What Is History? By Edward Hallett Carr: Reflection And Personal Opinion

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I am reflecting my views and perceptions on the book what is history? By Edward Hallett Carr. We do ask the question “What is History? ” to ourselves and it seems very easy but hard to answer. Understanding history is really complex and every historian had their own point of view over what is history? Over the last centuries, many historians had came up with their own definitions for what is history but no fixed and particular definitions. The idea, one historian had proposed is denounced by another historian, the fact, one generation had written is been criticized by another generation. So, we are left in a midway to construct our own definitions for history. In a critical assessment of the historical studies, E.H. Carr’s book what is History? Introduces and generates its readers especially to me the particular overwhelming interest in knowing what history in depth and in border sense is. Carr begins it by criticizing the common misconception that history is just about gathering facts. As propounded by Carr “history is an unending dialogue between the present and the past and the chief function of the historian is to master and understand the past as a key to the understanding of the present.” I had a great time reading his book, learning the importance of recognizing the study of history and view on historical facts as the interpretation of historians.

Reflection

What is History?

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“The study of efforts of mankind in order to control nature and the source of production.”

19th-century German philosopher Karl Marx had proposed the above definition of history and it will be guidelines for my easy. Marx had proposed the theory of Marxism, an economic system in which the government will control all resources and means of production forming a classless society. This was later criticized by many scholars and historians. Marx failed to take the selfishness and greediness of people in account to his theory and it is not applicable in real world. Carr attacked Marx’s idea on politics and claimed that it was motivated by “Mindless class hatred”. Marx only looked at history from the economic point of view and it seems more of economic theory than history.

History is not history without valid reasons and evidence upon it. The history that we study as fact today is all the work of historians in the past who interpreted events in their own ways. We consider all the events written in the past by someone to be all true and fact, but all of it was not true. It depends on how we look at it and our understanding from it and most importantly our interpretations on it. Everybody can write history on anything with given reasons and authentic justifications. To know history in real sense we must study the historians first before the historical events. It is impossible to write history in neutrality without being biased. Our main intention of learning history is to know what actually had happened in real and true in the past. So we had to critically analyze whether history is made or born.

History that is validated and considered fact in the past is now seen to be not true and unfair. This is because the interpretations, notions, cultural, and society during certain time is no more at present life. Carr therefore, reached to the point that the historian “belongs not to the past but to the present.” Hence, understanding history is very complex and difficult. The historians create facts and facts create historians which is complete confusing and interesting too. Carr had even shown that history is subjective as historians are always limited to subjective worldview. It is all about how historians construct history with evidence and reasons making facts validate. We all can write history in our own view with strong justifiable reasons and authenticated facts.

Conclusion

After reading this book, I found myself with more confidence and much broader knowledge on what is history. What I thought of history before reading this book was a very little portion of it and after travelling length and depth of what is history by E.H. Carr it gave me a completely new form of me regarding what is history. Being a history scholar, it is very crucial to stand on the neutral side without being biased in interpreting historical facts. This book developed my zeal in becoming a historian with proper duties and obligations. Also, it had changed my notion of history being boring subject with mere narratives. It made me realize that if we look into history with two eyes opened it had lot of rooms to explore ourselves and we can construct new history from it by reinterpreting the facts with new reasons. It taught me how to use and when to use historical knowledge and experiences in real life suatiations. History is the mother of all disciplines. Reading this book and writing this easy as part of the assignment was very awesome experience to me, leaving me with lot of room to improve in future and take history as my career. I am in extreme hunger in learning history that cannot be feeded by anything, and this unfindable hunger is the true source of having developed the hunger for knowledge.

Keywords.

  • Interpretation: one’s personal view and justifications.
  • Validate: authentic source with strong and reliable reasons.
  • Historian: student of history or scholar of particular period of time.
  • Fact: information considered to be true and real.

Refrencece

  1. Carr, E. (1961). What is History? United Kingdom: A Penguin Book.

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