OPEN LETTERS IN CLOSED SOCIETIES: THE VALUES OF HISTORIANS UNDER ATTACK

IF 1.1 2区 历史学 Q1 HISTORY History and Theory Pub Date : 2024-10-06 DOI:10.1111/hith.12365
Antoon De Baets
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Abstract

This article explores a question of practical ethics: To which values do historians appeal when they come under sustained attack from political power? An important instrument of historians living in closed societies to express their values is the open letter, defined as an unauthorized public statement cast in epistolary form and addressed to either political leaders or fellow historians, but always with the general public as a silent reader in the background. Limited to the post-1945 period, a search for such open letters yielded 106 examples from 39 countries in closed and open societies. Four types of open letters were identified: those describing repression effects, those rebutting official historical views, those defending basic principles, and those presenting transitional historiography. Nine telling cases from six closed societies were then reviewed in detail and analyzed from a variety of angles (authorship, rhetoric, audience, impact, criticism, regime stage, and regime type). When these cases were examined in light of the initial question, it was found that most letters contained a great diversity of values but focused on how the human rights of historians were threatened. Invariably, their theme was historical writing in its full breadth, including its documentary infrastructure and its ramifications in education and the public sphere. Respect for historical truth was invoked more than any other value. It was a minimalist truth conception, however, understood as the absence of historical lies and falsification. The reason for this emphasis on an integrity-oriented conception of historical truth may lie in an old and deep-seated professional fear: the fear that the dictator's corrupted and divisive version of history survives and triumphs as the final verdict.

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封闭社会中的公开信:受到攻击的历史学家的价值观
本文探讨的是一个实践伦理问题:当历史学家受到政治权力的持续攻击时,他们会诉诸何种价值观?公开信是生活在封闭社会中的历史学家表达其价值观的一个重要工具,公开信被定义为以书信形式发表的未经授权的公开声明,对象是政治领导人或历史学家同行,但总是以普通公众为背景的沉默读者。仅限于 1945 年后的时期,通过对此类公开信的搜索,我们发现了来自 39 个封闭和开放社会国家的 106 封此类公开信。我们确定了四类公开信:描述镇压效果的公开信、反驳官方历史观点的公开信、捍卫基本原则的公开信以及介绍过渡史学的公开信。然后,从不同角度(作者、修辞、受众、影响、批评、政权阶段和政权类型)详细审查和分析了来自六个封闭社会的九个有说服力的案例。根据最初的问题对这些案例进行研究后发现,大多数信件都包含多种价值观,但都集中在历史学家的人权如何受到威胁上。它们的主题无一例外都是历史写作的全部内容,包括其文献基础结构及其在教育和公共领域的影响。对历史真相的尊重比任何其他价值观都更受关注。然而,这是一种最低限度的真实概念,被理解为没有历史谎言和篡改。强调以完整性为导向的历史真相概念的原因可能在于一种古老而根深蒂固的职业恐 惧:担心独裁者的腐朽和分裂的历史版本会作为最终裁决而存在并取得胜利。
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来源期刊
History and Theory
History and Theory Multiple-
CiteScore
2.00
自引率
9.10%
发文量
36
期刊介绍: History and Theory leads the way in exploring the nature of history. Prominent international thinkers contribute their reflections in the following areas: critical philosophy of history, speculative philosophy of history, historiography, history of historiography, historical methodology, critical theory, and time and culture. Related disciplines are also covered within the journal, including interactions between history and the natural and social sciences, the humanities, and psychology.
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Issue Information HOW SHOULD HISTORIANS EMPATHIZE? “TESTIMONY STOPS WHERE HISTORY BEGINS”: UNDERSTANDING AND ETHICS IN RELATION TO HISTORICAL AND PRACTICAL PASTS A HOUSE WITH EXPOSED BEAMS: INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING AND HISTORIANS’ ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES AS SCHOLAR-TEACHERS OPEN LETTERS IN CLOSED SOCIETIES: THE VALUES OF HISTORIANS UNDER ATTACK
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