How to analyze a document by history. Historical Source in History Teaching: Problems of Analysis and Interpretation

08.11.2019

Osprey Vitaly Alexandrovich, Doctor of Sciences, Associate Professor, Professor
Altai State Pedagogical University

TEACHING
A SOURCE
METHODOLOGY
STORY

The article deals with the problems of analysis and interpretation of a historical source in history lessons. In many ways, the historical source is a necessary component for the concept historical context and the era itself. The classification of documents used in teaching history is considered. The role of the document in increasing the cognitive independence of students as a means of organizing such work is determined. Attention is paid to the author's approaches of I. Ya. Lerner and N. G. Dairi in their work with a historical source.

Problems and features of the formation of statistical data in the second half of the 19th century (based on materials from Western Siberia)
Statistical surveys of the indigenous population on the territory of Altai in the late XIX - early XX centuries.
Organizational features of administrative-departmental statistical structures in the 19th - early 20th centuries. (Based on materials from Western Siberia and the steppe region)
Cultural heritage of statistical institutions (based on materials from Western Siberia in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries)
The Professional Standard of a Teacher and the Quality of Training: Determinants of Modern Education

Analysis of the results of a single state exam and control and measuring materials allows you to identify enough actual problem in the teaching of history, which is to analyze and interpret historical sources. In many ways, the historical source is a necessary component for the concept of historical context, and sometimes the era itself.

Collectively, historical sources include everything created by man, the results of his interaction with the environment, objects of material culture, customs, and rituals. They also include written records. In the broad sense of the word, written monuments in the methodology are called documents.

The classification of documents used in teaching is much simpler than that adopted in historical science. It is based on the nature of documentary texts, when all of them are divided into three main groups:

act character;
narrative-descriptive character;
documentation fiction.

Actual sources are legal, economic, political, policy documents (letters, laws, decrees, petitions, petitions, murals, contracts, statistical and investigative documents, programs, speeches). These documents testify to the social and political system, morality, and religion. The use of this group of documents is possible when organizing the analysis of their content under the guidance of a teacher. In some cases, it is necessary to adapt the document (eliminate difficult terms, change the sequence of the text) in order to facilitate the assimilation of its logic. In some cases, the teacher himself needs to give an interpretation of the document in order to show how to approach the analysis. When analyzing a document, it is necessary to know and understand the historical process, within the chronological framework of which the source itself is considered.

Narrative and descriptive documents - annals, chronicles, memoirs, letters, travel descriptions. This type of documents is widely represented in school textbooks and anthologies. The ego-source makes it possible in many respects to evaluate the attitude of the author to the epoch itself, and at the same time to understand the “mood” of the time. Often, the analysis of these documents is difficult because it requires more in-depth training and understanding the source itself and the nature of its origin.

Fiction Documents: Oral Works folk art(myths, epic, fables) and literary works(prose, poetry, satire). V works of art historical reality is reflected, they convey the flavor of the era. This group of sources artistically expands the student's knowledge component, forming figurative thinking on the problem.

Historical sources cited in textbooks reflect critical issues historical development. Most often this concerns the problems of socio-economic development and the situation of the country, internal and foreign policy state, social and revolutionary movements. The documentary material contained in the textbooks is diverse. It allows students to become familiar with common techniques. research work over the main types of historical sources.

In order to productively use the source and expand students' knowledge of the problem under study, the document for the lesson should:

correspond to the goals and objectives of teaching history;
reflect the main, most typical facts and events of the era;
- be organically connected with the program material, contribute to the actualization of historical knowledge, so that students can be offered cognitive questions and tasks;
- be accessible to students in terms of content and volume; interesting; contain everyday and plot details that allow differentiating learning, concretizing students' ideas about certain events, phenomena, processes; have a certain emotional impact on them;
- have literary and scientific merit, sufficient information content for the development of cognitive independence and interest, and the improvement of mental labor techniques.

In the methodological literature, questions about the role of the document in increasing the cognitive independence of students as a means of organizing such work are widely covered. The problems of the research principle in teaching were considered in the works of I. Ya. Lerner and N. G. Dairy. They developed the idea of the need to acquaint students with the methods of modern historical science, methods of independent knowledge of social phenomena and processes. Forming the concept of the research principle in teaching, I. Ya. Lerner wrote: “... it consists in the fact that students, under the guidance of a teacher, acquire skills and abilities using the methods of historical science on their own ... analyze and explain historical facts and phenomena gleaned from in literary, material monuments, as well as in real life". The author highlighted the importance of the document as a means of developing thinking, cognitive interest, and creativity. Considering the forms of working with documents, he set the task of accustoming schoolchildren to attentive reading of the text and its exhaustive analysis. I. Ya. Lerner illustrated the cited reasoning with examples of the use of documents in lessons on the history of feudalism in Russia, and documents of various types are involved: act, legislative, statistical, memoirs, etc. The author's conclusion about the need to teach not only the retelling of the main content of documents, but also to require an analysis of the thoughts of the authors of literary monuments is fair. The author has developed a typology of questions in the analysis of documents, which makes it possible to acquaint students with some logical methods for studying historical and modern phenomena. It is important to note that the process of learning to work with a historical document should be systematic, while minimizing the stereotyped analysis. The student must be creative in studying the document and interpreting it.

