Category: Historiography

Do you think Carlo Ginzburg’s idea of micro-history also contributes to looking at everyday life in history?

During the period between the two world wars, there was a radical departure from the traditional mainstream historiography which mainly focused on high-level politics and diplomacy, warfare, and the lives of great statesmen. On the contrary, they tried to focus on the lives and struggles of ordinary people, their popular forms of protest, their everyday activities, as well as attitudes, beliefs, practices, and customs. The main proponent behind this new field of historiography was the French Annales School and this kind of historical narrative came to be known as the “people’s history”. Some of the important forms of historiography are “history from below”, Alltagsgeschichte (“history of everyday life”), and ‘microhistory’. All these fields of historiography tried to focus on a single individual, community, or remarkable event, breaking through the known boundaries of history writing.

Microhistory is one of the most innovative and contemporary trends in contemporary historiography. The term microhistory started appearing in European history writing in the 1970s in Italy. It not only produced some important disputes in the field of historiography but also reached a broader audience. Its most common characteristic feature is that it tries to study the past on a very small scale. In this sense, microhistory underscores the need for local perspective in understanding global patterns and wider narratives, as well as offering unique insights into phenomena and patterns that may lie outside of macrohistorical narratives or flatly contradict them.[footnoteRef:1] Micro historians are more likely to reveal the complicated functions of individual relationships with each and every social setting and they stress differences from large norms. They tend to focus on the object which did not come under historical scrutiny in a wider context or has already been handled. Themes in micro-history are always obscure, strange, and less known unless and otherwise, it has become the subject matter[footnoteRef:2]. Micro historians also deal with the institutions in power and how they deal with the affairs of the people. To able to illustrate their point, micro-historians have turned to the narrative as an analytical tool or research – method where they get the opportunity to present their findings by which conclusions are reached[footnoteRef:3] – Carlo Ginzburg’s The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller is one of the best examples of this. In my paper, I will try to show how Carlo Ginzburg’s (one of the main proponents of microhistory) idea of microhistory contributes to looking at everyday life in history. For this, I will focus on his noted book, The Cheese and the Worms, a microhistorical based study of the heresy trial of a sixteenth-century miller. [1: ] [2: ] [3: ]

A brief note on The Cheese and the Worms

The book The cheese and the worms by Carlo Ginzburg was published in 1976 and is one of the most exemplary works of microhistory, cultural history, or the history of experiences. In his work, he has highly influenced by the literary practices of Leo Tolstoy in his War and Peace. In this regard he says, “the impetus towards this type of narration (and more generally for occupying myself with history) came to me from further off: from War and Peace, from Tolstoy’s conviction that a historical phenomenon can become comprehensible only by reconstructing the activities of all the persons who participated in it. This proposition, and the sentiments that had spawned it (populism, fierce disdain for the vacuous and conventional his- tory of historians), left an indelible impression on me from the moment I first read it. The Cheese and the Worms, the story of a miller whose death is decreed from afar, by a man (a pope) who one minute earlier had never heard his name, can be considered a small, distorted product of Tolstoy’s grand and intrinsically unrealizable project: the reconstruction of the numerous relationships that linked Napoleon’s head cold before the battle of Borodino, the disposition of the troops, and the lives of all the participants in the battle, including the most humble soldier.”[footnoteRef:4] Michel Foucault’s works on persecution, madness and the oppressive nature of modern institutions as well as the works of Sigmund Freud’s attention on language and hidden meanings and E.P.Thomson’s pioneering work, The Making of the English Working Class were also important. [4: ]

The book goes on to tell us about Domenico Scandella also known as Menocchio who was a miller living in Friuli in the sixteenth century. In 1583, when he was fifty-one years old, he was denounced to the Holy Inquisition for spreading unorthodox views. His inquisitors repelled and fascinated by what he said, questioned him at great length. The interrogations were scrupulously recorded and carefully preserved. The record of this one case is the subject of this remarkable book by Carlo Ginzburg.

Menocchio who considered himself a philosopher, astrologer, and prophet started reinterpreting the bible in his own way and developed an unusual cosmology consisting, of a mixture of materialist, realist, and many other theologies and various adaptations from the books he read which earned him the title of a heretic. He believed that the cosmos was originally a chaos from which order emerged as cheese emerges from the milk. From this ‘cheese’ then emerged ‘worms’, i.e. angels, men, and gods (suggesting the title of the book). He says, “I have said that, in my opinion, all was chaos, that is, earth, air, water, and fire were mixed together; and out of that bulk a mass formed – just as cheese is made out of milk – and worms appeared in it, and these were the angels. The holiest majesty decreed that these should be God and the angels, and among that number of angels there was also God, he too having been created out of that mass at the same time, and he was named lord with four captains, Lucifer, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. That Lucifer sought to make himself lord equal to the king, who was the majesty of God, and for this arrogance God ordered him driven out of heaven with all his host and his company; this God later created Adam and Eve and people in great number to take the places of the angels who had been expelled. And as this multitude did not follow God’s commandments, he sent his Son, whom the Jews seized, and he was crucified.”[footnoteRef:5] He further claims that god is nothing but a little breath at the same time doubting the virginity of Mary and even the divinity of Jesus – “Who did you imagine God to be? God is nothing but a little breath, and whatever else man imagines him to be.”[footnoteRef:6] “What did you think, that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary? It’s impossible that she gave birth to him and remained a virgin. It might very well have been this, that he was a good man or the son of a good man.”[footnoteRef:7] He did not believe that any religion is necessarily better than the other and that the purpose of religion is benevolence and mutual aid and tried to bridge the gap between the dominant and subordinate cultures in early modern Europe – “God the Father has various children whom he loves, such as Christians, Turks, and Jews and to each of them he has given the will to live by his own law.”[footnoteRef:8] He openly questioned the validity of the holy sacraments and further confessed to the church that he wished for a new world and a way of life, because the Church did not act properly and because it was egoistic. His tendency to pantheism and also because of contradiction of his own ideas later, he was finally executed by burning at the stake in 1599 at the age of 67 by orders from Pope Clement VIII. [5: ] [6: ] [7: ] [8: ]

Carlo Ginzburg’s analysis

Through his book, Carlo Ginzburg tries to show us the popular radical religious beliefs in sixteenth-century Italy. Menocchio’s thoughts are a reminder of the diverse of the possible diversity of religious and philosophical views which were prevalent in the medieval rural community. Inspired by the readings of Marxist scholars like Antonio Gramsci, Ginzburg shows us the picture of a literate peasant, Menocchio who rejected the theology of the incarnation and redemption and presented a pantheistic view of god. He instead talked of a “peasant religion intolerant of dogma and ritual and tied to the cycles of nature being fundamentally pre-Christ;”[footnoteRef:9] according to Ginzburg this offered a guide to the bulk of the peasant in their natural yearning for social equality promoting a kind of “mass pantheism” at that time. He argues that there was an oral peasant tradition of “religious materialism.” [9: ]

Another interesting aspect that Ginzburg has tried to show through his book is that early modern popular culture was not completely isolated from or completely dependent on high culture. When the inquisitors questioned Menocchio about the sources of his ideology, he says that he had gained his ideas from many books like The Decameron by Boccaccio, Mandeville’s Travels, and even possibly the Koran. But Ginsburg argues that his literacy does not alone explain the origins of his ideas but it “was the encounter between the printed page and the oral culture, that formed an explosive mixture in Menocchio’s head.”[footnoteRef:10] Instead of only absorbing the texts or ideas of the reformation, he “projected onto the written page elements taken from oral tradition.”[footnoteRef:11] This means along with the printed texts he was also reliant on a “common store of traditions, myths, and aspirations handed down orally over a generation,”[footnoteRef:12] and also resulted in his contradictions later. Ginzburg tries to break our common conception that oral traditions are mainly associated with the subordinate class and written with the dominant class and he tries to show a reciprocal relationship between the two. He argues that “between the culture of the dominant classes and that of the subordinate classes there existed, in preindustrial Europe, a circular relationship composed of reciprocal influences, which traveled from low to high as well as from high to low.”[footnoteRef:13] This in turn he says led to the emergence “a deep-rooted cultural stratum so unusual as to appear almost incomprehensible.”[footnoteRef:14] Thus, he very aptly brings a new angle to the Renaissance or the Reformation era by focusing on the popular culture and religion in early modern Europe. His works have greatly helped in understanding the unknown masses of that time. The book has been rightly hailed as one of the most significant recent contributions to a burgeoning field of study, the popular culture of early modern Europe.

