Part 2 3 Readings in Phil History

READINGS IN
PHILIPPINE
HISTORY
Presented by Bo Ying Nana,Jr.
LESSONS 2 & 3
(SOURCES OF
HISTORICAL DATA &
HISTORICAL CRITICISM)

HISTORICAL DATA
---sourced from artifacts that have been left by the

past (artifacts can either be RELICS or REMAINS,
or TESTIMONIES OF WITNESSES)
---are various means through which historical

information are preserved and transmitted from
one generation to another generation;
HISTORICAL DATA
(SOURCES – can be called EVIDENCE; an

object from the past or a testimony
concerning the past on which historians
depend to create their depiction of the
past;)
--those materials from which the
historians construct meaning;
Example of Artifacts
RELICS or REMAINS – offer researchers a clue

about the past;
Ex. Remains of prehistoric settlement…Objects
are never the happenings or the events. They
may be the results or records of the events. They
are materials out of which history may be
written. ( Howell and Prevenier, 2001)
TESTIMONIES OF
WITNESSES (written or
oral) –created to serve as
records; they describe an
event such as the record of
a property exchange,
speeches, and
commentaries.
N.B. The historian deals with the DYNAMIC
or GENETIC (the becoming); the STATIC (the
being) and aims at being INTERPRETATIVE
(explaining why and how things happened
and were interrelated) as well as
DESCRIPTIVE (telling what happened, when
and where, and who took part)
WHY IS HISTORICAL SOURCES IMPORTANT?
1. They can be used as evidence to back up claims of

what the past was like;
2. They inform us that something happened;
3. They lead us to create our own interpretations in
finer details regarding on the events;
4. They are the keys in understanding our past leading
us out on how we got to where we are today.
WRITTEN SOURCES Of HISTORY

--they are the source of history available in

the textual form(written).
Example: newspapers, periodicals,
encyclopedia, correspondence, diaries,
government gazettes, documents in the
archives, postage stamps, reference books
CATEGORIES OF THE WRITTEN
SOURCES OF HISTORY: (narrative
or literary, diplomatic or juridical,
social documents)
1. NARRATIVE or LITERARY – are
chronicles or tracts presented in
narrative form, written to impart a
message whose motives for their
composition vary widely.
Example:
SCIENTIFIC TRACT—composed in order to inform

contemporaries or succeeding generations;
·NEWSPAPER ARTICLE—might be intended to

shape opinions;
EGO DOCUMENT or PERSONAL NARRATIVE
—composed to persuade readers of the justice
of the author’s actions(diary or memoir);
NOVEL or FILM—made to entertain, to

deliver a moral teaching, or to further a
religious cause;
BIOGRAPHY—might be written in praise of
the subject’s worth and achievements
(panegyric, public speech or published text
in praise of someone or something or
hagiography, the writing of the lives of the
saints. (Howell & Prevenier, 2001)
2. DIPLOMATIC SOURCES—those which
document/record an existing legal
situation or create a new one, and it is the
kind of sources that professional
historians once treated as the purest, the
“best” source;
Example:
CHARTER—a classic diplomatic source which is a legal

instrument;
(a legal document is usually sealed or authenticated to

provide evidence that a legal transaction has been
completed and can be used as evidence in a judicial
proceeding in case of dispute)
3. SOCIAL DOCUMENTS—are information
pertaining to economic, social, [political, or
judicial significance; they are records kept by
bureaucracies.
Example: government reports: like municipal
accounts, research findings, documents related to
parliamentary procedures, civil registry records,
property registers, and records of census.
NON-WRITTEN SOURCES OF HISTORY
--includes interviews, films, photos,

