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Traditional History
• History which presents the past as an inevitable progression towards ever greater freedom and enlightenment, culminating in modern forms of democracy or constitutional monarchy. Links with era of colonialism. • A lot of history you will read is still based on this approach. You need to be critical. • You cannot just blindly assume that this is ‘objective’ • Accuracy of facts does not mean that the perspective should never be questioned (e.g. the news!) |
Revisionist History
• Revisionist historians contest the mainstream or traditional view of historical events. • Revisionist ideas are usually put forward by those who are in the minority, such as feminist historians, ethnic minority historians, or younger historians • If the revisionist ideas then become the new status quo, a ‘paradigm shift’ occurs • Beware! People who are not historians, such as Holocaust deniers and conspiracy theorists, call themselves ‘revisionists.’ They based their ‘research’ on a pre-determined conclusion and ignore evidence. |