Assessment

The field of microhistory shares some similarities with another branch of the people’s history which is known as Alltagsgeschichte (“history of everyday life”). It emerged in Germany at the same time as microhistory and is sometimes referred to as the German version of microhistory. Despite some differences in their method or use of the sources, they mainly deal with the life and survival of those who have remained largely anonymous in history – the “nameless” multitudes in their workaday trials and tribulations.[footnoteRef:16] However, they are very different in their approach. On one hand, microhistory tries to focus on unique and spectacular events lost in history and unknown to the people at large, whereas, on the other hand, Alltagsgeschichte (“history of everyday life”) focuses on largely unconscious, routine, and repetitive acts in an attempt to reconstruct social relationships and daily transactions – which, they believe, are themselves the key to understanding historical development. But in the works of Carlo Ginzburg, we see a complex amalgamation of both of these disciplines. That said, microhistory and other accounts of everyday life frequently seem to make two rather contradictory claims. One is about strangeness (and therefore distance and difference), the other about familiarity (and therefore closeness and similarity). In the preface to the English edition of The Cheese and the Worms Ginzburg speaks first of how ‘Every now and then the directness of the sources brings [Menocchio] very close to us: a man like ourselves, one of us,’ but in the very next paragraph he writes ‘But he is also a man very different from us’. [footnoteRef:17] [16: ] [17: ]

In his book The Cheese and the Worms, he has tried to focus on the smaller and lesser-known event of the trial of an Italian miller Menocchio for spreading his heretical and blasphemous cosmology by the Roman inquisition which deals with the field of microhistory, he also tried to show the popular religious belief which was prevalent during that time which is obviously related to the field of Alltagsgeschichte (“history of everyday life”). It was during the time of the reformation that the people of the subordinate classes, harassed by the corrupt practices of the Roman Catholic Church were highly influenced by the ideas of Martin Luther and the other reformists. They wanted to break out of the Orthodox Church which has been shown by Ginzburg through his portrayal of Menocchio. His teachings showed some traces of the influence of reformism, and before his trial, he also said that at his own death, “some Lutherans will learn of it, and will come to collect the ashes.”[footnoteRef:18] He further represents the struggle of the peasants to go pre-Christ, as Ginzburg argues about the formation of an autonomous current of peasant radicalism, which the upheaval of the Reformation had helped to bring forth, but which was much older.

Another aspect of Alltagsgeschichte (“history of everyday life”) in his work is that tried to focus on the literary tradition of the popular peasant culture at that time. He has done this by showing a reciprocal relation between the subordinate peasant culture and the dominant higher culture. Through his portrayal of Menocchio, Carlo Ginzburg has thus tried to focus on some of the everyday life factors of the peasant cultures during that period. As he has argues that “a life chosen at random can make concretely visible the attempt to unify the world, as well as some of its implications.”[footnoteRef:20] However sometimes in having to generalize from the available evidence, historians like Ginzburg have tended to depict a uniform mass culture in which there is little room for individual differences. While Ginzburg’s remarkable book has received widespread acclaim, not all historians praising it would agree with all aspects of its argument, even if they might assent to its general conception of the direction in which historical research should go. For another thing, for Ginzburg, we have a written text while for Menocchio we have only a putative “worldview” pieced together inferentially based on two inquisition registers.[footnoteRef:21] Still, Ginzburg’s approach can be seen as part of a general concern among students of everyday life for small things and discrete particulars, a preoccupation going back to the brilliant essays of Georg Simmel but also found in the writings of Walter Benjamin and Siegfried Kracauer (whom Ginzburg speaks of as an indirect ‘influence’). They focused on ephemera, fragments, anecdotes (the literary form that punctures narrative), ‘insignificant details’, and ‘superficial manifestations to achieve what Benjamin called ‘profane illumination.’

Course Description:

In this course, students will break down the Spanish Civil War into two main sections. The first section will give students a general overview and fundamental understanding of the Spanish Civil War. The second section of this course will invite students to take a deeper analysis and examination of multiple participants in the conflict.

Proposal:

The adage that history is written by the victors is often used, but never has it been less correct than in the case of the Spanish Civil War. A majority of the historical literature on the subject has been around the “lost cause” of the failed Republican state rather than the victorious Franco regime. An examination of the Spanish Civil War allows an in-depth analysis of the war, as well as an analysis of how the war is perceived or looked at by current and past historians or societies. This course will be an effective historical pedagogy because it gives students exposure to in-depth historical analysis and historiography. This is key because this class will give students, both undergraduate and graduate, an experience that will help set them up for success in their future as historical scholars if they so choose.

The Spanish Civil War is a valuable topic for students to develop an understanding around for several reasons. The Spanish Civil War is often neglected, glossed over, or entirely omitted from many historical courses or discussions because the Second World War is a much more lucrative and global topic for examination and dissection. The Spanish Civil War offers a wide variety of questions and subjects for consideration, representing everything from gender and sexuality relations to military technologies and everything in between, there is generally a subtopic or focus for everyone to enjoy or find valuable. This course will assist in giving students the tools and experience with the historiographical analysis that they will be able to apply in other courses to great effect. As educators of history, we can hardly ask students to have already mastered all the myriad tools and skills as graduate students, much less as undergraduates. As there are many facets, factors, and actors to this conflict, there are many relatively easy ways that students can apply and test their skills without needing to spend an inordinate amount of time and research on a more difficult topic.

The start of this proposed course will entail an overview of the Civil War at the beginning of the semester before transitioning into a more in-depth analysis of various actors and participants in the War. I chose to divide the study of the Spanish Civil War in this manner so that students who are not familiar with the Spanish Civil War or the actors, or even those who are, will have the opportunity to take a more in-depth examination of various aspects of the Civil War before moving into examining the repercussions that it left. Having a foundational overview, in the beginning, will also allow me to ask students, particularly graduate students, towards the middle and end of the semester to examine the historiography of the articles and books that were used. In particular, I am curious to see what students think of my decision to go with Michael Alpert‘s Republican Army over other choices.

Discussions will be 35% of students’ overall grades with either an incomplete or complete grade, as long as students are participating in a meaningful and significant manner, they will receive a “complete.” Discussions are given such a high impact on students’ grades so that they will both be taken seriously, as well as highlight the significance and value of historical discussion and discourse without any “right” or “wrong” answers. I am a firm believer that students who truly engage and participate in discussions will come away with a deeper understanding of the topic at hand, as well as testing out thoughts in a small and contained version of the marketplace of ideas.

