Historian
This article refers to those who study the subject of history. For medical uses of the term "historian
", please refer to Historian (medical) article. For the 2005 book by Elizabeth Kostova, see The Historian.A
historian is a person who studies
history. Although the term can be used to describe amateur and professional historians alike, it is now often reserved for people whose work is recognized in
academia, particularly those who have acquired
graduate degrees in the discipline.
The process of historical analysis is a difficult one, involving investigation and analysis of competing ideas, facts, and purported facts to create coherent
narratives that explain "what happened" and "why or how it happened". Modern historical analysis usually draws upon most of the other social sciences, including
economics,
sociology,
politics,
psychology,
philosophy and
linguistics, in order to ensure these narratives are they will start from the beginning of the world. These prefaces are usually of much less historical interest. While ancient writers do not normally share modern historical practices, their work remains valuable for its insights within its cultural context.
An important part of the job of many modern historians is the verification or dismissal of earlier historical accounts through reviewing newly discovered sources, recent scholarship, or through parallel disciplines such as
archaeology.
Developments prior to the Twentieth century
Although we regularly refer to Ancient writers such as
Herodotus (often called "The Father of History") or
Tacitus (c. 56â€"c. 117) as "historians," their works do not meet the modern standards of impartiality and objectivity. Many of the historians of the past have been called upon to write histories either to furnish a king or a ruling class with a lineage, thereby offering it legitimacy, or to give a people a cultural heritage and sense of identity (see
aetiology). This meant that the works of these historians openly mixed
oratory,
poetry and
literature in a way which is incompatible with the contemporary concern for impartiality and objectivity. This does not necessarily devalue their work, but does require that their efforts be considered within their cultural context.
Herodotus,
5th century BC, is known as "the father of history" for being one of the earliest nameable historians whose work survives. His recount of strange and unusual tales are gripping stories, but not necessarily representative of the historical record. Despite this,
The Histories of Herodotus displays some of the techniques of more modern historians. Herodotus interviewed witnesses, evaluated
oral histories, studied multiple sources and then pronounced his preferred version.
The work of Herodotus covered what was then the entire known world of the
Greeks, or at least the part regarded as worthy of study,
i.e., the peoples surrounding the
Mediterranean. At about the same time
Thucydides pioneered a different form of history much closer to
reportage. In his work,
History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides wrote about a single long conflict with its origins and results; but as it was mainly within living memory, and Thucydides himself was alive at the time of many of the events, there was less room for myths and tall tales.
Much of the groundwork in creating the modern figure of the historian was done by
Montesquieu (1689â€"1755). His wide-ranging
Spirit of the Laws (
1748) spanned legal, geographical, cultural, economic, political and philosophical study, and was hugely influential in forging the fundamentally inter-disciplinary historian.
However, many people regard
Edward Gibbon as the first modern historian, seeing his grand opus
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire as the first modern historical work. It is very interesting to note that some authors (such as Christiansen) regard the ancient Greek author Polybius as the first historian of a modern kind, criticising sources and making unbiased judgements based on neutral analysis.
Twentieth century developments
See also HistoriographyAt the turn of the twentieth century, Western history remained notoriously biased toward the so-called "Great Men" school of history - covering ,
diplomacy,
science, and
politics. This point of view was inherently biased towards the study of a small number of powerful men within the socioeconomical elite.
A pronounced shift away from crude
Whiggish analyses has started, in favor of a more critical and precise perspective. For example, a common myth is that
Thomas Edison invented the
electric light bulb; a traditional American history might highlight Edison's story at the expense of all others. In contrast, a modern history of Edison mentions all his predecessors and competitors, in order to show that Edison's real accomplishment was in engineering the successful commercial deployment of the technology (in tandem with the inventor
Joseph Swann, hence the 'Edi-Swann' company).
Since the
1960s, history as an academic discipline has undergone several revolutions. These changes fostered advances in a number of areas previously unrecognized in historiography. Previously neglected topics became the subject of academic study, such as the history of
popular culture,
mass culture, geographical culture, and the lives of ordinary people.
The main branches of scholarly history during the twentieth century have been threefold;
intentionalism - in which history is defined by one person's planning of an event,
Structuralism (also known as
functionalism), where one person is less important, and manipulated by events and finally the
Synthesis of the two (as postulated by the British historian
Ian Kershaw) which allows elements of the two to be reconciled.
Historians also started investigating histories of ideas surrounding various categories of people, such as women's studies (including an entire branch of
women's history), racial minorities (like
African-American History), or disabled people (eg., a historian might study the construction of ideas about disabled people, and the results thereof, perhaps in a specific historical setting, such as
Nazi Germany).
Today, many historians are employed at universities and other facilities for post-secondary education. In addition, it is common, although not required, for many historians to have a PhD in their chosen area of study. When doing their
thesis for this degree, many turn it into their first book, since continual publishing is essential for advancement in educative professions. There is currently a great deal of controversy among academic historians regarding the possibility and desirability of
neutrality in historical scholarship.
There is also the related expansion in the popularity of history as a subject for television programmes, which has led to the growth of 'super historians' known variously as 'Superdons' or 'Celebrity Dons', who can present their own views to a wider audience. Examples of these would be
Simon Schama or
David Starkey.
The English word "Historian" is derived from the French word "Historien", which is pronounced with a silent "h". For this reason, many people couple the indefinite article "an" (rather than "a") with "historian", ie, "Herodotus was an historian" rather than "Herodotus was a historian". However, since in English usage the "h" in "historian" is clearly pronounced, it is more consistent with the normal rules covering "a" and "an" to use "a".
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Historiography*
List of Canadian historians*
List of chess historians*
List of historians - by name
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List of historians by area of study*
List of historians of the French Revolution*
List of Jewish historiansThe Blackwell dictionary of historians by John Cannon, R.H.C. Davis, William Doyle, Jack P. Greene (Editor). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1988 (ISBN 063114708X).
Encyclopedia of historians and historical writing, ed. by Kelly Boyd, : London [etc.] : Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999
Dictionary of British classicists, 1500â€"1960 by Richard B. Todd (editor). Bristol: Thoemmes Continuum, 2004 (ISBN 1855069970).
The Last Hundred Years of the Roman Republic by Erik Christiansen, 1970, Andelsbogtrykkeriet
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American Historical Association*
Organization of American Historians*
International News Service for Historians.
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H-net Discussion and reviews*
Historians and Philosophers
