Historical Representation Research Articles

Digital narratives and historical representation: A review - analyzing how digital mediums are revolutionizing the way history is taught and perceived

This study critically examines the transformative impact of digital narratives on historical representation, focusing on how digital mediums have revolutionized the way history is taught, perceived, and interacted with. Employing a systematic literature review and content analysis methodology, the research analyzes data from peer-reviewed articles, books, and digital platforms published between 2013 and 2023. The study's objectives include exploring the emergence and evolution of digital narratives in historical education, assessing their methodological approaches, and evaluating their educational, cultural, and technological impacts. Key findings reveal that digital narratives have significantly altered historical representation, introducing interactive storytelling techniques, democratizing historical knowledge, and integrating advanced technologies like AI and VR in historical education. These narratives have enhanced accessibility and engagement but also presented challenges such as the digital divide, the need for standardization, and potential biases in historical interpretation. The study concludes that the future landscape of historical representation in the digital age is poised to balance traditional and digital methodologies, emphasizing inclusivity and technological innovation. Recommendations are provided for educators, policy makers, and technologists to collaboratively create an accessible, accurate, and engaging digital historical landscape. Future research directions include investigating the long-term impacts of digital narratives on historical understanding, developing pedagogical strategies for digital history education, and exploring ethical considerations in digital historical representation. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the dynamic role of digital narratives in shaping historical knowledge and education in the digital era.

‘And I am more than this man can comprehend’: Contemporary Arthurian Texts & Resistance to White Supremacy

Abstract Beginning with the appropriation of medieval iconography by alt-right movements, particularly in the contexts of Brexit and the January 6 2021 American insurrection, this article highlights how modern adaptations of the Arthurian legend (in particular, Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn, Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant, and the video game We Happy Few) resist white nationalist rhetorics. These texts remix figures and symbols from the Arthurian oeuvre to offer stories wherein characters come to recognize and thus resist systematic forgetting, or a societal attempt to overlook uncomfortable facts from the past, thus offering alternative visions of identity and belonging. The ethical implications of historical representation and the power of narrative in contemporary political discourse make these texts powerful works of art that speak to and counter white supremacist attempts to claim and revise medieval iconography to serve their own ends.

Tracing Memory, Trauma, and Childhood: The Bangladesh Liberation War in Sorayya Khan’s Noor

This article addresses the representation of childhood memory and trauma in Sorayya Khan’s novel Noor (2003) against the backdrop of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. It discusses how personal recollections of public events contribute to the collective memory of the nation-state. The exploration includes the intergenerational transmission of trauma, employing Marianne Hirsch’s concept of ‘Postmemory,’ which describes how traumatic experiences are passed down, particularly in the context of the Holocaust. This framework has been contextualized within the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and its aftermath on children, carrying the memories of war trauma forward, as illustrated in the novel through Noor and Sajida’s experiences. Through a close reading of the novel, this article aims to extricate the underlying patterns of childhood war memory and personal experiences that often get subsided in historical representations and emphasizes the pertinence of reading a representational narrative of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War even after half a century.

THE MYTH OF ‘ABŪ LAHAB’ IN Q.S. AL-MASAD [111]: 1

The Qur’anic story of “Abū Lahab” is often misunderstood by some who assume that the story is factual-exclusive. This article is designed to examine how the concept of Abū Lahab is understood in Qur’anic terms, and how it is embodied in today’s context. This research uses a library research method with a descriptive-analytical pattern, through Roland Barthes’ semiotic approach as a theoretical basis. Barthes argues that the language system can be understood through two steps of semiotic reading, the first is what he calls the linguistic system (language-object), and the second is the mythical system (metalanguage). To arrive at the mythical system, it is necessary to extract meaning through the signifier system, which consists of three elements: the signifier element, the signified element, and the sign element in the second layer of the semiotic system. Through Roland Barthes’ semiotic reading, the concept of Abū Lahab that is understood to be exclusively addressed to ‘Abd al-‘Uzzā is a myth. Abū Lahab is not a personal name, but a general and universal title. ‘Abd al-‘Uzzā is only one historical representation of the figure of Abū Lahab. From Barthes’ semiotics, Abū Lahab is more accurately understood as ‘anyone who opposes the truth and is intolerant (radical) towards other groups, not hesitating to carry out offensive resistance to them if it is not in line with their personal or group ideology or political interests’. Thus, in the modern context, anyone can potentially become “Abū Lahab” as the khiṭab of Q.S. Al-Masad if they share these characteristics.

Understanding User Satisfaction and Engagement with an Online Historical and Cultural Game from a User Experience Perspective

ABSTRACTThis poster explores the impact of design in historical and cultural games, focusing specifically on JX3 Online, a Chinese 3D massively multiplayer online role‐playing game. It investigates how these designs influence players' perceived value, engagement, and satisfaction. The study uses data from an online survey of 300 respondents. It finds that both aesthetic and functional design elements, along with accurate historical representation, significantly enhance players' perceived value. Additionally, a positive relationship exists between players' perceived value and their satisfaction and engagement levels. This research underscores the potential of historical and cultural games for cultural education and dissemination. It emphasizes the need to blend engaging design with educational content effectively.

Co reprezentují historické reprezentace?

