Historical Writing: Epistemological Junctures

The study sheds light on the dialectical nature of the development of Western historiography from the moment history departed ways with theology, to be assimilated by philosophy and snatched in turn by the positivist and Annales schools – suggesting that development in the writing of history is preceded by new vision and perspectives at the level of epistemological research. It has long been believed in Arab universities, and Moroccan ones, that revival of historical research is predicated on discovery of documents and the illumination of murky aspects surrounding historical events: a vision that is limited to the positivist stage of historical writing, one that has not escaped criticism for its methodological shortcomings. Its most important deficiency is its focus on the political dimension of the historical event and subsequent neglect of other basic dimensions of historical research (society, economics, culture, religion, mindsets, marginalized persons.

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The study sheds light on the dialectical nature of the development of Western historiography from the moment history departed ways with theology, to be assimilated by philosophy and snatched in turn by the positivist and Annales schools – suggesting that development in the writing of history is preceded by new vision and perspectives at the level of epistemological research. It has long been believed in Arab universities, and Moroccan ones, that revival of historical research is predicated on discovery of documents and the illumination of murky aspects surrounding historical events: a vision that is limited to the positivist stage of historical writing, one that has not escaped criticism for its methodological shortcomings. Its most important deficiency is its focus on the political dimension of the historical event and subsequent neglect of other basic dimensions of historical research (society, economics, culture, religion, mindsets, marginalized persons.

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