13th August 2009, 10:37 AM
Did anyone hear the R4 programme last night about how we write and publish history? There was a similar discussion going on at one point about this sort of thing - I'm particularly thinking about a bit which was discussing how history is interpreted and taught.
The example I remember (I was driving and the signal kept fading in and out - so I may not do it justice) was a discussion about the way we look at Henry VIII. That at the moment it tends to be a 'spin doctor' approach, whereas previously it might have been his relationship with Rome. The gentleman speaking was saying that we seem to be falling into the trap of ' How (whatever the current interest is) shaped the modern world' - which therefore did represent how the past influences and helps us understand our present, but also tries to shoehorn it into our current perceptions, and perhaps in doing so distorts it's importance in past society.
I didn't get to hear the whole program, but it seemed quite interesting!
The example I remember (I was driving and the signal kept fading in and out - so I may not do it justice) was a discussion about the way we look at Henry VIII. That at the moment it tends to be a 'spin doctor' approach, whereas previously it might have been his relationship with Rome. The gentleman speaking was saying that we seem to be falling into the trap of ' How (whatever the current interest is) shaped the modern world' - which therefore did represent how the past influences and helps us understand our present, but also tries to shoehorn it into our current perceptions, and perhaps in doing so distorts it's importance in past society.
I didn't get to hear the whole program, but it seemed quite interesting!