The historian does simply not come in to replenish the gaps of memory. He constantly challenges even those memories that have survived intact.
Interpretation
The historian not only fills in memory gaps but also questions and critiques what we remember.
This quote emphasizes the role of historians in society, suggesting that their work extends beyond merely recording events to actively interrogating and challenging our collective memories. By doing so, historians help us understand history not as a static account of the past, but as a dynamic narrative that is influenced by perspective, interpretation, and context.
In practice
In a lecture on historical analysis, this quote can illustrate the importance of questioning sources.
Vietnam was the defining event for my generation. It spilled over into all facets of American life - into music, into the pulpits, in churches of our country. It spilled over into the city streets, police forces. And even if you were born late in the generation, Vietnam was still part of your childhood.
I'm the son of two Holocaust survivors. As a child, I heard from one of my parents' best friends about living through Mengele's infamous selection process at Auschwitz. He haunted my nightmares.
This above all makes history useful and desirable; it unfolds before our eyes a glorious record of exemplary actions.
You can't write about history without writing about politics at some point. History is about movements of people. 'What is criminality and what is government' is a theme that runs through every history.
The study of history reveals that human progress has not been continuous and regular, but intermittent and spasmodic, often depending upon apparently accidental causes. It is difficult to get a cross-section view of society at any given stage.
The Great War was nobody's fault - or everybody's.
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