The work of I. Ya. Lerner raised the question of the need to distinguish between types of documents and, accordingly, determine the methods of studying them. In the monograph by N. G. Dairi, the document is considered as one of the effective means of teaching history: “... The results in the field of education, development and perception are closely related to the nature and range of sources from which students draw knowledge and their cognitive activity; the more diverse and versatile they are (ceteris paribus), the more significant the results achieved. A variety of sources of historical knowledge allows you to acquaint students with both the basics and methods of science. The principles of selection of documents are disclosed on the example of studying specific topics of the course. Among them, N. G. Dairy refers to the correct reflection of the essence of the events taking place by the document, the consecration of all parties by the document public life of this period. The document should contain a framework for student development and application of the research method, be concise and accessible in language.

What is the significance of the use of historical documents? Historical documents are direct monuments of the past and therefore have persuasiveness and evidence. The document allows you to feel the color of the era, helps to create vivid images of the past, conditions for the development of the imagination of schoolchildren, and reduces the possibility of modernizing individual events. As a source of historical knowledge, the document requires an analysis of the content, a generalization of the information extracted from it, and a certain assessment. Working with documents teaches you to think, reason, extract information.

In general, documents help to assimilate the most important facts, concepts, patterns community development form students' beliefs. The use of documentary material activates the thinking of students, teaches analysis and synthesis when considering past and present events. Self-analysis of documents equips students with elementary research skills, teaches them how to critically comprehend historical sources.

Bibliography

Ezhova S. A., Lebedeva I. M., Druzhkova A. V. Methods of teaching history in secondary school. M., 1986. - S. 18.
Vagin A. A. Methods of teaching history in secondary school. M., 1968. - S. 63.
Lerner I. Ya. Studying the history of the USSR in the ninth grade. M., 1963.–S. 42.
Lerner I. Ya. Studying the history of the USSR in the ninth grade. M., 1963.–S. 102.
Dairi N. G. Teaching history in high school high school. M., 1966.– S. 196.

Source criticism is a decisive stage in the research work on documents. Its purpose is to determine the degree of completeness and reliability of the actual content of the source and create the prerequisites for extracting reliable information from it.

According to modern ideas The method of source study analysis includes the following procedures and operations:

1. Determination of the external features of the source;

2. Establishing the origin of the source:

a) establishing the authenticity of the monument,

b) finding out the history of the text, determining its original and subsequent versions, reading the text,

c) determining the time and place of occurrence of the text, establishing its author (attribution),

d) finding out the reasons, goals and historical circumstances for the appearance of the text, determining its social functions in the past;

3) Interpretation or interpretation of the text: finding out the meanings of the text, its correct understanding;

4) Examining the actual content written source and clarification of its correspondence to historical reality;

5) Source study synthesis of the monument.

In the present sequence, the first three procedures, including the interpretation of the text, essentially constitute an external critique of the source. The final phase of source criticism is internal criticism.

Establishing the external features of a written monument helps to determine its authenticity and date the text. This procedure includes finding out the writing material (paper, parchment, fabric, birch bark, etc.), writing or printing tools, type of writing, handwriting or font, and the external design of the text. When determining the external features of the monument, data and methods of paleography, sphragistics, filigree studies and a number of other auxiliary historical disciplines are used.

The most significant of the external features, of course, is the type of writing. Russian writing has changed over time. And therefore, even the most general idea of the stages of its development makes it possible to date the text. The most ancient type of writing in Russia was the charter, which existed in the XI-XV centuries. from the 14th to the beginning of the 16th century, a semi-ustav was used. During the formation and strengthening of the centralized Russian state, cursive writing of the 16th-17th centuries spread. In the XVIII century, a simplified type of cursive was established. Further, specialists distinguish a civil letter XIX beginning XX centuries and from 1918 modern writing.

Initially, parchment, birch bark, and wood were used as writing material. In the 14th century, foreign-made paper appeared in Russia. Since the 15th century, paper has become the main written material. Russian paper came into use in early XVIII century. During production, each full paper sheet was marked with a watermark (filigree). By restoring the watermark, you can date the text. This will help to make special reference books on filigree. The ink used to write medieval manuscripts was usually brown or brown. There were also blacks. Scribes used goose quills as writing tools.

Most handwritten monuments of the XI-XVII centuries. was issued in the form of books, letters and scrolls. Old books differed in format, depending on the size of the paper sheet. The formats used were 1/4; 1/8; 1/16 and 1/32 sheets. As a rule, handwritten books were made up of notebooks of 16 pages. The notebooks were numbered. The binding of the book was made of wooden boards, which were always covered with leather or fabric. Letters were written on separate sheets on one side. If one sheet was not enough, then other sheets were glued to it from below, and as a result a rather long scroll was obtained. During storage, the scrolls were placed in columns (columns).

Periods of development of primitive society
V different times different periodization of the development of human society was proposed. So, A. Ferguson and then Morgan used the periodization of history, which included three stages: savagery, barbarism and civilization, and the first two stages were broken by Morgan into three stages (lower, middle and higher) each. At the stage of savagery in human...

Civil ranks.
The rank of chancellor (state chancellor) was introduced in Russia in 1709; it became (G. I. Golovkin), and was last assigned in 1867 (to A. M. Gorchakov). It was given to persons who knew foreign policy(in the 19th century - to the ministers of foreign affairs); those who had the rank of II class were called vice-chancellors. In total, 11 people had the rank of chancellor. A few civilian officials...

Eternal Peace
The meaning of the Eternal Peace cannot be understood without understanding what preceded it, what goals the Commonwealth pursued when concluding it, under what circumstances the peace was concluded. The Turkish feudal aggression against the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, which intensified in the second half of the 17th century, led to grave consequences for the Commonwealth...

Classification of historical sources and their characteristics.

