Class 10 History : 1. Historiography - development in the West

Class 10 History : 1. Historiography - development in the West.

1. (A) Choose the correct option from the given options and complete the statement. (1) It may be said that …….. was the founder of modern historiography. (a) Voltaire (b) René Descartes (c) Leopold Ranké (d) Karl Marx 

Ans: a. Voltaire 

 (2) ………… wrote the book entitled ‘Archaeology of Knowledge’. (a) Karl Marx (b) Michel Foucault (c) Lucien Febvre (d) Voltaire 

Ans: (b) Michel Foucault 

 (B) Identify and write the wrong pair in the following set.

 (1) Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel - ‘Reason in History’ 

Ans: Right

  (2) Leopold von Ranké - ‘The theory and Practice of History’ 

Ans: Right

(3) Herodotus - ‘The Histories’ 

Ans: Right

 (4) Karl Marx - ‘Discourse on the Method’ Ans: Wrong

2. Write short notes. 

 (1) Dialectics 

Ans: 👉🏻In order to understand the true nature of an event, one needs to know its opposite for e.g. True — False, Good — Bad, etc. 

👉🏻A German philosopher, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel had put forward this method of analysis of history. 

👉🏻A theory called ‘Thesis’ is proposed at the beginning. It is followed by another theory called Antithesis’ which is, contrary to ‘Thesis’. 

👉🏻After a thorough logical discussion of both new thesis is proposed having the gist of both (Thesis and Antithesis). 

👉🏻This process of arriving at a new thesis is called Synthesis. This method of analysis of history which is based on opposites is known as ‘Dialectics’.

 (2) Annales School

 Ans: 👉🏻At the onset of the twentieth century a new school of historiography arose in France, which is known as ‘Annales School’. 

 👉🏻Annales school gave a new direction to history writing. 

👉🏻 It was recognised now that history is not only about political events, kings, great leaders and accordingly politics, diplomacy and wars but also about the climate, local people, agriculture, trade, technology, means of communication, social divisions and their collective psychology, etc. in the historical times. 

👉🏻 The Annales School was started by French historians.

 3. Explain the following with its reason. 

 (1) Historical research was driven to focus in depth on various aspects of women’s life. 

Ans:👉🏻 The feminist historiography emphasised not only on the inclusion of women in history but also on the rethinking of the male dominated perspective of history. 👉🏻 It drove historical research to focus in depth on various aspects of women’s life such as their employment, their role in trade unions, institutions working for their cause, their family life, etc. 👉🏻In the historical writings after 1990 women were portrayed as an independent social class.

 (2) Foucault called his method, ‘the archaeology of knowledge’.

 Ans:👉🏻 Foucault, in his book, ‘Archaeology of Knowledge’, argued that the prevailing practice of arranging historical events in a chronological order is not right. 👉🏻 He drew attention to the fact that archaeology does not strive to reach the ultimate historical truth but attempts to explain various transitions in the past. 👉🏻Foucault felt that explains the transitions in history is more important. He called his method, ‘the archaeology of knowledge’.