What are historians for?

Author: Champion, Justin

Source: Historical Research, Volume 81, Number 211, February 2008 , pp. 167-188(22)

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Abstract:

This lecture addresses the general issue of the public function of academic history. In doing so, it considers the changing role of `history' (both the practice and the form) from the Greeks to contemporary times, by exploring ways in which the muse Clio has been represented. It raises questions about the nature of public history in the U.K., by comparison with the so-called `History wars' in North America and Australasia. It also engages with the relationship between the supposedly disinterested nature of historical enquiry and the ethical assumptions of historians as agents in society. By reflecting upon the tensions between the claims of historical writing as `scholarship' and its literary form as a means of communicating with an audience, it argues that a priority for the discipline is to engage with pertinent matters of public concern.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2281.2007.00414.x

Affiliations: 1: Royal Holloway, University of London

Publication date: 2008-02-01