History Review: Methodology and Historiography

These flashcards cover the definition of history, the methodology of historical research, various types of sources, and major historiographical schools of thought as presented in the lecture notes.

History

The social science responsible for studying and rigorously reconstructing the past of human beings and how they lived in society.

Identity

The understanding of who we are, where we come from, and how we have become what we are, facilitated by the study of history.

Role of the Historian

To investigate the past and the human being by seeking to explain and understand events rather than just ordering and narrating them.

Problem Statement

The initial questions asked in the research method to determine the specific topic to be investigated.

Hypothesis

The initial answer or affirmation regarding the detected problems in a historical investigation.

Interpretation of Data

The stage of research where the investigator determines the meaning of the collected sources.

Primary Sources

Original records or objects including oral accounts, iconographic materials (paintings/photos), physical materials (buildings), and written documents (letters/diaries).

Secondary Sources

Works of synthesis or research based on primary data, such as books, theses, atlases, and encyclopedias.

Positivism

A 19th-century philosophical current from the work of Augusto Comte in France, asserting that knowledge comes from observable and objective experience.

Historical Materialism

A theory from Karl Marx in Germany stating that social changes are generated by modes of production (slavery, feudalism, capitalism) and class struggle.

Cultural History and Mentalities

A branch of historiography studying themes like children, women, clothing, music, ways of thinking, or games.

School of the Annales

A movement that revolutionized historiography by including social structures, daily life, and geography beyond political events.

Microhistory

The analysis of history at a very reduced scale, such as a village or individual, to understand global and complex social processes.

History of the Present

An area of study linked to coetaneity and living generations, often addressing themes of violence, trauma, and pain.

Coetaneity

The condition where the object of study belongs to the same time period as the researcher investigating it.

Challenges of History of the Present

Technical difficulties including temporal delimitation, subjectivity due to lived experiences, and the ignorance of the future in an unfinished history.