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Historical Criticism: Readings in Philippine History

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Crystal May Juni Fontanos
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1K views

Historical Criticism: Readings in Philippine History

Uploaded by

Crystal May Juni Fontanos
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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READINGS IN

PHILIPPINE HISTORY Historical Criticism


The marks of the good historian are consequently that he possesses a good knowledge of all the sources which
may be relevant, that he is adept at probing into their reliability and establishing what is historically probable, and that
he is capable of framing a historical hypothesis which will successfully account for what the sources say. He interrogates
the texts in order to construct a picture of the event which they reflect, a picture which will be in itself historically
coherent and which will also serve to explain the wording of the sources. His tools include the various types of criticism,
and he uses them to work back from the historical narrative to its possible sources and so to the incident which gave rise
to them. We say “incident”, but it should be remembered that various historical situations may have influenced the
narration of the story at different stages in its transmission, and these need to be taken into account by the historian.

By “historical criticism” is meant the study of any narrative which purports to convey historical information in
order to determine what actually happened and is described or alluded to in the passage in question.- I.H. Marshall
Aims:
1. Historical study may be undertaken in order to throw light on an obscure narrative by determining more precisely
the nature of the events to which it bears witness.
2. Second, it aims to test the historical accuracy of what purports to be historical narrative.

PARTS OF HISTORICAL CRITICISM:


1. External Criticism as Step 1
➢ determine whether the given source is at all admissible as evidence (whether the material is genuine or not)
➢ necessary to know whether the chronicle, charter, or relic is in reality what it claims to be, or what it has
esteemed to be
➢ important to determine where and when it originated, who was its author, and where he derived his
information
2. Internal Criticism a.k.a. “Higher Criticism” as Step 2
➢ weighs the relation of the testimony to the truth
➢ one must decide whether the statements made are trustworthy and, if not absolutely certain, whether they
are probable
➢ determining the ‘degree of possibility’

KINDS OF HISTORICAL CRITICISM:


1. External Criticism as a Method
➢ determines the authenticity of the source
➢ document is somewhat like a prisoner in a bar
-genuineness must be tested, where possible, by paleographical and diplomatic criticism
Readings in Philippine History Notes on Historical Criticism Edited & Compressed by EMMT
-must be localized in time and place
-must be ascertained, whether in its present state it exists exactly as its author left it
-must be viewed from every possible angle
a. agreement or disagreement with facts known from other genuine sources of the same place and
period, or on the same subject, will often be a deciding factor in its authenticity
b. the writer’s ignorance of facts which he should have known and which should have mentioned in the
document, or the record of events which he clearly could not have known at the time of writing, are
other signs of genuineness or its absence
2. Internal Criticism as a Method
➢ determines the historicity of the facts contained in the document
Historicity: cultural perceptions of the past (anthropology); “factuality” within the discipline of
history ➢ not absolute necessity that the document be proven genuine
➢ the facts obtained in the document must be tested
-In order to determine the value of these facts, the character of the sources, the knowledge of the author,
and the influences prevalent at the time of writing must be carefully investigated.
-The facts given by the author or the writer must be firmly established as having taken place exactly as
reported.

External Criticism Internal Criticism

1. Testing the genuineness of the source. 1. Determining the value of the source.
2. Localizing it (time, place and author). 2. Interpretation of the source.
3. Analyzing it (recension and restoration of text). 3. Establishment of the facts.

References:
The Catholic Historical Review , Oct., 1917, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Oct., 1917), pp. 368-371 Published by: Catholic
University of America Press Stable. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/25011528
https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/nt-interpretation/nti_7_historical-criticism_marshall.p
df https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/79525173.pdf

Readings in Philippine History Notes on Historical Criticism Edited & Compressed by EMMT

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