The problem of classification. In real historical reality, the sources, which are documents of a certain historical time, are closely interconnected. They form a single information and communication field.
In reality, it is not a chaotic mass of sources that arises and functions, but their system, an integral set. Each individual document, source is a part of this set, its element, which determines some moments of its content, novelty or repetition of information. Each historical era generated and continues to generate different types of sources. Separate types exist throughout a number of historical periods, others are found only in certain of them. For each period of history, one can single out their own types of sources, the most characteristic of a particular era.

Almost all periods are characterized by five types of sources:

1. Natural geographic

2. Ethnographic

3. Real

4. Artistic and graphic

5. Written

For the period of recent history, one can also distinguish the 6th type
Cinema-photo-phono documents.

Natural geographic– data on landscape, climate, soils, vegetation and other components environment. This information is closely connected with the problem of the influence of the environment on the historical development of a particular territory and, on the other hand, with the question of man's influence on nature. The environment leaves a certain imprint on the process of historical development - accelerating or slowing it down, shaping its specific local features. For example, the climate influenced people's life - people's choice of an open, semi-open or closed type of dwelling, economic activities, etc. In turn, the natural and geographical environment depends on the level of development of society. The same rivers can serve in one case only as a means of transportation, in another as a source of energy. The same territory at different times can be used as hunting grounds, as an object of agriculture or as a place for the development of minerals. Under the influence of man, flora and fauna change, the river communication system is supplemented by artificial channels, land is reclaimed from the sea, and in general the landscape of the continent takes on a different look. People plow fields, cut down forests, burn vegetation, drain swamps, quarry stone, build houses, drain lakes, build dams, mills, bridges, dig canals and mines. The more progressive systems of management are introduced, the more the harmony of various components of the environment is disturbed. However, determining the degree of this mutual influence in each separate case requires a specific analysis, a study of the totality of the reasons that influenced the development of a given region.

Ethnographic- ancient technologies, customs, stereotypes of thinking, types of dwellings, costumes, cuisine, folklore, ancient layers modern languages. In the modern era, the scientific and technological revolution and social progress accompanied by the rapid disappearance of archaic traditions. The study of the archaic among peoples lagging behind in their development gives additional material to study the history of developed societies at an early stage of their development. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the emergence of new traditions, including in the sphere of everyday culture. Studying them allows us to present modern peoples (including industrialized countries) as living, developing communities.

Real - archeological monuments, buildings, tools, means of transport, household utensils, weapons, etc. Material monuments reveal to the historian the level of development of technology of a particular era, give an idea of the features of material culture and scientific and technological achievements, etc.

Artistic and graphic- monuments of architecture, painting, sculpture and applied art, reflecting their era in artistic images. Monuments visual arts are important sources on the history of life and customs. Portraits and sculpture have preserved the appearance of historical figures. Especially valuable are portraits created before the invention of photography. Landscapes and genre painting, images on objects of applied art help to restore historical geography, types of dwellings (especially those built from short-lived materials), clothes, household life, etc. A very interesting example of the above is given by the faience "Service with a Green Frog", ordered by Catherine II from an English manufactory in 1774. This dinner and dessert set contains 952 items, which depict 1244 authentic views of England of that period: landscapes, architectural monuments, castles, abbeys, the ruins of monasteries, sometimes even coal mines, adobe huts, dams, rural roads. Many of these species were not depicted anywhere else, and the industrial revolution that began dramatically changed the general appearance of the country. Some works of art are sources on the history of social thought. For example, the cartoons of O. Daumier, numbering 5 thousand copies, reflected the history of France for 50 years, from the July Monarchy to the III Republic, for the establishment of which the great cartoonist did a lot.

Written- any texts written in letters, numbers, notes and other characters of the letter. Written sources, in turn, can be divided into 3 classes:

Documentary (letters, formulas, wills, IOUs, etc.)

Legislative (government resolutions, acts of parliament, edicts of kings, resolutions of self-government bodies, etc.)

Narrative (narrative) - chronicles, annals, letters, biographies, genealogies, memoirs, etc.

Photo-phono- and film documents- daguerreotypes, photographs, sound recordings, documentaries, etc.

The researcher usually uses all available types of historical sources. Although, the closer the studied time is to us, the more important written sources become. For the period of modern and recent history, they are the most informative. Of course, any classification is conditional, since many historical sources can be simultaneously considered as material, pictorial and written (parchment scrolls, medieval manuscripts, architectural monuments, etc.). Assigning a source to a particular type is determined by the information that is needed in the process of a particular study.
For what period of history is it easier to find sources? There is no need to think that the closer the studied time is to us, the easier it is to get the sources. And in our time, many sources remain inaccessible to researchers. For example, it is difficult to expect that even in our time the Jesuit order will open access to the uninitiated to their documents, without which there are so many problems. new history remain completely obscure, or that the French bank will invite specialists in the history of the First Empire to examine their registers, even the oldest ones, so secrecy is inherent in any corporation. And peacetime does not at all facilitate access to sources. Whereas revolutions sometimes open safes where secret documents were kept. Thanks to revolutions in state archives documents of individuals, church and other institutions, which in normal times would not have allowed researchers to access their archives, came across.
So the modern or modern historian sometimes finds himself in a worse position than the student of antiquity or the Middle Ages. And now the documents are lost through negligence, hidden for diplomatic, business, family reasons. For example, notaries are not allowed to disclose their client's business transactions. Moreover, they surround the contracts concluded by the clients of his great-grandfather with the same mystery, although they do not bear any responsibility if their documents decay. Large enterprises refuse to publish statistical data, which are necessary for the study of the national economy. That is, when studying modern history, researchers also experience many difficulties. The historian must take into account that many evidence of great importance for science has not been preserved at all. At the same time, materials have come down to us that reflect only random phenomena. But even sources that have recorded historically significant facts provide information in most cases about some separate fragment of the historical process, and often about one specific phenomenon. That is why it is so important to use all available source types.
It should also be taken into account that the authors and creators of sources, in most cases, gave little thought to what information posterity might need. The emergence of certain documents was caused by the requirements of life, and their content reflected life from the side from which it was important to its creator.
But even in cases where the sources provide, at first glance, valuable information about historical events, historians cannot use them without preliminary verification. Researchers face a number of questions.
First of all, it is necessary to prove the authenticity of the source and restore it in the form it had in the past. It is necessary to find out whether a document or material monument played in a past life the role that it should have played according to our ideas. So, if this is a tool, how widely was it used; if it is the text of an international treaty, whether it was concluded or remained in the draft.
If the source tells about events, it is necessary to establish to what extent the author was aware of them, i.e. whether he was a participant, a witness, or only a contemporary of the events. Finally, we must not forget that historical figures always expressed the interests of certain political and social groups, and this was reflected in the documents they created. Only by taking all this into account can one reveal the real basis in the reports of the sources.

