Guidelines to historiographical analysis.
- What is a historiographical analysis?
Historiography is commonly defined as the "history of historical writing." A historiographical analysis, thus, has as its main objective to explore and explain the origins and development of historical texts and the ideas presented in them. In this respect, historiography may be considered a branch of the wider field of intellectual history or the history of ideas.
- The importance of historiographical analysis.
The study of historiography is the basis of all historical work. Historians need to be aware and understand the works that have been produced in the past if they want to make significant contributions to their fields of study. Gaining a critical understanding of historical writing requires, above all, knowledge of the social, political, economic and intellectual circumstances that allowed particular ideas to emerge. History affects the ways we think, but our ways of life and thinking also affect the way we write history.
- Kinds of historiographical analysis.
There are many issues on which a historiographical analysis may concentrate. There are very general works on historiography that look at the history of the discipline as a whole. These works go from the ancient Greeks and Romans to present post-modern interpretations. They look at histories produced in different parts of the world throughout different time periods. For example, Gilderhus, Mark T. History and Historians. A Historiographical Introduction. (1987) or Breisach, E. Historiography: Ancient, Medieval and Modern. (1994). There are also more specific works that concentrate on particular ideas, topics or time periods. For example Meier, A. and Rudwick E. Black History and the Historical Profession 1915-1980. (1986), Temu, A. and Swai B. Historians and Africanist History: A Critique. (1981). Very specific historiographical studies can also come in the form of articles instead of books, for example: Vaughan, M. ÒColonial discourse theory and African history, or Ôhas post-modernism passed us by?ÕÓ in Social Dynamics. 20, (2), 1994. pp. 1-23.
- Requirements for this class.
This sheet provides only basic information regarding the minimum requirements of the papers. More detail and information will be examined during class. It is your responsibility to be informed of the requirements for these assignments.
For this class students are required to produce a historiographical analysis of two of the books that will be read and discussed during the semester. For the first paper you can choose from:
-Thompson, E.P. The Making of the English Working Class. Random House, 1966.
-Levine, W.L. Black Culture and Black Consciousness. Afro-American Folk Thought From Slavery to Freedom. Oxford University Press, 1978.
-Ginzburg, C. The Cheese and the Worms. The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller. Trans. John and Anne Tedeschi. The John Hopkins University Press, 1992.
-Gonzalez, L. San Jose de Gracia. Mexican Village in Transition. Trans. John Upton. University of Texas Press, 1974.
For the second paper you can choose from:
-Spence, J.D. God's Chinese Son. Norton. 1996.
-Bozzoli, B. Women of Phokeng. Consciousness, Life Strategy, and Migrancy in South Africa, 1900-1983. Heinemann, 1991.
-Chatterjee, P. The Nation and its Fragments. Colonial and Postcolonial Histories. Princeton University Press, 1993.
Writing a historiographical analysis.
It is important to keep in mind that a historiographical analysis is not a book report. In other words, I am not expecting a summary of the contents of the book. It is similar to a book review, since you may want to include your evaluation of the book. If you decide to do this, however, please make sure your opinions are adequately supported.
A good historiographical analysis is centered on a particular book, but also needs to go beyond the book itself. Questions you need to ask are: When was the book written? Who is the author?, Why is the author interested in this topic?, What other books, authors and ideas influenced the writing of this work? Has this book been influential?, What are the main ideas presented in the book?, How is it different from other books that deal with the same problems?, If there are differences, how can they be explained? Are the differences due to the use of different sources, or are can they be seen as the result of the use of new methodologies?, etc.
An analysis that includes all these questions may turn out to be a book in itself. For the purposes of this class you will need to choose some of these questions, or others that you may think are relevant, for the writing of your paper. I should emphasize that these papers are required to be "analyses", in other words, they need to include an argument that should be adequately supported. For example, if you choose the book The Nation and its Fragments one question I can ask is how different is the concept of nation used in this book from notions used in more traditional approaches? To answer this question I need to read more about how the "nation" has been conceived in traditional historiography, the history of post-modernism and post-colonial studies and, most importantly I need to clearly explain how this idea is used and defined within the book. Thus, a historiographical analysis requires a thorough understanding of the book in question, but it also entails further investigation from other sources.
Both papers will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
a) Length: These papers should not be shorter than 2000 words nor longer than 3000 words.
b) Presentation: Papers and proposals should be legible and clean. They should exhibit correct use of the English language. Grammar and spelling mistakes will detract from your grade. If you need to, use the Writing Center.
http://english.montclair.edu/Programs2/FirstYear/Writing_center.htm
References and bibliographies should be properly formatted. The Chicago Style is the preferred method in this class for both references and bibliography.
c) Content: The information included in papers should be accurate. Personal ideas should be clearly distinguished from ideas from other authors. Opinions should be well founded and justified. This is a short paper, thus, you have to be selective with the material you choose to include. Your ability to use relevant information in the construction of an argument will be carefully evaluated.
d) Arguments: I do not expect you will be presenting original arguments. However, I do expect you will be able to understand and analyze the arguments presented by other authors, and will be able to construct your own using the information available to you. Arguments must be clearly presented and they need to follow a logical sequence. Overall, you should demonstrate your capacity to synthesize as well as your ability to analyze information and ideas with the objective of convincingly answering a question.
e) Sources: The quality of your paper will depend on the quality of your secondary sources. I will evaluate your ability to find relevant and accredited sources and your capacity to criticize them. Not all secondary sources are acceptable in an academic paper. In principle you need to use academic materials. These include general histories, monographs, and articles published in academic journals (peer reviewed). Pieces available in the Internet are NOT acceptable unless they are part of a peer-reviewed academic electronic journal.
f) Academic dishonesty: You will be using ideas and information taken from other authors. This is fine as long as you give these authors credit for their work. If you use the ideas of an author without giving him/her due credit you are engaging in a dishonest practice. There are many levels of academic dishonesty, from presenting ideas and information without reference to its source, to copying other author's words and presenting them as if they were your own (Plagiarism). All these practices are considered academic dishonesty and you will be penalized if you engage in any of them. Montclair State University has its own policies regarding plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty. (For more information on these please go to:
http://www.montclair.edu/pages/deanstudents/regulations1.html
For the purposes of this class any student whose work does not comply with the rules of referencing and is found to be dishonest, at any level, will not be given credit for the assignment in question. This means that such assignment will receive a mark of zero.
I also reserve the right to inform the Dean of Students of any cases of academic dishonesty that may occur in this class. This may result in further disciplinary action which can be cause for expulsion from the University. Not knowing what constitutes academic dishonesty is not an excuse to engage in it. It is your responsibility to be informed about appropriate referencing practices and to acquire good writing habits.