READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

WHAT IS HISTORY?
DEFINITION AND SUBJECT MATTER
HISTORY
• Derived from the Greek word historia which means “knowledge acquired
through inquiry or investigation.”
• as a discipline, it existed for around 2,400 years and is as old as
mathematics and philosophy.
• Was then adapted to classical Latin and historia became known as the
account of the past of a person or of a group of people through written
documents and historical evidences. This meaning stuck until the early parts
of the twentieth century
• Became an important academic discipline
THE MEANING OF HISTORY
Excerpts from Understanding History: A Primer of Historical Method by Louis
Gottschalk (1950, New York: Knopf, p. 17
The English word history is derived form the Greek noun istoiα, meaning
learning. As used by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, history meant a systematic
account of a set of natural phenomena, whether or not chronological factoring was a
factor in the account…. In the course of time, however, the equivalent Latin word
scientia (English, science) came to be used more regularly to designate non-
chronological systematic accounts of natural phenomena; and the word history was
reserved usually for accounts of phenomena (especially human affairs0 in
chronological order.
By its most common definition, the word history now means, “the past of
mankind.” …
DUTY OF HISTORIANS

• write about the lives of important individuals like monarchs,

heroes, saints and nobilities.
• write about wars, revolutions and other important
breakthroughs.
• they live with the mantra of “no document, no history” which
means that unless a written document can prove a certain
historical event, then it cannot be considered a historical fact.
PROGRESS OF HISTORY
• it opened up to the possibility of valid historical sources, which were not
limited to written documents, like government records, chroniclers’
accounts, or personal letters.
• Giving premium to written documents essentially invalidates the history of
other civilizations that do not keep written records.
• Restricting historical evidence as exclusively written is also discrimination
against other social classes who were not recorded in paper.
• This loophole was recognized by historians who started using other kinds
of historical sources such as oral traditions in forms of epics and songs,
artifacts, architecture and memory.
PROGRESS OF HISTORY
• history became inclusive and started collaborating with other disciplines
as its auxiliary disciplines for example:
• with the aid of archaeologists, historians can use artifacts from a bygone era to
study ancient civilization that were formerly ignored in history because of lack of
documents.
• with the help of linguists, historical evolutions were traced as well as past
connections among different groups and flow of cultural influence by studying
language and the changes that it has undergone.
• scientists like biologists and biochemists can help with the study of the past
through analyzing genetic and DNA patterns of human societies.
QUESTIONS AND ISSUES IN HISTORY
• Historiography- the history of history.
- different from history’s object of study is the past, the events that
happened in the past and the causes of such events while
historiography’s object of study is history itself(how was a certain
historical text written? Who wrote it? What was the context of the
publication? What particular historical method was employed? What
are the sources used? )
-lets the students have better understanding of history because they
are provided with the understanding of the facts and the historian’s
contexts, the methods employed by the historian and the theory and
perspective, which guided him.
-significant for someone studying history because it teaches the
students to be critical in the lessons of history presented to him.
QUESTIONS AND ISSUES IN HISTORY
Various roles of history in the past
1. States use history to unite a nation- it can be used as a tool to legitimize
regimes and forge a sense of collective identity through collective memory.
2. Lessons from the past can be used to make sense of the present. Learning of
past mistakes can help people to not repeat them.
3. As a narrative, any history that has been taught and written is always intended
for certain group of audience. When the ilustrados like Jose Rizal, Isabelo
delos Reyes and Pedro Paterno wrote history, they intended it for the
Spaniards. Americans wrote narratives to justify their colonization of the
Philippines.
QUESTIONS AND ISSUES IN HISTORY
One of the problems confronted by history is the accusation that the history is
always written by victors. For example, the history of the Second World War
in the Philippines always depicts the United States as the hero and the
Imperial Japanese Army as the oppressors. However, a more thorough
historical investigation revealed a more nuanced account of the history of
that period instead of a simplified narratives as a story of the hero versus
villain.
POSITIVISM
-the school of thought that emerged between the 18th and 19th century that
believes empirical and observable evidence is required before one can
claim that a particular knowledge is true.
-also entails an objective means of arriving at a conclusion.
-the mantra “no document, no history” stems from this very truth.
-positivists historians are also expected to be objective and impartial not
only in their arguments but also on their conduct of historical research.
POSTCOLONIALISM
-the school of thought that emerged in the early twentieth century when
former colonized nations grappled with the idea of creating their identities
and understanding their societies against the shadow of their colonial past.
-looks at two things in writing history:
1. to tell the history of their nation that will highlight their identity free
from that of colonial discourse and knowledge.
2. to criticize the methods, effects and idea of colonialism.
-is therefore a reaction and an alternative to the colonial history that colonial
powers created and taught to their subjects.
WHY STUDY HISTORY?
-An examination of the past can tell us a great deal about how we came to
be who we are. It means looking at the roots of the modern institutions, ideas,
values and problems.
-looking at the past teaches us to see the world through different eyes-
appreciating the diversity of human perceptions, beliefs and cultures.
Different and/or new perspectives will enable us to analyze critically the
present contexts of society and beings.