Global and World History: Is There A Difference?

 

Fig. [3]

          There is a growing trend in Academia and that is the discussion of global history.  Global History is a fascinating and exciting field but it does have a few draw backs.  You may recall a world history class in high school or maybe one in college.  If you were like me in undergrad I took two American history courses and two Western Civilization classes.  Global history is slightly different than world history.  World History does not quite work the same way. 

World history gives a couple of misleading impressions, first for the American students it tends to make them think that main division between studies is American history and world history making American history sound more important than it is.  Now don’t get me wrong I am an Americanist and enjoy American history more than any other regional study that History has to offer.  However, one does have to acknowledge that there are older civilizations than that of the United States.  A global perspective tries to put the history of the United States in the context of the rest of the world.  World history gives the impression to be monolithic. It shows that civilizations rise and fall without much connection of one to another.  “Global history is superior in this sense because it recognizes that civilizations are not static, they fight each other, trade with each other, convert each other and infect each other.”[1] Global history can use a number of approaches in its study, Social history, Military history, economic history, intellectual history and of course Cultural history.  It allows historians to see the big picture, how different civilizations have interacted and how ideas, like Industrialization and Globalization, go from Europe to Asia and vice versa. Large complicated narratives can streamlined and studied as a big picture history.

Global history is a useful tool to historians but, just like anything else, there is a tradeoff. Some of the challenges for a historian using Global History is that it streamlines those large historical questions but, it can lose some of the intricacies of the argument.  Smaller details can be lost, Global history is not as good at looking at smaller stories. The type of stories better told trough micro-histories and biographies. Cultural history can be done but it is hard to do a global-cultural history because one must be an expert in so many different cultures in order to see them interact it becomes too general. [2] 

Fig [4]

If you are interested in reading any global histories, The World History Association offers recommended reading list.  Here is the link: 

http://www.thewha.org/resource-links/bibliographies-recommended-books/

 

[1] Keating, Christopher. “Final Essay World History Class.” 12/11/2015.

[2] Keating, Christopher. “Hist 671 Global History Response Essay.” 11/9/2015.

[3] http://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3b05973/

[4] http://www.loc.gov/item/98507431/

Pop History vs Academic History

This past semester I started my first semester of Master’s work at James Madison University for the Pubic History program.  It has been quite a learning experience.  One of the first things that surprised me was that some of my professors and fellow students did not like what is called Pop history.  Pop history are those history books that you pick up at the local book store that are meant for mass production sale but may or may not be written by a trained historians.  Pop histories have had something of a bad reputation for quite a while for a number of reasons, some are poorly researched, filled with extravagant and unsubstantiated claims, and generally filled with oversimplifications or wrong information. Lauren Wheeler, A public historian, does a great job summarizing what is wrong with pop history in her blog.

 ”Pop history is analogous to pop music – it is light and easy to access and digest but without much substance.  It can also be seen as the tabloids of history in the tendency toward sensationalizing over accuracy and use of outdated or disproven information.  Most pop history is encountered in television programming – the recent series “Viking” is an excellent example – and distorts fact for entertainment value without providing the viewer with a disclaimer.  As a result when the general public watches pop history programs they leave with misconceptions of what happened and unwittingly perpetuate false information and assumptions about the past. “ (http://canenvirorock.com/2013/04/16/public-history-pop-history-academia-and-jobs/)

There are issues with pop history that must be said however, there are good popular histories out there and I for one love a good pop history.  They are usually well written, can be very interesting and be a great resource for someone who would never ordinarily pick up a history book and read.  It is for this reason I like pop histories! Anything that takes history and puts it from the “that was boring in high school” to “that is really interesting! I never knew that before!” category gets my vote.  That being said there are dangers to pop history.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhiCFdWeQfA

One of the dangers of pop histories or any kind of history is that some people tend to read one book and take it all as gospel truth, this can be said of academic histories as well.  If someone picks up an academic history they are also tempted to say “see here is an expert” and decide this is what really happened based solely on one book.  One of my pet peeves is sitting down with someone and having a conversations about history and they tell me exactly how it was based on “this one book” they read.  This is not entirely the average history student or history buff’s fault since historians and tour guides are trained to tell their narrative from a conclusive perspective. 

