Historiography: An Introduction

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

Historiography is the study of how history itself is written or handed down throughout the ages. It takes into consideration the various means by which a historical source is formed, such as the credibility of the sources used, the motives of the author composing the history, and its authenticity. Historiography can be regarded as a form of meta-history. In this book the chapterisation is clearly made so as to indicate the meaning, scope and value of history in an exemplary manner. In the middle of the book ancient, medieval and modern historiography have been discussed in detail in chronological order. Moreover, the chapter on Western Historians provides an opportunity to know their contribution to historiography. The contents of this book are arranged chronologically and subject wise.

Dr. Zaker Pathan, is currently working as Head, Department of History, Art Science and Commerce College Badnapur, Distt. Jalna Maharasthtra. Dr. Pathan is a research guide in History. He has guided four Doctoral and seven M.Phil students to successful award of their degree. He is also contributing editor of Binifo International Publication and New Voices Publication. He has chaired many conferences, seminars and workshop as subject expert, at the national and International level. More than 30 of his referred articles have been published in English and Marathi.

Historiography is the study of the practice of history. This can take many forms, including the study of historical method and the historical development of history as an academic discipline. The term can also be used to refer a specific body of historical writing. For instance, "medieval historiography during the 1960s" can be taken to mean the methodological approaches and ideas about medieval history present in written history during that decade. As a meta-analysis of descriptions of the past, this third conception can relate to the first two in that the analysis usually focuses on the narratives, interpretations, worldview, use of evidence, or method of presentation of other historians.

Understanding the past appears to be a universal human need and the telling of history has emerged independently in civilisations around the world. What constitutes history is a philosophical question. For the purposes of this survey it is written history recorded in a narrative format for the purpose of informing future generations about events. The earliest critical historical thought emerged in Greece, a development which would be an important influence on the writing of history elsewhere in the world.

Historiography refers either to the study of the methodology and development of "history" (as a discipline), or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic. Scholars discuss historiography topically - such as the "historiography of the British Empire," the "historiography of early Islam", or the "historiography of China" as well as specific approaches and genres, such as political history and social history. Beginning in the nineteenth century, with the ascent of academic history, a corpus of historiographic literature developed. How much historians are influenced by their own groups and loyalties-such as to their nation state-is a much debated question.