It follows from this that each individual source needs a deep, individual study, on the basis of which it is possible to decide the degree of its reliability, the accuracy of the information it provides, and the possibility of using it in historical research. Therefore, it is possible to master the skills of scientific criticism of sources only on the basis of independent work over various documents of the past, preserved from different eras, that is, in the process practical work with them.

In source studies, there are three stages of source analysis.

External source criticism- heuristics and hermeneutics, i.e. collection of sources for the study of a particular problem, accurate reading of the text, cleaning it from inserts and falsifications, identifying gaps, primary and secondary text and editorial additions (heuristics), determining the origin of the source (time of compilation, authorship, place of writing), goals and circumstances compilation of the source (hermeneutics). In the external criticism of a material monument, there are methods of analysis: formal description, identification of connections within the complex, functional purpose, etc.

The second stage of source analysis - internal criticism source. For a written source, this is a recreation of the era when the author lived, revealing the originality of his worldview, the political orientation of his activity, social affiliation, vocational training; determination of the completeness of the reported information, their reliability and accuracy, the authenticity of the text or its forgery.

The third step in source analysis is combining the results of external and internal criticism of the source. Determining the connection between sources of different types, comparing them in terms of reliability and accuracy, complete coverage of events in different sources, establishing the entire amount of facts necessary for research specific problem, detection missing links in the chain of established facts.

On the struggle of Soviet organs against shamanism

From a report on the work of the Soviet and trade apparatus in the Dudinsky district of the Turukhansk region
1925
...Shamanism
The question of the fight against shamanism requires its detailed study, first of all, and a thorough acquaintance with the life of the local native population in general. Having neither one nor the other, I must confine myself to a short report of the facts that I have established. According to the testimony of all local workers, shamanism is very developed and harms the population, and sometimes also opposes the work of Soviet bodies in the tundra. So, in winter, the VIK sent a smallpox vaccinator to the tundra to prevent the introduction of a smallpox epidemic by the YASSR. The smallpox vaccinator met resistance from the shamans, who intimidate the natives with vaccination ...
Deciding to start the fight against shamanism, VIC immediately went too far. In the spring, during my stay in Dudinka, an Ostyak shaman came here, going out to Dudinka every year to "fly" and at the same time to shaman when the natives left the tundra. VIC immediately took away the tambourine and his shaman's clothes with all other attributes from the shaman. However, the shaman managed to remove the “sacred” objects from his clothes and from the tambourine and hurried to hide with them. Of course, it is impossible to fight like that, and at the same time it is criminally against the laws. Soviet power and religion. The selection of shamanic attributes, moreover, was carried out without compiling any documents. The shaman, of course, will make new tambourines, but, offended by the authorities, he will conduct even greater agitation among the dark natives and thereby oppose our undertakings for the sovietization of the tundra. Only by re-educating the native population will we free them from superstition, and shamanism will die of itself, just as religion is now dying in the USSR. As regards the implementation of health measures among the native population, the matter is simpler, since one or two successful cases of providing medical assistance in difficult cases makes a big revolution in the prejudices of the natives. So, a certain professor, Bishop Luka, an exile, performed a number of successful eye operations on the natives in Turukhansk, and now, on their own initiative, five Dolgan natives with eye problems arrived from the tundra and asked the Dudinskiy VIK to send them to Turukhansk for operations ...
Member of the Commission of the Yenisei
Provincial Executive Committee A.P. Kurilovich
GACK, f.r. 1845, op. 1, Original. Typescript.
31, l. 8, 13-13 rev.