The first section of the class will focus primarily on an overview of the Spanish Civil War to build content familiarity for students, as well as time for them to process and put some of the information that they are reading through different historical lenses and perspectives. It is in this first section of the class that students will read Michael Alpert’s Republican Army and several different historical essays and writings that will allow them to have some level of understanding of the events of the Civil War. Alpert’s book is a general account of the Spanish Republican Army that will give students a perspective of those fighting in the war. While this choice does limit the viewpoint and narrative that students will be exposed to, I intend to encourage dialogue and discussion from students on the biases and omissions. This type of discussion is predicated on Sam Wineburg’s historical reading as both a rhetorical artifact and a human artifact. Students will be asked to discuss Alpert’s intentions, motivations, assumptions, and worldview when he wrote this book. Michael Alpert’s book is accessible through the Axe Library as an e-book, which will not incur any additional costs for Pittsburg State students, a fact that I am sure many students will appreciate.

Alpert’s book will be supplemented with several articles, with an emphasis on either looking at the Civil War from a different group’s perspective or looking at the Civil War from different aspects. Mackay brings some historiography to the topic to enhance students’ comprehension and give them several more tools to use when performing historical analysis. The other provided articles offer students different perspectives on the course and motivations of the war. I think these different perspectives will be valuable for students in understanding that there is more than one “truth” depending on the point of view of the author. Completing the overview, students will be provided with two articles outlining the political parties as they were seen in 1936.

The first assignment that I will ask students to do will be a short book review based on Michael Alpert’s Republican Army. I am going to have a minimum of around 1000 words for undergraduate students and 1500 for graduates, with more of an emphasis on historiography for the graduate students. I will be asking students to do this book review for two main reasons, the first being that it is great practice for historical writing, as well as a starting point to gauge potential growth. Secondly, students will utilize their critical examination regarding Alpert’s book to have a meaningful discussion following completion. The book review will be worth 20% of students’ grades based on a 5-point scale. The work will be graded on completion, critical thinking, and demonstrating comprehension of the topic. All students will be asked to display and share their reviews while graduate students will be asked to present some details about their historiography so that undergraduate students have a chance to begin familiarizing themselves with the concept.

As part of the second portion of the class, students will be reading Abel Paz’s Story of the Iron Column: Militant Anarchism in the Spanish Civil War, translated by Paul Sharkey, Christopher Othen’s Franco’s International Brigades: Adventurers, Fascists, and Christian Crusaders in the Spanish Civil War, as well as several articles; including Thorpe, McLellan, Sanchez, Rolfe, Navarro, and Sullivan. These works will assist students in understanding the experiences, motivations, and perspectives of several different actors and participants in the Civil War. Paz’s accounting of the Iron Column is an interesting first-hand account of some of the activities of one of the more radical militant anarchist groups, of which Paz and his historical work are very representative. Paz goes through some of the lore and campaigns of the Iron Column which provides an excellent and very unorthodox approach to history that most students will be familiar with. The last section of the book goes into more detail about resistance by the Iron Column and other more radical groups to integration into a larger army with different political goals. This diverging of political goals and the resistance it caused speaks to some of how and why the Republic fractured and failed to resist Franco. Othen provides a counterpoint to Paz by giving examples and perspectives of a wide variety of people who chose to fight for Francisco Franco and the Nationalist regime in opposition to the Republican coalition.

I chose these books to be the focus of the second half of the class as they will hopefully inspire and incite questions that will lead to more in-depth discussions. Paz and Othen do incur a modest cost, the lowest available being $9.99 each on Google Books for an electronic version, and I feel this is justified in the unique perspectives these two books offer.

The second major assignment that all students will complete is another book review, this time based around either Paz’s Iron Column or Othen’s Franco’s International Brigades. I will require undergraduate students to have approximately 1500 to 2000 words for their book review, although if they do go above 2000 words while still giving a high-quality piece, I will not penalize them. Graduate students will be asked to remain between 2000 and 3000 words and will have more emphasis on looking deeper at Paz’s biases and blind spots. Graduate students will prepare a presentation of their work, whether that takes the form of discussion groups, lecture style, or other media that reflects appropriate instructional methods, to share with the class. This paper will be worth 25% of students’ grades, both graduate and undergraduate.

The final paper that I will be asking undergraduate students to write will be to write a position paper on some of the major causes for a Franco victory in the war. I will be relatively loose on this assignment and am not necessarily looking for the “right” answer insomuch as for the effort and thought put into research and writing the paper. This paper will be worth 25% of students’ grades including a brief discussion and description of their paper on the final day.

The second portion of this class will delve more into the various actors across the two major factions, or loose coalitions, of the Civil War. At the start of this section, I will require the graduate students to begin writing their final papers. Graduate students will have two different options for their final paper, also worth 25% of their grade, either an in-depth analysis and discussion of a single group that participated in the war or a comparison and contrast of two groups participating in the war. Students will be able to choose from the following list: Ejército Popular, Popular Front Coalition, CNT-FAI, UGT, Generalitat de Catalunya, Ezuko Gudarostea, International Brigades, FET y de las JONS, Requetes/CT, CEDA, Renovacion Espanola, or the Army of Africa. I am very open to any student who would like to discuss any group that was not mentioned, as long as they can give some justification as to why they chose it. I am giving students these options as I feel I will get a higher-quality paper if the student feels passionate about the chosen topic. I will be looking for a discussion on the political, social, and military aspects of the chosen group(s). This paper will be at least 2500 words and graduate students will be asked to present their work during the last week of class in any manner that reflects appropriate instructional methods. The graduate students will be graded upon their in-depth analysis of their chosen group(s) with a focus on looking more at the role that gender, race, class, or religion played in their group.

After re-reading Wineburg several times, I wanted to highlight the most influential passage for my grading ideology; “In her view, factual knowledge and interpretation are bound together, so interwoven that it is impossible to disentangle the two.” Here Wineburg mirrors my thoughts on what is valuable for students to learn and understand from a history class, either undergraduate or graduate. To be clear, I am valuing the interpretation and analysis work that the students will be creating, particularly through various lenses, rather than solely focusing on the strictly hard-factual papers that many undergraduate classes require. I will be grading students based on their understanding and ability to interpret, analyze, and communicate their work. This more interpretation-focused rubric necessitates a slightly looser structure than if I were solely looking for the “dates and names.” Students will be graded based on a 5-point scale. Grades will be broken down as follows, 5 (90-100%) Exemplary is work that goes above and beyond given expectations, 4 (80-89%) Exceeds Expectations is work that exceeds expectations in several given criteria, 3 (70-79%) Meets Expectations is work that meets several however did not meet all given expectations, 2 (60-69%) Does Not Meet Expectations is work that shows some effort but did not meet the criteria, 1 (1-59%) Unsatisfactory is work that shows very little effort and does not meet any expectations, 0 (0%) is for work that is not turned in.

The expected outcomes for this class for undergraduate students include brief experience with historiography, extended experience with historical scholarly writing, and the opportunity to see what graduate papers entail and can manifest as. This experience and knowledge will help work in other classes and identify those students who would pursue graduate degrees in history. For graduate students, the class will allow for more practice in in-depth historical analysis, research, and writing skills. Graduate students will also gain and refine their experience in public speaking through formal presentations. Beyond these skills, I am hoping students will be able to walk away with more understanding, and more questions, about the Spanish Civil War. Class Activities and Assignments:

Class activities will be centered around weekly discussions of provided articles as well as assigned readings. Discussions are designed to promote critical and inquisitive thinking by individuals and groups. Students will be asked to contribute at least one substantive piece to the discussion, as well as several other contributions that helped progress or develop the discussion.

