- "Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline."
The ongoing debates among historians about the interpretation of specific historical events or processes, and the different perspectives that shape these debates.
Primary sources: These are sources from the time period being studied—things like letters, diaries, newspaper articles, and government documents. They provide firsthand accounts of events and are often used as evidence in historiographic debates.
Secondary sources: These are works written by historians after the fact, analyzing and interpreting primary sources. They often reflect the perspectives and biases of their time and place, and can be the subject of historiographic debates in themselves.
Objectivity: Historians strive to be objective in their work, but the notion of objectivity itself has been the subject of debate. Some argue that pure objectivity is impossible, while others believe that it is necessary to strive for it anyway.
Interpretation: All historical work involves interpretation, as historians try to make sense of what happened and why, based on the available evidence. Different historians may interpret the same evidence differently, leading to various historiographic debates.
Perspective: Historians bring their own perspectives to the study of history, whether based on their personal experiences or their cultural and intellectual backgrounds. These perspectives can affect their interpretations and conclusions.
Historiographical schools: These are groups of historians who share certain approaches and assumptions about history. Examples include the Marxist and feminist schools of historiography.
Periodization: The way historians choose to divide history into periods can affect how they interpret events and develop arguments. Different periodizations can lead to different historiographic debates.
Revisionism: This is the practice of re-evaluating established interpretations in light of new evidence, or of challenging the dominant perspectives of a particular historiographical school or era.
Nationalism: Nationalist perspectives can shape how historians study and interpret history, particularly when it comes to questions of identity, power, and legitimacy.
Postmodernism: This is a theoretical approach that challenges the idea of objective truth and emphasizes the role of language, power, and subjectivity in shaping historical narratives.
Multiculturalism: This is the idea that history should be studied from multiple perspectives, and that the stories of marginalized or underrepresented groups should be given equal weight.
Gender: The study of gender in history has become increasingly important, as historians have come to recognize the ways in which gender has affected power dynamics, social roles, and cultural norms throughout human history.
Race: Likewise, the study of race in history has become a major focus, as historians explore how racial categories have been constructed and used to justify power imbalances, as well as how people of color have resisted oppression throughout history.
Social history: This approach focuses on the lives, experiences, and struggles of ordinary people, rather than on elites, rulers, or other power holders.
Intellectual history: This approach focuses on the ideas, beliefs, and cultural values that have shaped historical periods and events.
Economic history: This approach emphasizes the role of economic factors and institutions in shaping historical developments.
Political history: This approach emphasizes the role of political actors, institutions, and processes in shaping historical developments.
Environmental history: This approach focuses on the ways in which human societies have interacted with and affected their natural environments throughout history.
Public history: This is the study of how history is presented and consumed by the general public, and how it is used to shape collective identity and memory.
Memory studies: This is the study of how individuals and societies remember and forget historical events, and how memories of the past affect present-day social and political issues.
Interpretive debates: These debates center on different interpretations of historical events, people, or cultures.
Methodological debates: These debates focus on the different methods and approaches used by historians to conduct research and write history.
Theoretical debates: These debates revolve around broader theoretical questions about the nature of history and historical writing.
Epistemological debates: These debates are concerned with the nature and limits of historical knowledge.
Historiographic debates related to memory: These debates focus on the ways in which collective memory is constructed and transmitted, and how it affects our understanding of the past.
Historiographic debates related to gender: These debates explore the ways in which gender has shaped historical narratives, including the role of women in historical events and the historical exclusion of women from the historical record.
Historiographic debates related to race: These debates examine the ways in which race has influenced historical narratives, including the role of racial categories in shaping historical events and the historical exclusion of non-white perspectives from the historical record.
Historiographic debates related to nationalism: These debates center on the role of nationalism in shaping historical narratives, including the construction of national identities and the ways in which historical events are interpreted to support nationalist narratives.
Historiographic debates related to imperialism: These debates examine the ways in which imperialism has influenced historical narratives, including the use of history as a tool of colonialism and the marginalization of non-European perspectives.
- "The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians have studied that topic by using particular sources, techniques, and theoretical approaches."
- "Scholars discuss historiography by topic—such as the historiography of the United Kingdom, that of WWII, the pre-Columbian Americas, early Islam, and China—and different approaches and genres, such as political history and social history."
- "Beginning in the nineteenth century, with the development of academic history, there developed a body of historiographic literature."
- "The extent to which historians are influenced by their own groups and loyalties—such as to their nation state—remains a debated question."
- "The Histories of Herodotus, the founder of historiography."
- "The Roman statesman Cato the Elder produced the first Roman historiography, the Origines, in the 2nd century BCE."
- "Sima Tan and Sima Qian in the Han Empire of China established Chinese historiography, compiling the Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian)."
- "Medieval historiography included the works of chronicles in medieval Europe, Islamic histories by Muslim historians, and the Korean and Japanese historical writings based on the existing Chinese model."
- "Figures such as Voltaire, David Hume, and Edward Gibbon, who among others set the foundations for the modern discipline."
- "There has been a shift away from traditional diplomatic, economic, and political history toward newer approaches, especially social and cultural studies."
- "From 1975 to 1995 the proportion of professors of history in American universities identifying with social history increased from 31 to 41 percent."
- "The proportion of political historians decreased from 40 to 30 percent."
- "Of 5,723 faculty in the departments of history at British universities, 1,644 (29 percent) identified themselves with social history and 1,425 (25 percent) identified themselves with political history."
- "Since the 1980s there has been a special interest in the memories and commemoration of past events—the histories as remembered and presented for popular celebration."