Source Analysis
From a report on the work of the Soviet and trade apparatus in the Dudinsky district of the Turukhansk region.
The date of writing the source is directly indicated in the text as 1925.
The author is also known to A.P. Kurilovich is a member of the commission of the Yenisei provincial executive committee.
The place of writing the source is the city of Krasnoyarsk. In the text, the author writes that he was in Dudinka in the spring, therefore, at the time of writing the source, he was at his workplace, namely in the Yenisei Provincial Executive Committee, which was located in the Yenisei province in the city of Krasnoyarsk.
Source type: written;
type of source: documentary;
type of source: clerical.
According to the method of obtaining information: archival.
Quantitatively: unique.
Technique: typescript.
The new economic policy launched shortly after the Kronstadt uprising and the 10th Congress of the RCP(b) meant an attempt to create a system of civilized cooperatives with a regulated market economy, to combine the economy of free producers-owners with the political regime of the dictatorship of the proletariat. The NEP meant the overcoming of military-communist principles by sober-minded circles of the RCP(b) and at the same time contained contradictions between limited freedom in the economy and dictatorship in politics. IN AND. Lenin regarded the NEP as a temporary retreat, and nevertheless noted that the NEP was serious and for a long time.
In the Yenisei province, as in Russia as a whole, the NEP did not immediately bring fruitful results, it was difficult and contradictory to implement. Officials noted disbelief, passivity, and even hostility towards the Soviet government on the part of the majority of the population, government was forced to strictly regulate many, sometimes even the most mundane issues.
The founders of the NEP acted scientifically and consistently, proceeding not from abstract theoretical constructions, but were guided by the requirements of life, the interests of working people. An example is the careful, thoughtful policy towards the peoples of the North. NEP brought nice results. The foundations for the economic and spiritual revival of Siberia and the country as a whole were created.
Apparently, the source is addressed to the chairman of the commission of the Yenisei Provincial Executive Committee, since the report is in the form of a report on the past trip.
Social status of the author: civil servant.
The source touches upon the problem of the eradication of shamanism in the North.
Direct facts extracted from the source.
Shamanism in the North is "very developed and harms the population, and sometimes also opposes the work of Soviet bodies in the tundra." The shamans also intimidated the local population by vaccination. VIK is fighting shamanism in an inappropriate way. Shamanism can also be eradicated by peaceful means, this is how religion dies in the USSR. Several successful eye operations were performed, as a result of which 5 "natives-dolgans", "sick eyes" expressed a desire to go to Turukhansk for an operation.
9) Hidden Facts:
- The exile indicated in the text of the source is V.F. Voyno-Yasenetsky, an outstanding surgeon, who spent a long time in prisons and exile;
- The USSR imposed its ideology on the entire territory, infringing on the rights of the small peoples of the North;
- The author himself does not show any negative attitude towards shamans, but he does not oppose their eradication only by peaceful means, and not by force
10) Evaluation of the completeness of information.
The information provided in the source is not complete, since the document is called "From the report on the work of the Soviet and trade apparatus in the Dudinsky district of the Turukhansk region."
Evaluation of the reliability of information.
The information in the source is reliable:
the author of the source really existed;
he was engaged in ethnographic research in the tundra, as evidenced by photographs that can be viewed on the Internet and in the Moscow archive.
11) The text of the source can be used in special studies on the struggle of Soviet authorities against shamanism.

1.1.4. Analysis of the content of a historical source

At the stage of content analysis, we first of all strive to achieve the maximum degree of understanding of the historical source, and then we identify its informational capabilities, thereby preparing it for use in further historical research.

Interpretation of historical source(from lat. interpretatio - interpretation, clarification) - the basic component of the process of historical knowledge, the meaning of which is to achieve an understanding of the historical (source) reality based on a system of methodologically verified research procedures.

In the course of interpretation, the maximum possible understanding of the historical source is achieved. From the point of view proposed in this study guide model of source study interpretation (as it was shown in the first section when analyzing the concept of "historical source") is a key procedure in source study analysis.

We will leave out of consideration the technical questions of interpretation, which, like the questions of attribution, are usually solved within the framework of auxiliary historical disciplines. It is quite obvious that, when starting a study, you need to make sure that you understand the language of the historical source, the dates given in it, the system of measures, etc. To find out the meaning of unfamiliar obsolete words, you must refer to historical dictionaries (not confusing them with , which, however, can also help the historian), but with the acquisition of research experience, the historian learns to understand that, for example, in the 18th century. the expression "to repair against the sovereign's decree" does not mean a political protest, but quite the opposite - to act in accordance with the law; indicated in the source, for example, “year 157” does not mean 1157 and this is not a scribe’s mistake, but this is 7157 from the creation of the world and, accordingly, 1648/1649 from the birth of Christ, etc.

Here we will talk about interpretation as a method of understanding the Other - the author of a historical source and the culture to which he belonged.

A. S. Lappo-Danilevsky, defining the meaning and significance of the research procedure of interpretation, wrote:

Anyone who seeks knowledge of historical reality draws his knowledge about it from sources (in the broad sense); but in order to ascertain which particular fact he can obtain from given source, he must understand it: otherwise he will not have sufficient reason to give his idea of a fact an objective value; not being sure about what? it is he who learns from a given source, he cannot be sure that he does not attribute to the source the product of his own fantasy. From this point of view, the historian, in essence, proceeds to the study of various types of sources: he tries to establish, for example, the remnants of which particular fact or the legend about which particular fact are contained in a given source, which becomes possible only with a proper understanding of it. However, if we recall, in addition, those principles that underlie the concept of a historical object of study proper, then even from such a more specific point of view, understanding the source will become an even more urgent need for the historian: after all, starting to study historical material, he already proceeds from recognition of that “alien self”, to the activity of which he ascribes the emergence of a given source, and from the corresponding concept of the latter; consequently, each historical source turns out to be such a complex mental product of an individual or an entire people that a correct understanding of it is not given immediately: it is achieved by interpreting it.

So, broadly speaking, that interpretation consists in a generally valid scientific understanding of a historical source[emphasis added by me. - M. R.].

