Produced at the same time as the event being studied (Contemporary Accounts)
● Include documents or artifacts created by a witness or partici[pant of the event
● “Firsthand Testimony”, “Eyewitness accounts”
● It may include diaries, letters, interviews, photographs, newspapers

PRIMARY SOURCES

WRITTEN SOURCES
 UNWRITTEN SOURCES

6 Points of Inquiries to evaluate Primary sources (Garrahan, 1950):

1. DATE - When was it produced?
2. LOCALIZATION - Where did it originate?
3. AUTHORSHIP - Who wrote it?
4. ANALYSIS - What pre-existing material served as the basis for its production?
5. INTEGRITY - What was its original form?
6. CREDIBILITY - What is the evidential value of its content?

2. SECONDARY SOURCES
● Produced by authors who used and interpreted primary sources
● Analyzed a scholarly question and often use primary source as evidence
● Include books, thesis, dissertations, journals, magazines, knowledge of historians
● Written few years after the exact time of the event
 SECONDARY SOURCES

PRIMARY and SECONDARY SOURCES should be evaluated its validity and credibility by
asking these questions:

1. How did the author know about the given details? Was the author present at the event?
2. Where did the information come from? Is it a personal experience, an eyewitness
account etc?
3. Did the author conclude based on a single or multiple source?

In terms of Historical Reliability,

PRIMARY SOURCE:
● The closer the date of creation, the more reliable one.
SECONDARY SOURCE:
● The more recent, the more reliable one.

HISTORICAL CRITICISM
1. External Criticism
● Verification of authenticity by examining physical characteristics; consistency with
the historical characteristics of the time when it was produced, and the materials
used.
● We can ask the following questions:
- When was it written?
- Where was it written?
- Who was the author?
- Why did it survive?
- What were the materials used?
- Where the words used were being used those times?
2. Internal Criticism
● Looks at the truthfulness and factuality of the evidence by looking at the author of
the source, its context, the agenda behind its creation
● It looks at the content of the source and examines the circumstance of its
production
● We can ask the following questions:
- Was it written by an eyewitness or not?
- Why was it written?
- Is there consistency?
- What are the connotations?
- What is the literal meaning?
- What is the meaning of the context?

7 Factors in evaluating through Internal Criticism (Howell and Prevenier, 2001):

1. Genealogy of the document
2. Genesis of the document
3. Originality of the document
4. Interpretation Of the document
5. Authorial authority of the document
6. Competence of the observer
7. Trustworthiness of the observer

Source of
document:https://www.slideshare.net/YosefEricHipolito/readings-in-philippine-history-chapter-1-
meaning-and-relevance-of-history

Author: Yosef Eric C. Hipolito, BA, LPT

Date posted: July 30, 2021