Both undergraduate and graduate students will be expected to complete and turn in three (3) assignments. While graduate students will have the same number of papers as undergraduates, they will be asked and expected to display more analysis and thoughtfulness in the crafting of their arguments and papers. In addition, graduate students will be asked to prepare a short presentation of their papers and findings for undergraduate students.

1. The first paper will be a book review of Michael Alpert’s The Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War: 1936-1939 and should be between 1500 and 2000 words. Graduate students will be asked to go more in-depth with their analysis and have more of a discussion on the historiography and human rhetoric of Alpert than the undergraduates will. By this, I mean that graduate students will be expected to discuss at length the influence that the worldview or perspective of the authors may have had on their writings and arguments.
2. The second paper will consist of another book review, this time students have the choice of either Abel Paz’s The Story of the Iron Column: Militant Anarchism in the Spanish Civil War, or Christopher Othen’s Franco’s International Brigades: Adventurers, Fascists, and Christian Crusaders in the Spanish Civil War. This review will again be between 1500 to 2000 words. Graduate students will be asked to examine Paz’s or Othen’s work as both rhetorical and human artifacts as described by Sam Wineburg.
3. Undergraduate students will be asked to complete a position paper for their final paper. This paper will be between 2000 and 3000 words and will ask students to explain why Franco was victorious, or why the Republican cause failed.
4. Graduate Final Assignment: Graduate students will be asked to complete both of the other papers and will be tasked with writing an analysis or comparison of one to two splinter groups within the Civil War from the following list: Ejército Popular, Popular Front Coalition, CNT-FAI, UGT, Generalitat de Catalunya, Ezuko Gudarostea, International Brigades, FET y de las JONS, Requetes/CT, CEDA, Renovacion Espanola, or the Army of Africa. Students can choose another participant in the conflict that was not present on the provided list but must give justification for their choice.

Abstract

History writing or Historiography is a study of historical writings means the art of writing history or the history of history. like many other disciplines, it was begun in the late 18th century. However, history writing is as old as humankind. Certainly, historians of the ancient past had a sense of history writing of their precursors.

Introduction

The term ‘history’ is derived from the Greek word ‘Istoria’ meaning inquiry, research, exploration, investigation, or information, and in the broad sense history is a systematic account of the origin and development of civilization, a record of the unique events and tendencies in its existence. in Arabic, the word history is written as “tarih” which is derived from the verb verraha succeeding from the word yeah in Ethiopian and Hebrew. It means determining the time and chain of incidents. Thinking and learning are what distinguish us from other elements. The most significant thing about learning is to learn more about our previous blunders. We live on this beautiful planet every day but knowing about our predecessor’s past actions enhances our proficiency.

“The past resembles the future more than one drop of water resembles each other”

Asserting this Ibn Khaldun emphasizes the importance of history in a nutshell. The acquired knowledge and familiarity of civilizations preserved artifacts, souvenirs, and scriptures. Later generations learned from the precise recordings of past incidents are in fact very important for the future. Processing of historical records and attitude towards its recording needs investigation.

Evolution of Arabic tradition of history writing

The beginning of the Arabic tradition of history writing is still a debatable point. At the end of the 19th century, historians ascertained the hypothesis that its root is in Persian and Arabs had no historical sense though Arabic historiography started in the second half of the eighth century under the Abbasids.

The need for history writing was not neglected by Arabs historians. During or after the times of the prophet Muhammad, Muslims in particular, Arabs had an interest in “gahiliyyah” mainly in the relative way to the reformation of Islam. As the availability of sources is rare at that period, one of the main purposes of grabs linguists was to preserve and protect it from the corruption of none Arab people. One of the advantages of this campaign is that this led to a collection of Oral traditions that are widely popular among the Arabs and in the fiction sources historians looked upon the oral sources.

They separated facts from popular legends and fiction, However, they took the trouble to segregate historical diamonds from the dust, stones, and pebbles.

The Early Arabic History Writing

The origin of history writing in Arabic is laying the first stone in the Quran and Hadis which is furthermore known as prophetic tradition also. It created a historical sense among the Muslims and it grew stronger with time one of the tough jobs is to verify the authenticity of the tradition, the teachings of the Quran life of the prophet, and Arabic terminology spoken and written during the prophet. The beginning of Arabic historiography was traced to be in the second century of Islam.

Eighth and Ninth Century Historians:-Method of history writing

A substantial amount of historical literature was produced by Muslim scholars in the 2nd century of Islam. The oral tradition was critically examined by prolific historians. These prolific writers and historians were inspired by the prophet Muhammed to compile their endeavor on history, the information contained within was carefully analyzed, and facts were segregated, From the oral, popular legend, and fiction.

Ali bin Muhammad al-madainiMadaini was one of the most prominent writers at that time he had composed hundreds of books and his work on the history of the caliphate and monographs on the history of Basra and Khurasan was very important for future historians. He gained fame for his work, however, none of his other works survived except for the history of the caliphate and monographs on the history of Basra and KhurasanMuhammad bin Omar al Waquidi

Inspired by Al-Madini, Waquidi Composed Some important works that left sustaining and critical accuracy of historical knowledge for future historians. Waquidi History was written in a plain narrative style. He died in 823 A.D. but his famous work “Kitab al- maghazi gives a brief account of the campaign led by the prophet.

Ibn sad wrote about the edicts, letters, and copies of the agreements available in that particular period. He was also inspired by al-madainiRosenthal, A History Of Muslim Historiography, 1968, Pp66-71

Historiography Development in Arabic History Writing pp7

Ahmad bin yahya Al- BalazuriBalazuri assembles all the important information that he collected from different sources in one place. He revised and eliminated inauthentic facts, and data from his work. His work Fatuh al baldan shows that before its ending it was more voluminous. He emphasized the Arab conquest of the nonarab lands in that particular time period. He mentions the life and achievement of the prophet and the significant events takes place during the time period of the caliph. He mentioned the conquest of Iran, makran, and Sindh provinces of India. He distinguished political events and accounts of conquests. Balazuri was one of the few writers of that specific period who mainly intensified the work, profession, and socio-economic and political condition/ participation of the common people. Through his work, one can certainly find some evidence about the social structure, job, need, and participation of the common people. In fact, in modern times, prolific writers or historians want to know about the condition of the lower strata of society. Like the representation of women in the political system, and the condition of women in that particular period. There are a lot of puzzles that were indeed left. While Describing Northern Balochistan called Hainan in that period mentioned the breeding of horses and emphasized the importance of horses in the warfare that was prevalent in those civilizations.

Tenth Century Historians:- Method and Style A tradition started with the work al-TabariAl Tabari prepared a mixture that is ahbar and isnad method and also mentions about the city monographs His Work Kitab Ahbar or Tarikh Al rasul wal muluk( that’s known as the history of the prophets and kings. he was one of the expert scholars of the prophetic tradition his work mentions the creation of the cosmos till his own time. He tried to utilize the sources as possible as he can, with an annalistic style of arrangement he categorized the reign of the rulers of that particular time period that’s why it looks more like a dynastic history book He mentioned the creation of the universe and the other cosmological activities that were in fact based on the oral tradition.

He verified all the evidence that he included in his work. He briefly mentioned the socio-religious changes brought up by the Islam

However, he didn’t drop his reputation in later times but his work was enhanced, broadened, supplemented, and outlined by his followers. Prolific writers like ibn Al asir used his work on the complete history and expanded on it over the last three centuries. This clearly shows the influence of the work of Tabari upon future historians.