The scientific understanding of the historical source, in turn, needs, however, some clarification. In general, to scientifically understand a historical source means to establish that objectively given psychic meaning that the interpreter must ascribe to the source if he wishes to achieve the scientific goal of his historical interpretation set for himself; but, in essence, an interpreter can attach an objectively given mental meaning to his source only if he has reason to assert that he ascribes to it the same meaning that the creator (author) attached to his work. From this point of view, the interpreter is mainly interested in the psychic meaning or meaning of the historical source and establishes it by interpretation.

Paradigmally different approaches to historical cognition, correlated with classical and non-classical models of science, make the object of interpretation either a historical fact established through the so-called criticism of historical sources, or a historical source as an objectified result of the creative activity of an individual / product of culture, the understanding of which is aimed at historical interpretation. . Samples of methodological development of the interpretation of historical fact in the 19th century. given by the German historians J. G. Droysen (1808–1886) and E. Bernheim (1850–1942). I. G. Droyzen defines: “The essence of interpretation is to see in past incidents the reality in its entirety of their conditions, which required their implementation in reality.” I. G. Droyzen distinguishes four aspects of interpretation: pragmatic interpretation - reconstruction of the picture of historical events on the basis of a historical source of material verified in the process of criticism; interpretation of conditions - clarification of the historical context of the facts established in the process of research; psychological interpretation - the identification of volitional acts that gave rise to the situation under study; interpretation of ideas - an explanation of the moral foundations of volitional acts. As we have seen, A. S. Lappo-Danilevsky developed the methodology for interpreting a historical source in most detail, who argued that a historical fact is established not in the process of criticizing a historical source, but in the process of interpreting it. A. S. Lappo-Danilevsky distinguishes four interrelated methods of interpreting a historical source: psychological, based on the principle of recognizing someone else's animation, - the interpretation of the object under study as a realized product of someone else's mental life, that is, its actual recognition as a historical source; technical - "the interpretation of those technical means which the author used to discover his thoughts”; typifying, systematic and evolutionary – correlating a historical source with the state of culture (co-existential dimension) and with the stage of culture (evolutionary/historical dimension) in which the source arose; individualizing - revealing the individual characteristics of the author's personality and the characteristics of his work. Throughout the 20th century the problems of interpretation were developed mainly in the context of hermeneutics.

Under hermeneutics ( Greek hermeneutike) was originally understood as the art of interpreting biblical or ancient texts. During the XIX-XX centuries. a different understanding of hermeneutics was also formed: (1) the methodological paradigm of humanitarian/historical knowledge (19th century, V. Dilthey); (2) a philosophical discipline that highlights the hermeneutics of consciousness (19th century, F. Schleiermacher, W. Dilthey) and the hermeneutics of being (20th century, M. Heidegger - the ontological aspect, H.-G. Gadamer - the epistemological aspect).

The origins of hermeneutics are to be found in Ancient Greece, where the interpretation of the texts of the oracles and Homer was practiced; Aristotle created the treatise Peri hermeneias ("On the Expression of Thoughts"). The interpretation of the Bible in Judaism (Philo) and Christianity (Origen, Augustine) had the greatest influence on the development of hermeneutics. As a discipline that not only practices exegesis (the interpretation of obscure religious texts), but also develops rules of interpretation, hermeneutics developed in early Protestantism (Luther, Melanchthon, Flacius). The concept of hermeneutica (lat.) is first encountered by I. K. Dannhauer (1629). The formation of philosophical (philological) hermeneutics as a doctrine of understanding as such is associated with the names of I.M. There are different types of hermeneutics: translation(Russian "interpreter", English interpreter), reconstruction(in relation to historical knowledge - reproduction of the meaning of a historical source, reconstruction of a historical situation / historical circumstances) and dialog(concept of dialogue of cultures, dialogue approach in humanitarian knowledge). A number of authors correlate the varieties of hermeneutics with the historical stages of its formation. The first stage is the interpretation/translation of the will of the gods (antiquity) and the Bible (Middle Ages). The second stage - reconstruction - prevails in modern times and is realized in philological hermeneutics. Reconstruction techniques were developed by F. Schleiermacher, A. Böck. Hermeneutics as a reconstruction receives the greatest development in the concept of V. Dilthey, who considers descriptive psychology as the basis of hermeneutics, which is given the character of a universal method of the sciences of the spirit, primarily historical science. The dialogue of cultures/traditions as a product of new meanings prevails in the philosophy of the 20th century. (G.-G. Gadamer, J. Habermas, P. Ricoeur).

We see that the historically established understanding of hermeneutics in some of its variants is close to interpretation in its source study sense, especially if we turn to the definition given by E. Tiselton to the subject of hermeneutics: “The focus of hermeneutics is the process of reading, understanding and analyzing texts, which were written in a completely different historical context."

But still, the difference between hermeneutics and interpretation can be found in the semantic difference between understanding and explanation/interpretation. In addition, it should be emphasized that as a practical hermeneutics in the historical knowledge of the XIX and partly XX centuries. should consider the interpretation of the content of historical sources in order to construct historical facts in their submission to the logic of historical narrative. At the same time, the relationship between historical fact and historical narrative is adequately described by the concept of a hermeneutic circle.

The hermeneutic circle is, on the one hand, an immanent property of understanding, fixing its prerequisite, pre- rational character, conditionality, including tradition, on the other hand, the basic rule of hermeneutics, which G.-G. Gadamer (1900–2002) describes it thus:

The whole is to be understood in terms of the particular, and the particular in terms of the whole. This hermeneutic rule originates in ancient rhetoric; the hermeneutics of modern times transferred him from the realm of oratory to the art of understanding. In both cases, we have a circle. The parts determine the whole and in turn determine the whole; through this, the anticipation of meaning, by which the whole was understood, becomes explicitly understandable.

