역사소비시대, 대중역사에서 시민역사로

Abstract

Today, people involved in historical studies or popular history on media (such as TV and books) should be asking themselves whether or not their efforts are by any chance lacking certain elements that could be helpful to citizens in their nurturing of civil qualities. Professional historiography these days is being criticized for being smug and elitist, while popular history in media remains content in pursuing only popular and commercial demands.BR The way to overcome these trends is to aspire for a new kind of history, which could be referred to as ‘history of citizens.’ History by nature is a study of the past, and the outcome of such study should not be treated as a private asset but a public property that should be shared and enjoyed by all members of the community. This History of Citizens, or History for Citizens could be defined as what could contribute to the people’s overall efforts of nurturing themselves qualities required to be citizens. So, as far as all entities involved in historical research or its insemination are concerned, instead of separating themselves from the rest of the society under the name of professionalism or merely chasing superficial and commercially exploitable fascinations of the public, they should be sharing their academic results with the citizens and aspire to accommodate a variety of public interests.