recordings of music, clothing,
buildings, tools from a particular
period.
TWO TYPES OF NON-
WRITTEN SOURCES OF
HISTORY: (material evidence &
oral evidence)
1.MATERIAL EVIDENCE—also known as ARCHEOLOGICAL
EVIDENCE; are artistic creations that tell a story about the past;
they tell a great deal about the ways of life of people in the past
including their culture; they also reveal a great deal about the
socio-cultural interconnections of the different groups of people
especially when an object is unearthed in more than one place.
Example: artistic creations(pottery, jewelry, dwellings, graves,
churches, roads), insignificant places(garbage pits), archeological sites
unearthed during excavations for roads, sewer lines, and big building
structures.
2. ORAL EVIDENCE—spoken evidence given by a witness;
spoken evidence which has been given by the person who
was present and has actually heard or saw the matter by
himself/herself; information that tellsabout the tales or
sagas of ancient peoples from the premodern period of
Philippine history.
Example: folk songs, popular rituals, folk tales, etc. ;
interview is a major form of oral evidence in the present
age.
PRIMARY & SECONDARY
SOURCES
PRIMARY SOURCES:
--there are two general kinds of historical sources: DIRECT or

PRIMARY & INDIRECT or SECONDARY;
--these are original, first-hand account of an event or period

and are considered AUTHORITATIVE;
--they represent original thinking, reports on discoveries or

events, or they share new information;
--sources are created at the time the
events occurred or close to the event or
period.
--they are original and factual and not
interpretive;
--main function is to provide FACTS.
Example: diaries, journals, letters, newspapers
and magazine articles bearing factual accounts,
government records(census, marriage, military),
photographs, maps, postcards, posters, recorded or
transcribed speeches, interviews with participants
or witnesses, interviews with people who lived
during a certain time, songs, plays, novels, stories,
paintings, drawings, and sculptures.
SECONDARY SOURCES
--are materials made by people long after the

events being described had taken place to provide
valuable interpretations of historical events;
--they offer an analysis, interpretation or a
restatement of primary sources and are considered
to be PERSUASIVE;
--they involve generalization,
synthesis, interpretation,
commentary or evaluation in an
attempt to convince the reader of the
creator’s argument;
--they describe or explain primary
sources.
Examples: biographies, histories, literary
criticism, books written by a third party
about a historical event, art and theater
reviews, newspaper or journal articles
that interpret.
HISTORICAL
CRITICISM
WHAT IS HISTORICAL
CRITICISM?
It examines the origins of

the text to appreciate the
underlying circumstances
upon which the text came
to be.
4 GOALS of Historical Criticism:
1. To discover the meaning of the text in its historical

context and in its literal sense;
2. To establish historical situation of the author and the
recipients of the text;
3. To determine the authenticity of the text ( EXTERNAL
CRITICISM );
4. To weigh the testimony to the truth ( INTERNAL
CRITICISM ).
EXTERNAL CRITICISM:

--is where one can do criticism either by deciphering and dating

historical manuscripts
>> PALEOGRAPHIC CRITICISM or PALEOGRAPHY;
--a critical analysis of historical document to understand how
the document came to be, how the information was transmitted,
and the relationship between the facts purported in the
document and in the reality. <<<< DIPLOMATIC CRITICISM;
--historians examine whether the
materials are ANACHRONISTIC and
age for signs of chemical
composition, identifying the hand
writing, signature, letter head, or
watermark;
INTERNAL CRITICISM:
--determines the historicity of the facts contained in the

document which means that the facts contained in the
document must first be tested before any conclusion
pertaining to it can be admitted. This further means that
the character of the sources of the knowledge of the
author and the influences prevalent at the time of writing
must be carefully investigated.
THANK YOU!

Part 2 3 Readings in Phil History

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Part 2 3 Readings in Phil History

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Part 2 3 Readings in Phil History

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

READINGS IN

---sourced from artifacts that have been left by the

---are various means through which historical

(SOURCES – can be called EVIDENCE; an

RELICS or REMAINS – offer researchers a clue

1. They can be used as evidence to back up claims of

--they are the source of history available in

SCIENTIFIC TRACT—composed in order to inform

·NEWSPAPER ARTICLE—might be intended to

NOVEL or FILM—made to entertain, to

CHARTER—a classic diplomatic source which is a legal

(a legal document is usually sealed or authenticated to

--includes interviews, films, photos,

--there are two general kinds of historical sources: DIRECT or

--these are original, first-hand account of an event or period

--they represent original thinking, reports on discoveries or

--are materials made by people long after the

It examines the origins of

1. To discover the meaning of the text in its historical

--is where one can do criticism either by deciphering and dating

--determines the historicity of the facts contained in the

You might also like