The origins of the hermeneutic circle are found in ancient rhetoric and patristics (Augustine). Flacius (Protestant theologian, 1520-1575) developed the doctrine of the relationship between the meaning of text fragments and the text as a whole. In modern times, the hermeneutic circle becomes the basic rule of hermeneutics as the art of understanding. F. Ast (1778–1841) formulated the problem of the hermeneutic circle in his work “Basic Features of Grammar, Hermeneutics and Criticism” (1805), where he says that the whole is understood from the meaning of the singular, and the individual from the meaning of the whole. F. Ast understood the “spirit of history” as the final whole. The problem was concretized by F. Schleiermacher: the circular movement of understanding has objective and subjective components. The objective component of the hermeneutic circle is the inclusion of a separate text in the context of the author's creativity, the author's creativity in the context of the literary genre and literature in general. The subjective component of the hermeneutic circle is the belonging of the text to the author's spiritual life. These components of the hermeneutic circle correspond to "grammatical" and "psychological" interpretations. The projection of the hermeneutic circle on historical knowledge is contained in the concept of V. Dilthey: understanding of the historical individual (an individual with a "historical mind") is possible with an understanding of the spiritual world of the corresponding era, which, in turn, implies an understanding of "objective remnants of mental life". The original interpretation of the hermeneutic circle in relation to historical knowledge was given by I. G. Droyzen:

... we understand what is, entirely and completely only when we know and understand its formation. But we know its becoming only by following and comprehending as accurately as possible what it is.<…>, becoming and present being we manifest from the existent, perceiving it in time and decomposing it into parts in order to understand it.

In the philosophy of M. Heidegger (1889–1976), the hermeneutic circle acquires an ontological character as a basic definition of the condition of human existence. In epistemological terms, M. Heidegger's ideas about the "ontologically positive meaning" of the hermeneutic circle were developed by G.-G. Gadamer, who showed the productivity of the hermeneutic circle in the process of cognition. With regard to historical knowledge G.-G. Gadamer recognizes in time distance a "positive, productive possibility of understanding":

The point is to recognize in the time distance a positive, productive possibility of understanding. This time interval is filled with a succession of events, tradition, in the light of which all tradition appears for us. Here we can talk about the true productivity of an event. Everyone knows how powerless our judgment is if a temporary distance has not provided us with a reliable measure. Thus, scientific consciousness in its judgments about contemporary art sometimes feels itself in the highest degree unsure. It is obvious that we approach such creatures with pre-established judgments beyond our control - they are able to endow these creatures with a property of increased resonance, a property that does not coincide with their true content and their true meaning. Only when all such actual connections die off, their true appearance emerges, only then will the possibility of understanding what they really say, understanding what with good reason can claim general validity. By the way, filtering the true meaning contained in a text or in an artistic creation is in itself an endless process. It filters the temporary state, but it is in constant motion, it increases, and this is its productivity for understanding. As a result, private prejudices die out, and those that provide true understanding come out.

Despite the fact that in modern humanitarian knowledge there is a steady tendency to identify hermeneutics with interpretation, in a strict methodological sense research procedure of interpretation in source studies should be distinguished from the hermeneutic approach in history. In historical knowledge, the hermeneutic circle should not be confused as a way of understanding based on pre- reason, on the projection of meaning, with a conscious explication of the context in the process of historical interpretation. In non-classical and post-non-classical models of science in relation to historical knowledge, it is fundamentally important to distinguish between hermeneutics and the interpretation of a historical source, since hermeneutic procedures, which prevailed in the 20th century. dialogue type of hermeneutics in the strict sense, their goal is not scientific knowledge, but the interpretation of a historical source from the position reader, as well as the interpretation of historical facts in the context of a particular narrative.

We emphasize once again that the difference between the hermeneutic approach and interpretation as a procedure of scientific knowledge can be found in the semantic difference between interpretation/explanation and understanding. It should be recognized that the necessary methodological distinction between these concepts is not always easily realized in research practices historical science.

Establishing the reliability of a historical source. First of all, do not confuse authenticity and authenticity historical source. These are completely different concepts, it is difficult to confuse them, but in a completely inexplicable way, many generations of students have difficulty distinguishing them. Therefore, let us clarify once again: a source is genuine if it was created at that time, in that place and by that author, as indicated in the historical source itself or easily read from the context. The opposite of authenticity is falsification. The authenticity of a historical source is established using the technical skills developed primarily by the auxiliary historical disciplines. At the same time, it is superfluous to explain that falsification, once revealed, does not lose the properties of a historical source: it is a historical source created at a different time and by another author who pursued his own goals.

In order not to confuse authenticity and reliability, we can clarify the wording: if in the case of authenticity we are talking about the authenticity of the historical source itself, then in the case of reliability, it is more correct to speak of the reliability of its information. And the problems here are no longer technical. The definition of the concept of "reliability" looks simple only from the point of view of classical type of rationality, for which the task of science is the comprehension of objective reality, including the objective reality of the past. In this case, everything is really very simple: the source information is reliable if it corresponds to this very “objective reality”. The so-called criticism of a historical source, based on the historian's common sense and using, as a rule, only a comparison of information from different sources, acts as a way to establish authenticity. The classic description of this model belongs to the already mentioned Bolingbroke:

Protected from deception, I can put up with ignorance. But when historical records are not wholly missing, when some of them have been lost or destroyed, while others have been preserved and circulated, then we are in danger of being deceived; and verily, he must be blind who accepts as truth the history of any religion or people, and even more so the history of any sect or party, without being able to compare it with another historical version. A sane person would not be so blind. Not on a single evidence, but on the coincidence of evidence, he will assert historical truth[hereinafter highlighted by me. - M. R.]. If there is no match at all, he will not trust anything; if it is in even a little, he will measure his agreement or disagreement accordingly. Even a faint ray of light from a foreign historical narrative often exposes a whole system of lies; and even those who deliberately distort history often give themselves away as a result of ignorance or negligence<…>. If we talk about the subject as a whole, then in all these cases we cannot be seriously deceived if we ourselves do not want it.