I believe in absolute truth. I am a Christian, my undergrad in history was done at Liberty University where I was very much trained in a modernist philosophy, that is that what happened in the past actually happened in the past.  However as a historian one has to realize that we don’t have every detail of every fact.  So there is room for what is called interpretation.  One historian will disagree with another historian, doesn’t mean that one historian is absolutely wrong and the other is absolutely right.  It just means that all historians are imperfect.  John Fea, of Messiah Collage, once wrote that “all history is revisionist history” it is true.  All historians have the responsibility to tell the truth of what happened in the past but just as when there are different perspectives in any story the same story can have different interpretations.  I would encourage everyone the next time they read the next best seller, most academic paper in the world, visit a museum or watch their favorite historical movie, to ask what perspective is being displayed and what is their evidence.

(http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/All-Historians-Are-Revisionists-John-Fea-05-18-2011) [1]

 

 [1] Fea, John. Why Study History?. Grand Rapids, MI :Baker Academic Group, 2013.

Here we go again!

Since graduating I have been wanting to do a post about the benefits of internships. When I was in school I heard multiple times from instructors that I should pursue an internship opportunity.  I did not follow their sage advise, there was always something else to do or some other responsibility. After graduating with a bachelors in history and not investing the time to seek out an internship I would like to encourage all history students out there to get an internship.  As the philosopher George Santayana said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Alright, that may a trite quote for a history blog however I would like others to learn from my mistake. I didn’t pay much attention to my short coming till after I graduated and by then it was too late.  Searching for a job definitely made me realize the necessity for history students to get internships or at least volunteer. It was volunteering at the National Civil War Chaplain’s Museum that helped me land a job at The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library. Museums often have limited funds to hire employees, so they use volunteers and when a position does open up they typically hire from within a pool of candidates that they are familiar with i.e. those volunteers or those interns. Needless to say I was very blessed to receive a job in my field with the experience of an internship. Internships, even unpaid internships, are doorways into jobs.  This is especially true for workers in the history field.

 

I am also happy to announce my acceptance into the Public History program at James Madison University.  I am trying to prepare myself for a very busy year ahead of me.  I will be taking three classes (full time) participating in a teacher’s assistantship and continuing to work at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library on the weekends.  I am hoping a master’s in Public History will make me more desirable to employers in my field.  Here we go again!

Batman Around the World

My last post announced my interest in studying comic book history and a piece of my paper on Batman during the Second World War.  In this post I would like to explore some of the ways other cultures portrayed the Dynamic Duo. 

As America entered World War II, Batman became a national figure.  He chased villains across state lines, combated crime in all regions of the country. [1] As Batman gained popularity in America he gained international popularity as well.  In the 1948, some young Spaniards essentially copied the American Batman comics and sold them as their own.  This did not last too long as these entrepreneurs began putting their own spin on Batman and Robin.  First, they made by Robin the main character and changing his tunic from red to yellow.  The also had Robin and Murcielago (Bat) use guns and grenades against their foes. [3] [4]

Of all the places mentioned in this blog, The Philippines probably has the most to offer.  At least seven Batman related films have come from this country and they are worth looking into.  The earliest was made in 1965 called Alyas Batman at Robin and bewilderingly the latest was called Alyas Batman en Robin made in 1991.  However, my favorite is James Batman, where James Bond and Batman and Robin team up to take down an evil syndicate bent on world domination. [5-9]

Batman the television series brought a campy portrayal of the Caped Crusader in 1966 but by 1968 the show was wrapping up.  Apparently not so in Mexico, as another Caped Crusader defended the beaches of Mexico, in a Bikini?  Yes! A movie was made about a Bat-woman who saved the day wearing a cowl, cape and a two piece bathing suit.



There was a Turkish film made in 1973,Yarasa Adam: Bedman. This version is more than a little different than the American rendition.  In this version Batman smokes, uses a gun and, visits strip clubs. [2] The film itself has several moments of nudity as may be spotted in the film poster.  I had to double check to make sure this was not a porn parody. I am pretty certain it is not but then again….



The most famous and probably the most main stream international version of Batman comes from Manga legend Jiro Kuwata.  During the mid-1960s DC comics commissioned Kuwata to produce a Manga based on Batman for Japanese audiences.

BatManga

 



These are only a few of the incarnations of Batman around the world.  They only made me like Batman all the more.