Another tradition that is tabakat in the same period occurred in the bibliographical histories these works flourished as a result of the all types of sciences that were present in the Islamic period. That was also known as the era of the great debate.

One of the most disadvantages of these types of work is the difficulty in finding what we are looking for. One must require a great deal of knowledge to find out what type of article or biography he wants from these types of books. In fact, after the 12th century collected work get widespread in the Arabic Islamic scientific literature many authors, writers, and historians, and work consisted of many volumes about knowledge in each branch of general history tradition that came from al-tabari tradition.

However, ibn Al jawzi’s work is more comprehensive than its predecessor in two ways. For one events and reports were presented in the biographies of the caliphs Second, in the administrative history of the caliphate. One of the most important works is the obituary summaries given each year with the simplicity of the records in the widespread history section.

Musudi was the junior contemporary of Al-Tabari. Musudi was one of the intellectuals who enters Arabic Historiography. Al musubi is in fact privileged to be reckoned amongst the major Arabic historians. Musudi was not just a historian but he was also a geographer in his own way. He gained this precious proficiency through his voyage.

Musubi added a new dimension by combining geography with the history he added one of the reasons he has given by supporting his argument that human history exists in a definite environment that’s why it is crucial to add geography to history to know about the historical reason present in that specific period or the specific environment. He described the specific environment of the particular country with the history of the people in his work.

In his work “muruj al-zahab” which means “meadow of Gold”

Masudi often relinquishes in Cosmographical theory borrowed from the earlier works.

His one of main contributions was the implementation of the results of his wide voyage and journey, personal observation of history, and the recognition of cause and effect in the related phenomenon.

Al Masudi was the precursor of ibn Khaldun, one of the renowned late fourteenth-century arab historians. He was considered a philosopher of history and known as the father of modern sociology. Al Masudi Muruj Al Zabab was based on certain theoretical foundations that reflect the method and purpose of history.

All these made early Arabic historiography rich both in content and quality. It led to scholars to acknowledge it as a science in its own way. From the third to the sixth century of the Islamic era. A large number of historical works had been written. These also include one of the most important works of history of different regions of the Islamic world in fact local histories were now created in the third century of Islam.

One of the most significant development takes place in the fourth century of Islam because the recording of political history passed mainly into the hands of officials and courtiers. They mainly use official documents and their own personal contact. The information provided by these officials was more reliable but one of the problems is that they largely focus on the actions of the ruler and the occurrences in the judiciary. All these made early Arabic historiography rich both in content and quality.

Development in the later period

A new trend of dynastic history writing emerged in the later period. Now the rulers began to recruit historians to write the history of their dynasty. The subject matter of such historical texts that were produced under the sultan’s or local rulers is more political than politico-religious. Religion was brought up by them in the time of specific objectives. Sultan’s God-fearing nature was praised by the Ulama who was known as the religious divine. This led to the growth of history writing in Arabic in the 11th century to glorify the actions of sultans for the cause of Islam.

Philosophy of history: Ibn Khaldun:- Ibn Khaldun was not a scientist not yet a philosopher, he was not either a great historian but he was one of the greatest

The theoretician of history studied history with a sociological approach. According to Ibn Khaldun, the objectivity of history is the comprehension of humans’ social status which is civilization. His book was written in seven volumes his first volume was an introduction to his book Muqaddimah. A preface attached to his introduction gives us in detail information about the system, sources, and methodology of his work. The six other sections deal with the study of the community from its different perspectives.

Section one describes the civilization generally, and Section two of his work compares nomads and settled living of the period. His objective analyses the political, social, and economic factors underlying the establishment of political units and the evolution of the state.

Section three sums up the foundation of order and administration. Section Four compares rural and urban life. Section Five portrays diverse professions although section six discusses various sciences

The main difference between his work and his predecessor was predecessors began from the global conception of human society but ibn Khaldun began from the conception of human association.

His principles are not theocentric. Treats religion as no more than one factor, he mentioned that laws of the state may be derived from the religion but the state abstracts itself in practice from the whole compass. And follows its own aim. The state only exists for the protection of people and to ensure order in the kingdom.

Ibn Khaldun added that he was not an irreligious man but he was a great devout Muslim. He tried his best to reconcile the ideal developments of the sharia with the feet of history.

He deeply believed that economic prosperity and development can be achieved if the ordinances of the sharia are observed carefully.

The muqaddimah basically held foundational work for the schools of historiography, cultural history, and the philosophy of history.

Conclusion

Inspired by the Quran and hadiths Arabic scholars began history writing in the 8th century which is the 2nd century of Islam. Apart from the Quran and Islamic texts a lot of efforts were made to collect the material from the oral tradition and written material. The main theme of the Arabic scholars was the life activities and warfare of the prophet and their followers along with these themes dynastic history, history of religion, and conquests were taken up by the sultans and local rulers, and with the growth of dynastic his became an important part of the later Arabic historiography. Even after ibn Khaldun no prominent figure in the Islamic world brought a new method of history writing. Historiography as a field formed at this time as a separate field. Sometimes it is very difficult for historians to understand the scientific activities of the past by using today’s scope. To get a more thorough conclusion one needs to study panegyric literature, poetries, travelogues and many manuscripts related to history need study.

Bibliography

1. E Sreedharan, A textbook of Historiography
2. Rosenthal, A History of Muslim historiography
3. Historiography Development in Arabic History Writing

Introduction

Philips (2005, pp.16-17) claims that “the authority vested in the word of the dominating view of Australian history is deemed to be unchallengeable, not because it is beyond question, but simply because it has been reinforced by repetition and written text over the centuries”.

Despite the fact that historical texts have been repeated and re-written for centuries, through historiography, new historical understandings, historical inquiry, and critical evaluations of historical events being developed, Australian history can be challenged. The Australian history curriculum is built from historical knowledge, inquiry, and skills. The history curriculum focuses on teachers teaching the historical content, whilst encouraging questioning and critical inquiry to create personal interpretations and different viewpoints on these historical events by the students.

Students learn and understand history by developing, understanding, and putting into place the 7 historical concepts: Evidence, continuity and change, cause and effect, significance, perspectives, empathy, and contestability. As stated in the ‘Teaching humanities & social sciences’ textbook, describing and explaining continuity and change are the key processes in history, meaning the subject itself is created from not only historical knowledge but from thinking critically and using your imagination to place yourself within historical events (Gilbert and Hoepper, 2017). The above claim from Phillips, therefore, does not fit into the Australian Curriculums History content, due to the history subject being based on critical inquiry and examination of historical events and occurrences from the past. The open-endless to Australia’s history creates an open door for contestability and challenging perspectives. Furthermore, it is possible that some events recorded in Australia history are going to be challenged, reevaluated, and have the possibility of being taught as more of an opinion or belief, rather than a fact or actual occurrence.

1. How does the curriculum document position teachers to treat the history of Australia?

The Australian Curriculum incorporates history as a sub-strand of HASS (humanities and social sciences) suitable for years P-7. This HASS strand is then divided up into two interrelated strands of history, 1: ‘Inquiry and skills’, and 2: ‘knowledge and understanding’. The inquiry and skills strand positions teachers to trigger students’ imagination and to relate historical events to the students every day lives. This is done in the Primary school years by asking posing questions, such as questions about the students’ family histories, aiming to establish a connection for the students to understand where they come from and where they are today. This aims to help students develop respect for their family, ancestors, and networks around them. The inquiry and skills stand also positions teachers to question the students about the years that have passed or the world that existed before our generation was born, using this as a comparison to how the world surrounding us today was created. This contrast compares places, objects, events, and people, enabling students to think critically about these changes. In this sub-strand students then will learn how to research past events, investigating further into the past, the present, and the future of Australia, with the importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and people being educated to the students.

