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Stories Of The Word "History" |
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Interestingly, the story of history and the history of
"story" are related. Both "history" and "story" derive from the Latin word
"historia", meaning "the recording of past events", whether factual or
fictional. "Historia" (Indo-European, weid, "to see") was used by the ancient
Greeks in referring to a wise, learned man because of his knowledge gained from
inquiry, from records, or from accounts.
The presentation of this knowledge to
the public ranged from a story of events to a narrative of past events. Such
stories often derived from a developed sense of the results of inquiry.
Example: "...why they went to war with each other"--comes from opinions of
Herodotus (a 5th century BC Greek historian). "Story" and "history" entered
Middle English with the same sense-both being applied to an account--either of
imaginary events or of events supposed to be true. Keep in mind the Medieval
sense of "fact" or true did not always conform to modern standards of
verification. Gradually, "story" went in the direction of entertainment and
then on into the sense of "fiction". This left to the written aspect of
"history" the idea of "a remembered or researched account of observable
phenomena." By the 15th century "history" referred to organized knowledge of
the past, whether written or not. In the 18th century the European focus on
human self-development expanded these ideas inside "history" as a continuous
and connected process. The various systems applied and the various
interpretations of those processed pushed the boundaries of "history" on up
into an abstract realm. In this way the canopy of "history" spread to embrace
the past, the present, and the future (e.g. "history repeats itself).
Out of these three time period subdivisions sprang many
branches-each with its own terms (e.g. ideal, political, or forces). These
branches opened the door to differences in "history" related to forms of
presentations: Account is a statement of facts, a report, or a story. Chronicle
is an account of events in the order of their occurrence. Annals are the
records of events year by year. Archives contain public records and documents.
Register is a record, usually official, containing details and entries of items.
Biography is an account of a person's life or a word's life story.
Autobiography (Greek autos, "self") is one's account written by the same
individual. Memoir is an autobiographical account of personal experiences.
Recital is the telling in detail of some event(s). Narrative is a story of
happenings in the order in which they have occurred, perhaps as an anecdote (a
"human interest" story) or testimonial.
Today's formal sense of "history" is an individual or
group's chronological record of significant events-e.g. their importance,
mutual relations, causes, explanations, and consequences. History is usually
biased or slanted to favor (or to look less bad) the historian's interest while
showing the enemy in an unfavorable light. Furthermore, a presentation of any
historical aspect is never complete because of the vast speculations requiring
many assumptions and thus making it full of questionable opinions. Dealing with
events remote in time automatically relates and inter-relates vast speculations
because they require many assumptions for which there can be no proof. To a
somewhat lesser degree the same can be said about current events viewed from a
distance and, to a still lesser degree, to facts inside living history. This is
not as likely when reporting is done on natural phenomena, called Natural
History. [Reprinted from: Bailey, Afrocentric English].
Joseph A. Bailey, II, M.D.
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