Historiography

History or historiography (rarely Chronografie for a historical presentation in chronological order ) refers to the depiction of historical events. The modern history of a scientific claim is part of the science of history and defines the term " historiography " as " linguistic mediation of historical knowledge."

Problems of historiography

History is always present when historical events are recorded in writing, so even if the representations no current understanding of science is based. Select historian mentioning values ​​according to criteria that are influenced and connotations of their conception of history here. A look at what has happened, historical relationships and structures by historians is always subject to changes which complicate the generally binding definitions, if not impossible. Even a scientific historiography selects historical data according to ultimately subjective or ideological criteria, represents them in new, arranges and interprets them and thus can never be completely neutral. However, modern historiographical works are content and method verifiable. Scientific methods such as source criticism just as much as the scientific discourse within the relevant subject area.

Every historian proposes necessarily presents an interpretation of the past and postulated for this purpose causalities and correlations. This already applies to works of authors such as Herodotus and Thucydides, whose history theoretical interpretations have to be reconstructed if one wants to use it for a current historiography. For the ancient historians saw themselves primarily as a writer of literary works of art; therefore, their goals and methods differed greatly from those of modern historians. The beginnings of a science of history in the narrow sense can be found only from the beginning of the 19th century (see History of History). This scientific nature of historiography remains confronted with the question: In what sense history is written and by whom? The modern historiography reconstructed historical data and stores it necessary in this case with a sense. This is problematic when it comes to a glorification of historical events in the history and / or a specific historical policy is operated. However, a methodologically sound scientific historiography offers the possibility of extensive verifiability of representation and reasoning.

Not only purely chronological, but also according to the typology there is a strong differentiation of types of historiography. In terms of the typology is unquestionably the viewing perspective, and thus the particular knowledge or placement goal of historiography in the center. Of course, the individual point of view and interpretation of the historian plays an equally important role.

Especially Hayden White has emphasized this fact; he analyzed the problem of Narrative in Contemporary Historical Theory, describing how even today the understanding narrative structures draw any reconstruction of history and manipulate it. Elfriede Müller and Alexander Ruoff summarize the results of its analysis as follows: " If you tell story, to interpret it necessary due to the way in which to structure their individual data. "

Types of historiography

First, the history is based on historical periods, the origin of the author, thematic as well as a methodological point of ordered ( see also history of history ). The writing of history is dependent on the political and social conditions under which history is written. Below are some examples, however, do not fully reflect all relevant types of historiography:

• Conceptual history: In the history of the concept, the meaning of the terms is placed in the focus of historical perspective.
• Chronicle: A History ( from Greek: the chronicles ( biblia ) to chronos = time) is a historical representation illustrating the events in chronological order.
• Global History: Global History or Global History is a branch of historical science. Because of the diverse thematic access a comprehensive definition appears very difficult. Their concern is that Eurocentric view of universal history or world history, which in turn is operated often by a nation-state point of view, and since the 18th to the 20th century, is determinative to break and thus the process of globalization in the reinforced to take into account dimensions. It is a specific approach that links ( transfers) and to compare different regions of the world emphasized. The goal is a science of history beyond the nation state (J. Osterhammel ).
• Hofhistoriografie: Hofhistoriografie is an official kind of historiography, in which the Court described as such or individuals of a court, emperors, popes, kings, princes, dukes, counts, etc..
• Church History: The Church's history is a sub-discipline of theology. The church historian as scientists deal specifically with the history of dogma or even the history of Christian theology and the development of the churches at all. This includes legal history, economic history, settlement history and socio-historical aspects insofar as they are associated with the development of the churches.
• National History: The National history is a pattern of interpretation and at the same time a kind of historiography in which history is viewed from the perspective of the nation-state. The underlying idea of ​​the " emergence of the nation" is also associated with a process of " scientific nature " of the discipline of history. The national historiography has thereby also the task of legitimizing the state as a political entity with the means of historical science.
• Political history Political history is a kind of historiography, which represents the state and the politically active people in the center of their analysis.
• Social History: Social History explores and describes the evolution of the composition of groups, objects, layers or classes of people in the past community. It has continued to the size of the respective groups, stalls, layers or classes of people as well as their importance and position the object. Furthermore, it deals with interactions and the history of social processes.
• Transnational History: Transnational history is a kind of historiography and the study of history in the science of history, in which the perspective of the history of the nation-state fixed and limited interpretation of history, a national history goes and therefore developed an appropriate approach.
• Universal History: As a universal history is defined as the totality of human history.
• Economic History: Economic history is a bridge discipline between the economics and the science of history. It examines the historical economic development in conjunction with other cultural changes.
• World History: World History ( also: Universal History ) is a sub-discipline of historical research and dealing in the ideal case with the historical development of mankind as a whole, the individual aspects of it is related.
• Women's History: Has researching the history of women to the destination.
• Gender History: The gender history is concerned above all with the change of femininity and masculinity in the course of time, and the gender order.

Besides these types of historical writing, there are histories, which are more oriented towards a topic out, such as legal history, history of science, university history, art history, linguistics, history or literary history.