Relativism in Historical Texts

Paper Summary:

This paper ask us to reconsider the nature of history in general as well as to reexamine the particular places and times that they are writing about. It seeks to use substitute key theoretical concepts for the traditional chronological structure of history, asking us to consider not what came after what but who had power over whom, and how these social relationships are the causative elements of (each) history. The paper argues that all history is teleological; one is always writing it from what is at that moment the end-point of history and uses gender issues as an example of the hypothesis.

From the Paper:

"Every piece of historical description actually describes for the reader two different sets of history. Each historical text discloses to the reader something of what happened during the era under discussion. But it also reveals at least as much about the era in which the history was written. What is considered significant enough to mention, what events are seen as causative rather than incidental, who are the true villains, all of these things may change from one generation's historical account to that of the next, and not because new facts have come to light."

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