 

Swedish Batman Comic from the 80s

   1.      Christopher Keating, Batman’s Role in the Second World War: Defending the  Home Front, (2015): 8. 

2.      https://archive.org/details/BetmenYarasaAdamturkishBatman

      3.      http://comicsalliance.com/spains-bootleg-robin-was-a-gun-toting-badass/

4.      http://eldesvandelabuelito.blogspot.com/2010/09/batman-superhombre-iberico.html

5.      http://www.voicesofeastanglia.com/2013/03/batman-fights-dracula-1967-film.html

 

6.      http://comicsalliance.com/international-bootleg-superheroes/

7.      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2twWuqJgeM

 

8.      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ5FIzef3bw

 

9.      http://www.philstar.com/supreme/2012/07/21/829860/dark-knight-rises-amazing-exploits-pinoy-batmen

Batman! Studying Comic Books

I'm Batman! (or not.)

I have finished my senior cap class paper.  It was the most fun I have ever had writing a paper in my entire collegiate career.  Two areas of research that I was looking through was comic book history itself and research on the life in America during World War II.  The academic community researching comic book related topics is quite small, however, it appears to be growing.  It made me realize how much I enjoy reading comics and telling the story behind the story.  I would love to continue to study Batman and comics as I continue to learn how to study and tell history.  Here is a segment of my paper to show you what I have been working on.

The earliest stories drew from pulp magazines, monster movies and gangster movies of the time.[1]  Batman was a dark character as he battled vampires, werewolves, mad scientists, and of course gangsters.  Batman was so dark at the time that one editor defined the comic book as “scary.”[2]  Kane remembered, “In the first year, Batman had been a grim vigilante who operated outside the law.”[3]  Batman had even used guns in these early issues, the first time was in Detective Comic #32 where he used silver bullets to kill a couple of vampires.[4]  The most notorious act of gun violence was in Batman #1 where Batman battles two monstrous giants.  While chasing the monsters in his Bat-plane, Batman says, “Much as I hate to take human life, I’m afraid this time it’s necessary!”[5]  Batman uses his Bat-plane’s machine gun to stop the truck the giant was in and then proceeded to hang the giant with a noose hanging from the plane.  After cutting the limp giant from his plane, Batman kills a second giant by shooting him off a building.[6]  Finger and Kane both got in trouble from the editor for these overtly violent images. Kane would later say, “We didn’t think anything was wrong with Batman carrying a gun because the Shadow used one.”[7]  Comics were coming under some attacks for their use of violence.  Kane further states “this story resulted in DC preparing its own comics code…. It forbade any whippings, hangings, knifings, or sexual references” and Batman was not allowed to use a gun.[8]  To alleviate fears DC Comics told parents that their comics were endorsed by psychologist, educational professionals, and literature professors.[9]  DC Comics was hoping that this would quiet the critics and make parents choose their product over the competition.

DC Comics began marketing to parents, by making comic books more family friendly.[10]  DC was afraid parents would not let their children buy comics where people were shot and killed.[11]  Even before the gun controversy, Kane added a new character, Dick Grayson, a young orphaned acrobat who became Bruce Wayne’s charge.  This character was of course known as Robin, the Boy Wonder and side kick to Batman.  This made for a lighter atmosphere where both characters spewed puns as well as punches when dispatching villainous criminals.  To help lighten the feel of the comic Kane “began drawing the cowl higher up so that his face showed more, and had him smile and look less grim. I also shortened his ears, which…made him look somewhat satanic.”[12]  With the addition of Robin in Detective Comics #38 and Batman’s lighter appearance, the comic sold almost double than it had with Batman by himself.[13]

I hope you enjoyed this piece of my paper.  I am looking for a way to make the entire paper available.  So, you can read the whole thing if you want.

---

Looking studious

[1] Wright, Comic Book Nation, 17.

[2] Mark Cotta Vaz, Tales of the Dark Knight: Batman’s First Fifty Years: 1939-1989 (New York: Ballentine Books, 1989), 31.

[3] Kane, and Tom Andrae. Batman & Me, 45.

[4] Dale Crain et. al. eds. The Batman Chronicles. Vol. 1. (New York: DC Comics, 2005), 160.

[5] Ibid., 161.

[6] Ibid., 164.

[7] Kane, and Tom Andrae. Batman & Me, 45.

[8] Ibid., 46.

[9] Jill Lepore, The Secret History of Wonder Woman. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2014), 186.

[10] Gabilliet, Of Comics and Men, 23.

[11] Kane, and Tom Andrae. Batman & Me, 45.

[12] Ibid., 47.

[13] Ibid., 46.

My Trip to VCU and Gothom

Me at VCU

I wrote last time about how I am working on my “batman paper,” to help in this endeavor I recently visited Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia.  They are home to a large comic book collection and it is open to the public.  Their staff was super helpful with helping me find sources for my paper.  Unfortunately the archive was under some construction so I did not get to see their display cases but I was allowed to use this really cool scanner that I could send pictures of Batman to my email for future study. 

