New theoretical approaches to the study of history have led to a major shift in the way we perceive political history leading social scientists to question the findings based on the old approaches.
The new approaches have revolutionized our study of history, further proving that history in itself is not merely a study of the past but is also a living art subjected to the changes that occur within those affected by it. These new approaches have evolved perhaps due to the need to ensure that even generations that did not partake in the major historical events of the past century have access to such historical studies. The importance of the modern approaches is further emphasized by new realities such as the spread of capitalism, globalization, and improved technology. They are an appreciation that as the world progresses, a historical inquiry will also have to adapt.
Gender studies have for a long time been used as a theoretical approach to historiography. There is new realization that the perception of gender as merely the separation of sexes is flawed, and gender studies now encompass it part of a social construction regardless of the biological attributes. Feminist and historian Joan Scott, has argued that, in the past, gender has been used to create hierarchies that have led to a patriarchal society. It is for this reason that the role of women during major historical events such as the first and second world wars has been subjugated (Scott, 1988, p.33). However, the new theoretical approach to gender studies has led to the appreciation of gender as a social construction hence helping break down some of the stereotypes edged in the patriarchal society.
Nationalism seeks to offer an analysis of history based on the physical divisions that define nationhood. It is for such a reason that events such as the first and second world wars were strictly defined by a nation's individual responsibility such as that of Germany and Britain. Many historians have made use of Anderson's theory, imagined communities, to explore the matter of nationhood. Anderson is of the opinion that a nation is made up of people that construe themselves to have a common social fabric rather than physical boundaries. It is, therefore, interesting to evaluate the role of nationalism as a theoretical approach in the face of globalization. The definition of a common social fabric of people in the past century has changed so much aided by technology and globalization to the extent that defining nationhood in its physical aspects would not be accurate. It is, therefore, interesting to examine (from a historical perspective) how these events would have taken place and their effects in the present context.
Literary theory as a theoretical approach aims to extract research on historical events by the use of cultural and literal material that has been in occurrence over time. An example is how the approach explains the temporary suspension of the hierarchy during certain key historical events. It has however been argued by various historians that it does not always lead to the temporary suspension of hierarchy but sometimes leads to the reinforcement of the hierarchy.
In the recent political history, the Arab Spring offers an exciting insight as it shows how a social event leads to the temporary suspension of power in the various nations affected. In other political developments such as the Tiananmen Square massacre in China in 1989, it resulted in reinforcement of the authority after the violent repression of the massacre. One school of thought of the literary theory is the new historicism that suggests opposition to any instrument of power is usually achieved by the same means that it seeks to overthrow hence it often falls into the same trap. As is the case with the Arab spring, some of the protests turned out violent against the police, yet it is the same violence from the previous regimes that they were opposing in the first place. Under new historicism, importance is given to the circumstances that led the historian to investigate the subject matter rather than the literary script documenting the research.
An extensive look at the changes associated with the new approaches leads one to a common course for nearly all the shifts. The major course is technological advances. Marxism, one of the philosophical approaches that have been in existence for long, is facing near extinction due to technology. It bases its ideology on the need to make societal hierarchy normal by the ruling class; however, today, in the age of extensive forms of media especially social media, the idea of hierarchy is becoming blurred. That is a clear indication that in the age of widely available media, hierarchies are not as important. Widespread capitalism regarding increased commercialization of media has meant that there is now no huge gap between the political history events that can be accessed by the poor or the elites hence the need for new theoretical approaches in historical inquiries (Spiegel, 2016, p.12).
As is expected with a new approach, there are numerous criticisms of some of the new approaches. New historicism has been criticized for a lack of historiography as is the case with veteran historians. The argument has been that rather than focusing on the literary body of work, new historicism embeds itself in the actual events hence acting as a form of activism rather than historical research. Some historians also argue that such new approaches are more inclined towards responding to the needs of the current generation at the expense of the core values of empirical research on historical events.
Gender studies as a theoretical approach has been criticized for its perception as a platform that supports feminist activism in complete disregard of its intended original course of a historical and contemporary inquiry into femininity and masculinity. Critics of the new approaches also argue that rather than exploring new thematic areas of historical research, they merely seek to redefine already known historical aspects. This is the case given that most of the research under these approaches is concentrated on examining historical events in Europe and their effects such as colonization and the world wars. They therefore do not offer a concrete alternative to the previous theoretical approaches.
Conclusively, it is evident that new theoretical approaches to the study of history are revolutionizing the way people perceive and relate to historical events. It has become evident that history is not merely a study of past events but also a study of the changes taking place in the contemporary society. As technology continuous to advance and globalization continues to spread, the study of history has to adapt too and that is exactly what is happening with the new theoretical approaches to the study of history.
References
Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined communities. London: Verso.
Greenblatt, S. (1980). Renaissance self-fashioning. Chicago: University of Chicago
Scott, J. (1999). Gender and the politics of history. New York: Columbia University Press
Spiegel, G. (2009). The Task of the Historian. American Historical Review, 12