The knowledge and understanding strand allows students to develop their own understandings of history through teachers implementing the key concepts: continuity and change, cause and effect, perspectives, empathy, and significance. Students then learn to use these key concepts to develop their own understanding of how things continue to change, how things/events occur, what is/was the cause of this occurrence, what other cultures or people’s perspectives on past/present events are (taking into consideration the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders perspectives) and thinking empathetically about those who lived through these events. To develop students understanding, critical questions can be asked by the teacher such as ‘how would people of the past live compared to how we live today?’ ‘how has the world around us changed? (Continuity, change, perspectives, empathy), ‘how can we show respect to these historical sites and the Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander communities?’. This strand solidifies the importance of history and the importance of showing respect and caring for historical objects, sites, and communities around Australia.

The Australian Curriculum, therefore, positions teachers to teach history as a process of inquiry, developing students’ curiosities and imaginations. Through investigations of historical events, critical thinking, group discussions, and inquiry thinking, students can use problem-solving skills to interpret the information, leading to students becoming curious and full of questions. From this, students will develop a great understanding for humanity, creativity, purposes, and values. (ACARA, 2015). ‘Through studying Humanities and Social Sciences, students are given opportunities to develop their ability to question, think critically, solve problems, communicate effectively, make decisions and adapt to change’ (ACARA, 2019). Teachers teaching the history of Australia will be aiming to build students’ curiosity and imagination, educating students on how to make informed decisions, reflect on decisions and events in the past, value and appreciate their surroundings, and solve problems. (ACARA, 2019).

2. How might an understanding of historiography affect teachers’ interpretations or treatment of Australian History Topics?

Historiography investigates historical occurrences and recordings on a particular subject, not only through investigation of documentation from the past but also from what historians have also written about the past. Historiography summarises different opinions, descriptions, and arguments on the topic, establishing connections between each one. This summarises the occurrences of what actually happened, highlighting the major occurrences and descriptions, whilst also highlighting certain aspects that have been recorded through history that possibly are contradicting or do not make sense. From this, critical examination and questions about the past can occur, leading to one developing stronger views and beliefs about the historical occurrence. Historiography may lead teachers to become unconfident in teaching certain content due to the debate or uncertainty of some occurrences written in Australian history. The contradictions through historiography have led people to think, as George Santayana has famously stated ‘history is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who weren’t there’ Gilbert, Hopper (Gilbert and Hoepper, 2017). Though teachers teaching the content may feel the content is questionable, backing up George Santaynas’s statement, teachers can create fantastic inquiry questions from these events, allowing students to think critically about the occurrences and problem-solve the event to form their opinion of what actually happened. Although history and historiography is examining historical events, it also allows one to reflect on this information and develop curiosity, interest, and respect for the past, places, cultures, and history in itself. ‘Through understanding different perspectives that historiography brings; teachers can create inquiry questions from events involving indigenous and non-indigenous perspectives’ (ACARA, 2019).

3. What knowledge and skills do teachers of primary school History need to promote inquiry into a historical event or period from Indigenous and non-indigenous perspectives and why is this important?

The knowledge and skills teachers of primary school history need to promote inquiry into a historical event relate heavily back to knowing historical content, teaching different perspectives, and using reputable resources for teaching history content. When educating students about historical events, the teacher must follow the Australian curriculum, taking into account other cultures’ perspectives of certain historical events. Teachers must have pedagogies suitable to encourage students to think about different perspectives and how these perspectives have impacted people in the past, and how they may still be impacting some cultures or people today. This is taking into account other cultures’ histories and developing knowledge and respect for these cultures. Due to history being an inquiry and critical thinking-based subject, encouraging students to see history through others’ eyes is very important, so they can develop their own understandings and interpretations of all elements of history. History as a subject requires not only the students to be engaged, curious and active learners; it requires the teacher to remain engaged, busy, passionate, and integrated by the content they are teaching. Due to the majority of teachers coming from non-indigenous backgrounds/heritage, learning how to promote inquiry into a historical event or period from Indigenous and non-indigenous perspectives could prove difficult. To help with this barrier, teachers are often encouraged to seek education and advice from local communities to learn, appreciate and grow respect for their culture. ‘Understanding indigenous identity requires an appreciation of this complex set of relationships to kinship groups, language, stories, and place. The Australian Curriculum Cross-curriculum Priority emphasizes all of these’ (Gilbert and Hoepper, 2017). Teachers of primary school History need to be educated about the Indigenous and non-indigenous historical events with special notice taken to the perspective of each culture. Teachers need to be educated about the conceptual history framework used by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. This framework contains historical information, elaborating on the key concepts of Country/Place, Culture, and People. Having knowledge, understanding, and empathy towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures is important so history can be taught in a way that respects the culture and their past. ‘The use of primary and secondary sources, including oral histories, gives students opportunities to see through multiple perspectives and to empathize and ethically consider the investigation, preservation, and conservation of sites of significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ (ACARA, 2019)

Without having this prior knowledge of history or cultural history, teachers may find the content much harder to teach or may not teach historical content in a respectful or empathetic way. Without having prior knowledge of these, teachers may find their students do not have a great understanding of not only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, but they may not develop an appropriate level of empathy or understand different perspectives well enough, due to the teacher’s lack of knowledge on the topic. “A lack of teacher understanding of the Aboriginal perspective has ramifications for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. Rose (2012) explained this impact: ‘Education overtly suppressed and devalued all aspects of Indigenous knowledge. The ramifications of this cultural and historical suppression embedded in a regenerative curriculum overflowed, affecting not only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people but also non-Indigenous people, who were denied access to significant knowledge of the land on which they now live. (Rose, 2012, p. 68) It is, therefore, clear that an understanding of Aboriginal perspectives is beneficial for all Australians regardless of their background” (Booth, 2019)

4. What strategies and resources can teachers use to help learners build their historical literacy?

The term ‘historical literacy’ describes history as a developmental tool for enhancing literacy skills. Historical literacy is the main learning goal of history, indicating a successful understanding of historical words and knowledge that will lead to an understanding of history itself. ‘Through the critical study of historical texts, students can gain knowledge on authorship, accuracy, credibility, and representativeness of written texts, assisting development in literacy’ (Gilbert and Hoepper, 2017). Historical texts, due to their complexity, help to develop reading/writing skills and help students understand different story perspectives when comparing different historical texts. Historical literacy can be categorized into different skills that are needed to thoroughly understand historical literacy. These include:

• Events of the past – Knowledge of historical events
• Narratives of the past – People who have recorded history, understanding different perspectives and how things have changed over time
• Research skills – Researching, finding and analyzing evidence for use
• The language of history – Understanding language from the past
• Historical concepts – Understanding historical events’ cause and effects
• ICT understandings – Researching and evaluating historical documents on technology devices
• Making connections – Connecting the past to our present today
• Contention and contestability – Understanding perspectives and historiography
• Moral judgment in history – Understanding morals and ethical views in historical events
• Applied science in history – Understanding science and technologies effects on history
• Historical explanation – using historical reasoning, synthesis, and interpretation to come to an explanation for historical events (Taylor, 2019)

Teachers educating students whilst building student’s historical literacy and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can use the following strategies and resources to build their own and the students’ historical literacy:

• Educate themselves on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and histories
• Engage in local cultural information centers and events
• Gain knowledge from local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• Develop a strong and respectful relationship with students and their families, including families with different cultures and languages
• Participate in local cultural events to gain respect and understanding
• Educate themselves on historical events and historical literacy and words
• Support students with learning historical events
• Break down large historical words and relate these words to students
• Relate historical events to students and describe familiar events with students using historical literacy to assist them in learning new words

Using the above strategies and resources, teachers are ensuring they have a thorough understanding of historical events and historical literacy themselves before teaching students.