In all other cases, it makes even less sense to do this, because when there are enough stories and historical chronicles, then even those that are false contribute to the discovery of the truth. Inspired by different passions and conceived in the name of opposite goals, they contradict each other, and contradicting each other, they pronounce a guilty verdict on each other. Criticism separates the ore from the rock and extracts from various authors all the historical truth that could only partially be found in each of them individually; criticism convinces us of its rightness when it is based on common sense and presented impartially. If this can be achieved through historical writings whose authors consciously sought to deceive, how much easier and more effectively could this be done with the help of those who had a greater respect for the truth? Among the many authors there will always be those who are incapable of grossly distorting the truth, fearing exposure and disgrace, while he seeks glory, or those who adhere to the truth from nobler and firmer principles.

It is obvious that all of them, including even the last ones, can be wrong. Being in captivity of this or that passion, the former are able from time to time to spread lies or hide the truth, like that painter who<…>painted in profile a portrait of the sovereign, who had only one eye.

V non-classical model historical science, the concept of reliability is changing. Researchers are beginning to show interest not only in “objective facts that can be extracted from the source” (still a common discourse that marks the preservation of the classical type of rationality among contemporary authors), but also in the subjectivity of the author, his worldview. Of course, in this case, no one cancels the verification of the so-called factual information of the historical source, but the researcher no longer sets the task of “rejecting” the subjectivity of the author, but sees it as an independent subject of research, without studying which it is impossible to adequately perceive the information of the historical source. It is in the non-classical model of historical science that the principle of recognizing someone else's animation is applied. The non-classical type of rationality presupposes an answer to the question about the sincerity of the author, the presence or absence of a deliberate distortion of reality (of course, the subjective reality of the author, and not the "objective reality of history"). Of course, this approach requires more subtle research tools that cannot be fully formalized.

Despite the fact that the non-classical model of science replaces the classical one at the end of the 19th century, we also find manifestations of the classical type of rationality among authors of very recent times. The words of P. A. Zaionchkovsky from the preface to the index “History of pre-revolutionary Russia in the diaries and memoirs of contemporaries” have already been cited above: “... the value of memoirs lies in the presentation of the factual side of the events described, and not in their assessment, which, of course, is almost always subjective” .

The post-nonclassical type of rationality requires mainly a hermeneutic model for determining reliability, the criterion of which is the coordination of the part and the whole.

The neoclassical source study model positioned in this textbook involves considering the problem of the reliability of information from a historical source through the prism of the concept of "empirical reality". historical world”, while focusing on both the personality of the author, the features of his worldview, and the inclusion of a historical source in the system of species characteristic of a particular culture, which allows us to explicate the hidden intentions of the author, which influenced not only the nature of the presentation of information in a historical source, but also its selection, which forces us to pose the problem of the completeness of the information of the historical source.

The concept of completeness of historical source information. With the above understanding of reliability, it is obvious that the concept of completeness is connected with it in the most direct way.

In our opinion, in relation to the classical model of historical science, the concept of the completeness of the information of a historical source cannot be defined in principle. If in this case the question is raised about the completeness of the information of the historical source, then it is not about identifying the properties of the historical source itself, but about correlating its information with the “fragment of historical reality” being studied by the historian.

Understanding a historical source not as a reservoir of information, but as a cultural phenomenon that deserves not so-called criticism, but a full-fledged source analysis, forces us to pose the problem of completeness in two interconnected plans: first, completeness in relation to the species model; secondly, revealing the conscious suppression by the author of the information that he possessed, but did not consider it necessary to include in the historical source he created, although the species model presupposes such information. For example, it is quite obvious that the historian will react differently to the selection of information in autobiographical memoirs and memoirs - “ contemporary stories". The completeness of a code (code) or set of laws is definable only in relation to the spheres of social reality regulated by them. In particular, we can judge the completeness of the Criminal and Correctional Code of 1845 in terms of the coverage of those acts that were considered crimes during the period of its operation. To judge this, it is necessary to study legal practice, newly adopted legislative acts and compare it with the Criminal Code of 1903, which already provided for, for example, liability for participation in a political (revolutionary) movement. Establishing the completeness of the materials of a statistical survey is possible in relation to its program, etc.

Needless to say, from the point of view of the source study concept positioned in this textbook, the initial research hypothesis about the specific nature of a historical source, tested at the stage of analyzing its origin, works in determining the reliability and establishing the completeness of the studied historical source.

Thus, the content analysis results in a conclusion about the possibilities and prospects for using a historical source in historical research. The procedure of source study analysis in the structure of the original source study is followed by the procedure of source study synthesis. But before proceeding to its exposition, let us dwell on the concept of “criticism of a historical source”, often mentioned in the preceding paragraphs.

The distinction between the concepts of "source analysis" and "criticism of a historical source" is of fundamental importance: the latter corresponds to the understanding of a historical source in the classical model of science and is clearly outdated in modern conditions.