Batman's first Batmobile

"Sources!"

The Bat-gyro and Bat-arang

Batman Marketing

"Is it a bird?"

Hard at work

The Scanner

The Reading room

Me in front of the Library

Photo op!

Fighting Nazis

Batman in World War II

I am still researching for my paper but I believe I am closer to a thesis.  I would like to focus in on Batman’s impact on American culture during the Second World War.  This was a time where a lot of popular culture and media were used to support the war effort, advertising for war bonds and stamps.  Batman, like other superheroes and detectives in comic books and movies of the era would remind readers the importance for buying war stamps and being a “good American.”  I look forward to delving deeper into my topic and possibly returning to VCU for more research. 

My Next Project...BATMAN!

Batman and me

I am announcing my “big project” for the spring.  I am writing a short paper on Batman.  I have been a fan since I knew what super heroes were.  I will be visiting Virginia Commonwealth University (http://www.library.vcu.edu/research/special-collections/cabell/comics/) to do research in their comic book archive and reading a lot of comic books.  I will post more as the project progresses.  Who says history can’t be fun?

Freedom to Tell the Truth

Mr. Jefferson and I

A historian is to tell the truth, as unbiased as he can.  I was asked to give a statement of my philosophy of history, to do so I must first explain my worldview.  Simply put, a worldview is a framework by which one sees the world.  The way I understand a worldview is that is a group of answers to questions everyone asks.  The first is “where do we (mankind) come from?”  The second is, “why are we in existence?” [1]

I follow what is called the Biblical worldview.  I answer the first question, “God created us.”  “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”[2]  This answer assumes two points, first God is real and second the Bible is true.  With the first question answered I can surmise that if God created me he did so with a purpose.  This realization allows me another assumption; He is powerful enough to make His will happen past creation. 

This being said a Biblical worldview makes me a more unbiased historian by doing two things.  First, it allows me to keep God in His place as the mover of history.  I don’t have to make flawed men such as Andrew Jackson, or Abraham Lincoln, gods in an American pantheon.  Second, because the Bible offers an Absolute moral code I can study men and let their own actions speak for themselves.   In the case of Adolph Hitler, my job is to study his actions, as the leader of Germany and of the Nazi party.  In terms of good and evil, his actions are compared to God’s law not my own opinions of right and wrong.  

Presidents Jackson and Lincoln

The Biblical Worldview frees me from creating heroes and villains from history.  It allows me to do what historians are meant to do, tell the truth.

1. Chuck Colson and Nancy Pearcy, How Now Shall We Live (Tyndale House Publishers INC., 2004), 14.

2. Genesis 1:1

The Title Change

       I have recently changed the name of my blog.  It started when I told my father that I was required to write a blog for my class this semester and planned to write more often to practice and get better in my writing skills.  He liked the idea and asked me what I had named my blog?  I answered “It’s called The Historian.”  He humphed and nodded.  I asked “you don’t like it?” He answered frankly “no.”  He explained that it should have more umph.  “You should call it Keating’s Kronicle!” he exclaimed helpfully.  I told him I would think about it.  I did think about it but it wasn’t until the first blog assignment when I got to look at my classmate’s blogs, when I saw that someone had the same name I had.  Not only that but most of their names had history somewhere in their titles.  This is when I decided my Dad was right I needed a name more unique.  So I changed it to The Weaving Chronicle.  To be honest, I am not sure how original of a name it is but the reason I chose it and like it is because the name depicts the story above.  Chronicle is a description of events in the order of which they happened (according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary).  One may ask “isn’t that history?”  No, history is not as Dr. Sam Smith says, a “direct chronicle.”  It is also a narrative, a story told by the observer.  There is a human element to history.  Hence, why I named my blog the “Weaving Chronicle.”  Weaving or to weave means to interlace or intertwine in order to make something else like cloth or a basket.  My intention with this blog is to take the facts and weave them into a history.

To Understand

Me and Monticello

                I have been taking a class on the history of Islam; it is extremely interesting but equally alien to me.  My training in history has been almost exclusively that of western culture, especially American history.  I am also ethnically Irish-Swedish and an evangelical Christian; not even the culture that I grew into or associate regularly with prepared me for the language and concepts of the Islamic world.  On more than one occasion, during this class, I have tried to compare Islam with Christianity.  Whether it be comparing the difference between Caliphs and Imams to Cardinals and Bishops, or comparing the difference between Sunni and Shiite to be equivalent to the differences between Catholics and Protestants.  There are similarities certainly and comparing them may help me a little to wrap my brain around Islamic concepts; however, what I cannot forget as a history student is that these are two completely different worlds and deserve their own telling.  A Cardinal is not a Caliph and a Shiite is not a Protestant.  As a historian it is important to study and understand each culture on their own terms, to do less is to fail understanding both cultures and thus fail as a historian.