5. How can teachers help students understand contestability and build respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories?

Contestability: “History by nature is open-ended, in other words, historical explanations are provisional and often highly debatable at professional and public levels” (Fahey, 2012). This claim by Fahey describes history as a subject full of contestability and unanswered questions. Historians from the past have created their own historical documentation based on their experiences and perspectives from the time of the event. Historiography has brought many of these texts together, opening the door to contestability. Although contestability is only implemented into the 7 historical concepts from 7-10 of the Australian Curriculum, it is inevitable to be integrated into the lesson from either the teacher’s or the student’s curiosity. ‘Every year in the curriculum offers opportunities to study historical events about which different people have different viewpoints. Students might doubt the worth of a subject that cannot seem to produce the truth. But contestability is a strength, not a weakness’ (Gilbert and Hoepper, 2019). When contestability arises within the classroom it is important for the teacher to explain to the students that history as a subject is created from the past peoples’ perspectives, which we can learn from, but have no further evidence for. From here, the teacher can focus on igniting the students’ imaginations and testing them on what they think actually happened. This leads to inquiry and critical thinking within the classroom. ‘The contestable nature of history helps prepare students “to make important decisions about challenging questions for which there are no easy answers” (Gilbert and Hoepper, 2017).

Building respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories is important, particularly when it comes to contestability. It is important to educate students to be respectful of the people who own this land and educate the students on the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Ensuring students understand the connection that these people have with Australia, the land and many sacred places around the country is vital for building respect for the people who own this land.

References

1. ACARA (2019). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/cross-curriculum-priorities/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-histories-and-cultures/
2. ACARA (2019). Rationale, https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/humanities-and-social-sciences/hass/rationale/
3. Booth, S. (2019). Teaching Aboriginal curriculum content in Australian high schools, https://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=2523&context=theses
4. Gilbert, R. and Hoepper, B. (2017). Teaching humanities & social sciences, pg. 50-150, 200-222, 381
5. Taylor, T. (2019). Civics | Teaching historical literacy: the National History Project, https://www.civicsandcitizenship.edu.au/cce/expert_views/teaching_historical_literacy_the_national_history,9323.html
6. Amber Rae #12074381 EDCU12042 History Curriculum & Pedagogy

Only eleven days after the new year celebration around the world in 2019, a girl from Saudi “escaped” from her family. She locked herself in a Bangkok airport hotel room since the Thailand government “confiscated her passport and were holding her Sunday…”, according to the CTV news published on January 6 by Grant Peck and Aya Batrawy. This news drew attention from the public all around the world since fleeing means a violation of a series of laws in Saudi. It is about life and death. Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun, the ran away girl, claimed that her male relatives tried to force her to marry and to stay in the room by beating her, using death threats, and cutting her hair. Then, she turned to requesting asylum in Canada by claiming her male relative abused her and punish her for no reason. Rahaf provided her copy of her passport and name to provide proof of her existence at the beginning of the runaway. She then got asylum from Canada and became a refugee living in Canada. But how does the world deal with this girl?

In the article published by CTV news from Canada, besides Rahaf’s case, two paragraphs include a former woman who tried to escape from Saudi Arabia who failed and “was not publicly hear from again”, which amplifies the horrible situation that women are suffering in Saudi Arabia. The news by Peck and Batrawy also took a period of the interview, which stress on “fear of repercussion”, exposing some inhuman places which will return the refugee women to home or Saudi Arabia will be let in involve this case as its’ laws. This shows a denouncement from a “civilized” country that is objected to the “rude” and illiberal civilization. From a former fugitive to Rahaf, the crude situation was never changed. CTV news could be concluded as the news which draws the historiography of a superior culture in western countries, blaming the inhumane actions that would happen to Saudi Arabia women.

Rahaf’s action was encouraged by Washington Examiner in their newspaper on January 12th, which was called “Brave new Canadian”. In the passage, the associated press states that her action highlighted women’s rights and their situation in Saudi Arabia since this is not the first case in which “…women fleeing abuse by their families have been caught trying to seek asylum aboard in recent years and returned home.” It draws the picture of Canada supports the human right throughout the world, encouraging the fleeing actions in Saudi Arabia which were accused by having no women rights and crude. By implying the unfairness of women’s rights and the disrespect of basic people living conditions in Saudi, the Washington Examiner probably would like to reveal impartiality, urging Saudi Arabia to give back women’s rights like western countries did.

This news from America and Canada stated their point on the attention of human rights, which is considered moral and lenient compared with the central Asia countries. By including sentences like “Several other countries, including Australia, had been in talks with the U.N.’s refugee agency to accept Alqunun”, countries were trying to assert their benevolence and kindness to the world. However, on the other side, this news is lack evidence since the girl did not provide any evidence of how her relatives abused her and used the death threat. Instead, she used Twitter to reveal her life, making people consider whether it is true. Also, considering the women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, if there are so many persecutions happening here, why Rahaf’s case drew so much attention?

On the other side, the newspaper which shows the strong moral and justice idea according to this news made historiography that their country is superior to Saudi Arabia and its’ related countries in central Arabia. Apparently, they have biases on the human right since they think helping the girl is the right choice that could help her out from her horrible life but none of them consider interviewing Rahaf’s family and collecting the evidence to prove her right.

Thailand newspaper, the Bangkok Post published an article also on January 6th, pointing out some additional information from an immigration chief from Thailand about how Rahaf is lack “further documents” like ticket and money and considered her case as a family problem which would lead to sending back Rahaf on Monday morning. By claiming Rahaf “appealed for help from Western countries willing to help her,” Bangkok Post urges that this girl have no relationship with Thailand’s authority and the only reason she had been caught was lacking further documents; her case is just the little problem between her and her family, we can solve it by sending her back. Thus, we could conduct that the Thailand government has an extremely neutral standpoint on Rahaf’s case which means it tackles this problem in an even-hand manner. In the passage, we could see that there are no moral or benevolence words but just analyzed the restriction rules and arbitrary situation that happened in Saudi Arabia. Different from the news published by CTV and Washington Examiner, Bangkok’s post remains the tone of fairness, like the spectator of a football game who waiting for the teams’ changing tendencies. By including the evidence of restriction in Saudi Arabia, Bangkok Post stands on both sides of the standpoints of Western countries and Central Asia: confirming the runaway is true and not using excessive fustigation simultaneously.

In another passage from Erem News, by Riyadh from Abu Dhabi, declared that “Rahaf Mohammed, has announced that she is abandoning her Islamic faith and turning to atheism won international acclaim and received the sympathy of international human rights organizations, has responded to widespread calls for intervention…” The totally different tone from western countries, which believed Rahaf is a defector who betrayed her faith and homeland. The news emphasized that Rahaf became a civilian who seeks refuge from enemy countries that discredit their ethnic. By affecting by historiography, people who read this news are deeply impressed by the unethical conduct and the shame. In the fact, Central Asia has the largest population of Islam faith which allow them to participate in everything daily with their belief, they also have high social honorary and esteem. A girl like Rahaf will be blamed if she made a huge mistake, bringing shame to her nation. People would no longer accept a former resident who accused the whole nation of abusing and depriving right from women.

