Historiography, Sources, and Historical Method
Why method matters
History answers depend on the evidence chosen. Learn to classify sources as primary or secondary, and to weigh their reliability, provenance, and purpose. Understand the difference between an archive, a chronicle, an inscription, an oral testimony, and a colonial census.
Concepts to master
Know the imperialist, nationalist, Marxist, subaltern, and Annales approaches, and what each emphasises. Understand the difference between source criticism (external and internal) and interpretation. Grasp the problem of colonial knowledge production, the idea of the archive as a site of power, and the use of oral history to recover silenced voices.
Traps
Do not treat official records as neutral; they were produced for administrative purposes. Avoid the fallacy of presentism, judging past actors by current norms without acknowledging context. Questions often test whether a claim is a fact, an inference, or an interpretation.
Worked example
If a question asks how to assess a colonial revenue report, apply external criticism first: who compiled it, when, and for what administrative purpose. Then internal criticism: are the categories consistent, and whose voices are absent? A report may be accurate on totals while silent on peasant experience, so a good answer states what the source can and cannot support.