JK Academy Maharashtra Board Class 10 History Solutions Chapter 1 Historiography Development in the West
Maharashtra State Board Class 10 History Solutions Chapter 1 Historiography Development in the West Textbook Exercise Questions and Answers.
Maharashtra State Board Class 10 History Solutions Chapter 1 Historiography Development in the West
Std 10 History Chapter 1 Historiography Development in the West guide
Std 10 History Chapter 1 Historiography Development in the West digest
Exercise
1. (A) Choose the correct option from the given options and complete the sentences.
(1) It may be said that …….. was the founder of modern historiography.
(a) Voltaire (b) René Descartes (c) Leopold Ranké (d) Karl Marx
Answer: (a) Voltaire
(2) ………… wrote the book entitled ‘Archaeology of Knowledge’.
(a) Karl Marx (b) Michel Foucault (c) Lucien Febvre (d) Voltaire
Answer: (b) Michel Foucault
(B) Identify the wrong pair in the following, correct it and rewrite.
(1) Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel – ‘Reason in History’
(2) Leopold von Ranké – ‘The theory and Practice of History’
(3) Herodotus – ‘The Histories’
(4) Karl Marx -‘Discourse on the Method’
Answer:
(1) Right pair: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel – ‘Reason in History’
(2) Right pair: Leopold von Ranké – ‘The theory and Practice of History’
(3) Right pair: Herodotus – ‘The Histories’
(4) Wrong pair: Karl Marx – Discourse on the Method.
Correct Pair: Karl Marx – Das Capital
René Descartes – Discourse on the Method
2. Explain the following concepts.
(1) Dialectics
Answer:
(i) In order to understand the true nature of a thing one needs to know both true and false, similarly good and bad. This method of analysis which is based on opposites is known as ‘Dialectics’.
(ii) In this method a theory is proposed at the beginning, which is called, ‘Thesis’.
(iii) Then another theory is proposed, which is contrary to the thesis. It is called, ‘Antithesis’.
(iv) After a thorough logical discussion of the both a new thesis is proposed which includes the gist of both, the thesis and the antithesis. This process of arriving at the new thesis is called, ‘Synthesis’.
(2) Annales School
Answer:
(i) At the onset of the twentieth century a new school of historiography arose in France, which is known as ‘Annales School’.
(ii) Annales school gave a new direction to history writing. It was recognised now that history is not only about the political events, kings, great leaders and accordingly politics, diplomacy and wars but also about the climate, local people, agriculture, trade, technology, means of communication, social divisions and their collective psychology, etc. in the historical times.
(iii) The Annales School was started by French historians.
3. Explain the following with its reason.
(1) Historical research was driven to focus in depth on various aspects of women’s life.
Answer:
(i) The writings of Simone de Beauvoir, helped in establishing the fundamentals of feminism.
(ii) She emphasised not only on the inclusion of women in history but also on the rethinking of the male dominated perspective of history.
(iii) It drove historical research to focus in depth on various aspects of women’s life such as their employment, their role in trade union, institutions working for their cause, their family life, etc.
(iv) In the historical writings after 1990 women were portrayed as an independent social class.
(2) Foucault called his method, ‘the archaeology of knowledge’.
Answer:
(i) In his book, ‘Archaeology of Knowledge’, Michel Foucault ,argued that the prevailing practice of arranging historical events in a chronological order is not right.
(ii) According to him archaeology does not strive to reach the ultimate historical truth but attempts to explain various transitions in the past.
(iii) Foucault felt that explaining the transitions in history is more important. He called his method, ‘the archaeology of knowledge’.
4. Answer the following in 25-30 words.
(1) What is historiography?
Answer:
(i) The writing of critical historical narrative is known as ‘Historiography’.
(ii) A scholor who writes such a narrative is a historian.
(iii) The inclusion and interpretation of historical events by the historian often depends on the conceptual framework adopted by him. His style of writing is determined by that conceptual framework.
(2) What did René Descartes insisted upon?
Answer:
(i) René Descartes insisted on verifying the reliability of historical documents by critically examining them.
(ii) In his book, ‘Discourse on the method’, he gave the following rule : Never to accept anything for true till all grounds of doubt are excluded.
(3) Why is Voltaire said to be the founder of modern historiography?
Answer:
(i) He opined that along with objective truth and chronology of historical events, social traditions, trade, economy, agriculture, etc. was also equally important in historiography.
(ii) It gave rise to the thought that understanding all aspects of human life is important for history writing.
(iii) Thus, it is said that Voltaire was the founder of modern historiography.
5. Complete the concept chart.
Answer:
Notable Scholars in Europe
(i) René Descartes
(ii) Voltaire
(iii) Leopold von Ranké
(iv) Karl Marx
6. Answer the following in detail.
(1) Explain Karl Marx’s ‘Class Theory’.
(i) In his book ‘Das Capital’ Karl Marx says that, history was not about abstract ideas; it was about living people.
(ii) Human relationships are shaped by the fundamental needs of people and the ownership as well as nature of prevalent means of production to meet those needs.
(iii) The accessibility of these means to different strata of the society may not be equal.
(iv) This inequality causes a division of the society into classes, leading to class struggle.
(v) Human history is the history of class struggle, as the class that owns the means of production economically exploits the rest of the classes.
(2) What are the four characteristics of modern historiography?
Answer: Four main characteristics of modern historiography :
(i) Its method is based on scientific principles. It begins with the formation of relevant questions.
(ii) These questions are anthropocentric. It means that these questions are about the deeds of the members of ancient human societies of a particular period. History does not suggest any interrelation between the Divine and human deeds.
(iii) Answers to these questions are supported by reliable evidence.
(iv) History presents a graph of mankind’s journey with the help of past human deeds.
(3) What is feminist historiography?
Answer:
(i) Feminist historiography means the restructuring of the history from the perspective of women.
(ii) The writings of Simone de Beauvoir, helped in establishing the fundamentals of feminism.
(iii) She emphasised not only on the inclusion of women in history but also on the rethinking of the male dominated perspective of history.
(iv) It drove historical research to focus in depth on various aspects of women’s life such as their employment, their role in trade union, institutions working for their cause, their family life, etc.
(v) In the historical writings after 1990 women were portrayed as an independent social class.
(4) Explain Leopold von Ranké’s perspective of history?
Answer:
(i) Historiography of the nineteenth century was greatly influenced by the thoughts of Leopold Von Ranke of Berlin University.
(ii) He spoke about the critical method of historical research.
(iii) He put emphasis on the utmost importance of information gathered through original documents.
(iv) He also stated that all types of documents associated with a historical event need to be examined with greatest care.
(v) He believed that with this method it was possible to reach the historical truth.
(vi) He criticised imaginative narration of history.
Project
Obtain detailed information on your favourite subject and write its history.
For example :
– History of Pen
– History of Printing technology
– History of Computers
Std 10 History Chapters
1. Historiography : Development in the West.
2. Historiography : Indian Tradition
3. Applied History
4. History of Indian Arts
5. Mass Media and History
6. Entertainment and History
7. Sports and History
8. Tourism and History
9. Heritage Management
Std 10 Political Science
1. Working of the Constitution
2. The Electoral Process
3. Political Parties
4. Social and Political Movements
5. Challenges faced by Indian Democracy