Here are some definitions that may help to understand the Islamic world a little better.

Caliph – An English derivation of the Arabic word Khalifa, which can mean either deputy or successor. Leading members of the Prophet’s companions chose the first few caliphs, who possessed moral, political, and military authority, but not prophetic authority. The caliphate rapidly became dynastic, causing the office to lose much legitimacy in the eyes of many, and then multiplicity of simultaneous caliphates arose, further diluting its authority. Moreover, Shiites have recognized only the fourth caliph, Ali as legitimate, claiming that Ali and his descendants, called Imams, are the only legitimate spiritual and political rulers. The Shiite sect of Islam does not have a Caliph instead they put more emphasis on the Imam.

Imam – An Arabic word that literally means “before” or “in front of.” The term came to be applied to the prayer leader at a mosque within the Sunni tradition of Islam.  Also the recognized leader of Shiite Islam; Shiite sects have defined the characteristics of their Imams in different ways over the centuries, but generally the Imam is understood not to have prophetic status. He does, however provide religious guidance that is indispensable, and he is the rightful head of the entire Muslim community. Some Shiite groups consider their Imam to be in seclusion, awaiting the time to return to lead the world; others have a visible Imam who lives among them.

Egger, Vernon O. A History of the Muslim World Since 1260: The Making of a Global Community. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008.

The Possibilities Are Endless



Mortar and Me, personal photo

As a college student just about to graduate, with a bachelor degree in history, I feel both apprehensive and optimistic.  Apprehensive because I am really unsure where I am going to get a job; a job in the field of history, a job that I want and would enjoy.  Optimistic, because as the saying goes, “The possibilities are endless,” I am about to finish my application to graduate school, I have found a new interest in the world of blogging and have an idea for a series of documentaries (a career that does not necessarily care if you have a PhD).

I am sure we all have the same fears of not getting a job or being stuck in job that seems to suck the life out of one, instead of bringing joy to our ephemeral time on earth.  Therefore, I shall stick to the hopeful.  The possibility that I get into graduate school is good, I will be able to study how to present history to many different audiences.  I greatly wish to learn how to archive documents and to take care of artifacts.  I said my chances are good, but even if I do not get accepted I could still be hired part-time, or volunteer at a museum, or work in a library. I have a few leads into those possibilities.  I already have some experience with documentary making, making independent movies is quite a romantic notion but it is still a possibility.  Finally, my venture into the blogosphere, granted my early attempts are not good, and I will have to face the fact my current attempt is not a whole lot better, but I am getting better.  What makes the study of history so great is that even if all my hopes for a career in history turn up empty there is always another possibility to explore.

What History Really Is

Once during my college career I was hanging out at a friend’s house when his roommate came in. We introduced ourselves and, since he discovered we were students at the same college, he asked me what my major was.  I told him, “I am a history major.” He began to explain that he was amazed that so many people had so many different talents, “Look at you,” he said with a nod, “You are good with memorization, memorizing all those dates and names.”  The whole evening I kept thinking about what my friend’s roommate’s assumption that history automatically equated a good memory and that the study of history is nothing more but memorizing dates, names, places, and every minute fact one can store in their minds.  As I think back on this interaction I confess I regret not taking a more aggressive stance, my only excuse was that I was in a new environment and his loquacious assumptions about the meaning of history shocked me.  His assumption brought me to the conclusion that this is what the world at large thinks of history and historians.

I may have choked when it came to discussing historiography with that individual, but that encounter has given me a drive to make history more than just a bunch of facts to be memorized.  The reason I started with a story is because that is what history is, a story of the past from a point of view.  I want to help the public have a better understanding of the past, a better rounded and complete view of history.  To show that instead of just memorizing a name, history is about a person.  Instead of memorizing a date, history is about a time that person lived in. Instead of memorizing a place, history is about a home, community, and a job that that person participated in every day life.  I desire to bring good, accurate, unbiased history to people who may otherwise go through their own lives not realizing that many people just like them had the same feelings and problems that they did. To help people connect to and learn from the past so that they may have a more vibrant future.