STRUCTURE of a historical text
Although texts can be classified depending on the genre they belong to, they are also divided according to the area of knowledge and the objective they intend to achieve. In the same way, they acquire a certain structure to achieve their mission. In this lesson from a TEACHER we will explain what is the structure of a historical text.
A text can fulfill different functions: explain, argue, describe or expose. In the case of historical texts we refer to a type of writing that has similarities with the expositive text. Therefore, are characterized by providing data and descriptions significant about any circumstance or event.
The historical text aims to tell the facts chronologically. With this, we allows to know aspects of the human past. This type of written productions are a channel of possibility to get closer to other times. We could rescue a couple of general characteristics of these texts.
- They use research methods, official documents, statistics, primary sources, and testimonies to reconstruct moments in history.
- They can be the result of a story from a person who experienced such a period or a significant milestone.
- They make use of prose and tell the facts in a linear way. They use clear and direct language.
Although the credible and objective nature of this type of texts is denoted, it is worth noting that since they are produced in a specific political, social and economic context they are usually marked by certain ideologies. The interesting thing about these texts is that, being contextual and ideological, they allow us to understand the type of people who wrote them; the interests of the historian, historian or the person who from her personal experience tells the story.
For example, a historical text written in the France in the late 18th century by someone belonging to the liberal bourgeoisie will surely denote the ideas of freedom, social transformations of the time and values of currents of thought that had tendencies such as naturalism and the romanticism. The interesting thing is that today's historians continue to use these clues to reconstruct the past and, surely, the The way we tell our story now will give clues to people who study the beginning of the 21st century in the future.
Before delving into the structure of a historical text, we will quickly see what its origin is. Within Western culture, the emergence of history as a discipline is often attributed to Herodotus, the first European geographer and chronicler who lived in Greece between 484 and 425 before Christ.
Herodotus made several trips that allowed him to gather information and witness battles and events, such as the Medical wars, which he subsequently wrote. It is said that he is the father of history as an area of knowledge, and therefore a precursor of historical texts, because he was the first to give it a structure and organization from his story. His work known as Nine history books It is one of the main references to know the ancient world.
Knowing the origin and meaning, let us now see what is the structure of a historical text. Most writings share a basic organization Which consists of three essential parts: the introduction, the development and the conclusion. These three stages allow you to build a text for easy understanding.
In the case of historical texts, the structure is a fundamental part, since having to relate specific moments in a linear order, you must be aware of how you should arrange and present the information.
Introduction
This is the first section of the historical text, here the theme and the objective of the author are presented on the following pages. For this, it is discussed what type of content is in the writing: the topic, the focus, the historical period, the events and main characters.
This is the space we have to stand out and give the reader a general idea. Additionally, the type of material used to carry out the research is presented.
Developing
In this second section, presents the reconstruction of the historical event. Relevant events, characters and factors are narrated. Historians tend to include citations, statistics, and direct references to the sources they have consulted.
As Ivo Mattozzi indicates in his text Teach to write about history, in the development we demonstrate the understanding of the related historical fact: “it requires that know its beginning, its end, the process of change or, if not the enduring state of affairs, the context".
Conclution
This is the last section of the structure of the historical text. It is characterized by fulfilling two functions: recapitulating what has been discussed throughout the writing and, on some occasions, leaving a reflection for the reader. Here the subject should be closed and justified why, from the introduction to the development, the objective of our text has been fulfilled.