According to the news from western, well-developed countries, there would be more places for publicizing human rights, enlightened ideas, and welfare for citizens. Also, they would intensify the seriousness of losing human rights in Saudi Arabia, which sets an example of caring, and humanism. The greater image they establish, the more inhumane actions originated from Saudi Arabia. The distinguishing comparison tells that women have a tough life in Saudi. Enhancing the international standing and strengthening the indispensable tie with human rights, CTV news and Washington Examiner achieve their goal of declaring justice around the world. What they expect to see is a bias that will lead to allegations toward countries like Saudi.

Observing from the opposite angle, Thailand is a country that has the right to repatriate refugees to their native country. In Rahaf’s case, Thailand plays a neutral part which persists in its own law. Many roles join this case after it happened: the UNHCR, the Thailand diplomatic official, and the embassy of Saudi Arabia. As the place where the incident happened, Thailand insists to publish the fact without bias, reviving the truth from multiple resources.

Observing a tone of contempt in Erem news’ passage, I believe that no one would tolerate a traitor who betrayed one’s country, family, and faith. On the one hand, the news demanded Thailand government deport Rahaf as a Saudi requirement, supporting the idea that traitors should be punished. On the other hand, emphasizing that Rahaf got the sympathy all around the world embodies that Rahaf’s action is unworthy of getting any sympathy since she is indiscreet in her conduct: traveling without a male guardian (husband or father), demanding help from an enemy country and abandoning her faith by seeking patronage. The way Erem news uses faith comes first, which is totally different from other countries. What is more, I believe that why this become different is the different pattern of culture: Wester countries advocate democracy and equal rights among humans, but Islam countries follow their faith to stay organized, being systematical by adhering to a belief.

From the above articles, we could learn a few things about historiography, bias, and how to run a media. First, historiography is defined as learning the history of writing history. When we publish an article like Rahaf’s case which have special meaning to human history, we have to be aware of publishing bias which could establish misunderstanding and blind faith about a race or a region. I believe that the news with bias may contain deliberately distort content toward the enemies, their countries, and their unique culture which is not expected by well-developed countries. In the class, I have learned so many cases of historiography in history which contains unreliable opinion but are widely believed by folks. By understanding the reason why these cases were known to all, I think, to avoid the bad perspective toward certain regions or races, people should stop publishing the article with historiography. Second, bias is a terrible idea that could be seen almost everywhere. We all have biases that could allow us to distinguish people: from good guys to bad guys, from beautiful to ugly, and from good quality to bad quality. People have their own rules to catalog things as they want which produces bias. Just as Hamlet says, “There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people’s eyes.” I consider that people are individuals which live separately, we have the right to produce conflicts and solve them since we are all different. We should not blame others just because they have different faith and lives from us. Instead, tolerating the dissenting opinion is what we should do. If we have to do the media job one day, understanding the truth, publishing the truth, and being respectful of the truth should be the code of conduct among the media veteran. Starting with understanding the truth, making allowances for others’ difficulties is so important in modern society since vicious slander and harboring malice are normal for contemporary people who always infer that the world is bad. However, good people appear everywhere, aren’t they? Like people who save homeless dogs or the ones who help elders across the street. Media workers should insist to publish the truth which should not be distorted since they have a responsibility, to tell the truth, the first time, that is all their job. Publishing the truth is the core of media: civilians should have the right to know what the news is about and how should they deal with it. No matter how the public responds to this truth, the media is a platform used as a beacon tower: sending information, and allowing people to reference it. Thus, media plays such a vital role in public life which we cannot ignore it.

Comparing the news we could find the difference among countries: how they tackle political incidents, how they deal with their relationship between faith and life, and how the media treat their public. Rahaf is just one of the many cases that various countries that have different attitudes toward different aspects. Since none of us could control what should a whole variety of media do, we should start from ourselves to reduce the bias, fix the historiography and do better in writing the next period of history.

Work Cited List

1. Bangkok Post Public Company Limited, AFP. “Saudi Woman Held at Bangkok Airport ‘Fears Death’ If Repatriated.” Https://Www.bangkokpost.com, 6 Jan. 2019, 21:45, www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1606362/saudi-woman-held-at-Bangkok-airport-fears-death-if-repatriated.
2. Associated Press. “’Brave New Canadian’: Runaway Saudi Woman Reaches New Home.” Washington Examiner, 13 Jan. 2019, 18:00, www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/brave-new-Canadian-runaway-Saudi-woman-reaches-new-home.
3. Peck, Grant, and Aya Batrawy. “Saudi Woman Runaway Held in Thailand While Fleeing Family.” CTVNews, 6 Jan. 2019, 14:40 PM, www.ctvnews.ca/world/saudi-woman-runaway-held-in-Thailand-while-fleeing-family-1.4242456
4. Riyadh. “Saudi Girl Rahaf Mohammed Announces Her Atheism amid Conflicting Stories about Her Fate.” Https://Www.eremnews.com/, 6 Jan. 2019, 21:49, www.eremnews.com/news/arab-world/saudi-arabia/1634058.
5. Arabian Page which should see the printed translated version

History is the study of change over time, and it covers all aspects of human society. Politician, Social, economic, scientific, technological, medical, cultural, intellectual, religious and military. The developments are all part of history. Professional historians usually specialize in a particular aspect of History, a specific time period, a specific approach to a date or a specific geographic area. The word ‘history’ has many meanings. It can mean everything that happened in the past. This isn’t very useful, because until we have a time machine, we can’t know everything that happened. Thus the second definition: history as a written record of what happened in the past or in other words, history is what historians write. But historians usually refer to their body of writing as historiography rather than histories.

Historians who write history emphasize the value of primary sources.They actually date back to a certain period of time, with an understanding of the limitations of these sources. Non-Historians read books or watch documentaries, while historians do this and go to archives in search of them original records. Historians who write list all the sources they used in their footnotes and bibliographies their business. This helps other scholars interested in finding those sources, and shows that The author is careful, thorough, and gives honest credit for the author’s original information. History novels.

From chaos comes order. We seek to understand the past by identifying and arranging ‘facts’; From these narratives we hope to explain the decisions and processes that shape our existence. We may even glean patterns and lessons to guide us but never really define our responses to the challenges we face today. History is the study of people, actions, decisions, interactions, and behaviors. It is a very compelling subject because it encapsulates themes that reveal the human condition in all its manifestations and that resonate through time, strength and weakness, corruption and tragedy. Nowhere are these themes more evident than in political history, and they remain the core of the necessary and most important field among the myriad methods of studying history. However, political history has become archaic, and thus its reputation has been erroneously portrayed as archaic and irrelevant. History essay writing can be a powerful tool; It has shaped identities, particularly at the national level.

Furthermore, it gives those who control the narrative the ability to legitimize or discredit actions, events, and individuals in the present. However, rallying history and sending it into battle just to serve the needs of the present is abuse and abuse. History should not be a weapon at the heart of culture wars. Alas, again, it is clumsily used by those who deliberately seek to impose a clear ideological agenda. History has become a maid of identity politics and self-flagellation. This only reinforces the weak one dimensional understanding of the past and constantly reduces the usefulness of the field. History stands at a crossroads. You should refuse to follow the trend of the times.