The study is concerned with the question of literary historical representations in fiction around 1900 and towards the end of the 20th century. It compares the nature and form of the gnoseological scepticism about the possibilities and meaning of historical knowledge articulated by writers in both these periods. On the basis of a number of texts from Czech, French and British literature the author shows that the genre known as "historical metafiction", which is one medium for the expression of such scepticism, is not just a product of the later 20th century as might appear from the studies by Linda Hutcheon or Ansgar Nünning. Similar reflective texts had been written at the turn of the 19th/20th century, when in the context of the deepening crisis of historicism, writers had expressed a gnoseological scepticism similar to that of contemporary writers influenced by post-modernism. The writers in the early period employed rather different literary strategies, however, and their transformation can be defined as a shift from assertion to performance.

Fairy Tales of Genocide: Processing the Holocaust by Recontextualising Fairy-Tale Narratives

This article explores the intersection of fairy tales and Holocaust narratives, exploring the emerging trend of presenting Holocaust tales within the fairy-tale genre as a societal response to grappling with Holocaust trauma. Examining linguistic and ethical approaches in works by authors Liz Braswell, Louise Murphy, and Jane Yolen, it poses a central question: does merging Holocaust and fairy-tale narratives enhance understanding or hinder respectful remembrance? The article scrutinises subliminal storytelling in Holocaust tales, highlighting varied authorial approaches, from Braswell's cryptic social conflict to Murphy's and Yolen's use of vague references within a Holocaust-aware context. Exploring how Holocaust tales navigate the balance between fantasy and historical context, it analyses recontextualisation in the works of Braswell and Murphy. Braswell's ‘Beauty and the Beast’ engages with social conflict and history by transforming the curse, while Murphy's ‘Hansel and Gretel’ reframes the oven as a symbol of safety. Additionally, the article addresses the ethical dimensions of representing the Holocaust in children's fiction, emphasising the use of fantasy to enhance accessibility and emotional engagement. Analysing works like Yolen's ‘Briar Rose’ and Braswell's ‘Beauty and the Beast’ illustrates how these narratives navigate historical representation complexities, aiming to preserve awareness and prompt moral reflections. The article argues that fantasy elements not only render the Holocaust accessible to contemporary readers but also provide a unique avenue for emotional engagement, transcending the limitations of historical facts.

Beyond victimhood and perpetration: Reconstruction of the ingroup's historical role in eight Eastern and Western European countries under Nazi occupation

AbstractThe Nazi regime's aggressive expansion across Europe during WWII created a landscape of suffering, resistance, and collaboration. How do lay Europeans today reconstruct their ingroup's roles during Nazi occupation, and how do different role representations relate to defensive responses aimed at protecting the ingroup from threat? We tested two theoretical predictions: Following the identity threat prediction, we expected that denying culpability but endorsing morally favorable group representations (e.g., victim‐heroism) would represent an ingroup‐defensive strategy, correlating with other defensive responses, such as victim‐directed negativity or victim‐blaming. Following the identity management prediction, we expected that precisely accepting culpability and acknowledging threatening representations (e.g., willing collaboration with Germans) would form the basis for a defensive stance and thus correlate with defensive intergroup reactions. Analyzing data from nine European samples spanning eight countries (N = 5474), we found support for the identity management prediction in six contexts: Lay representations as willing collaborators were associated with negative collective emotions and correlated with victim‐directed negativity, whereas victim‐hero representations showed no such connections. The remaining three countries revealed a mixture of the two identity accounts. We discuss implications for understanding historical representations and identity protection in groups that were both victims and perpetrators of massive intergroup atrocities.

Dark tourism, thana tourism, and ghost tourism: a bibliometric visualization review for the last 23 years (2000–2023)

PurposeThis study uses bibliometric visualization techniques to comprehensively review the intertwined concepts of dark tourism, thana tourism and ghost tourism from 2000 to 2023. The research seeks to clarify the ambiguity and inconsistencies arising from the interchangeable use of these terms and sets forth a roadmap for future research endeavors.Design/methodology/approachThis study meticulously extracts research keywords from 634 scholarly papers in the Scopus database. It undertakes a thorough bibliometric analysis utilizing the visualization of similarities (VOS) viewer and RStudio to map the interconnectedness of these tourism phenomena.FindingsThe study identifies and explores contemporary theories such as self-categorization theory, stimulus-organism-response theory, embodiment theory, self-determination theory, socio-cognitive theory, risk perception theory, services theory, dark tourism theory, social and cultural theory, push-pull theory, performance theory, and wound culture theory. The research reveals four primary clusters through keyword co-occurrence and bibliographic coupling analyses: dark tourism insights, dynamics of dark tourism, dark tourism review and dark tourism experiences, illustrating their interrelationships and robustness.Practical implicationsDark tourism insights can guide ethical practices, ensuring respectful site management and accurate historical representation. Integrating dark tourism into broader destination strategies can diversify offerings, attract niche markets and contribute to preserving historical memory through reflective experiences.Originality/valueThis study's outcomes significantly contribute to tourism literature by enhancing our understanding of the overlapping terminologies associated with dark, thana and ghost tourism. This improved comprehension sheds light on the importance of the research agenda surrounding the concept of dark, thana and ghost tourism.

Biopics and the Reverse Engineering of Populism in Recent Hungarian Cinema

This article explores the recent transformation of Hungarian cinema focusing on the increased number of historical films since 2020. The upsurge in historical themed productions featuring historical or otherwise popular figures could not have happened without either the infrastructural developments triggered by international runaway pro­­ductions or the generous financial support of the National Film Fund, the central funding body of cinema. More recent historical representations have openly adopted populist and illiberal narratives of national pride, patriotism, and exceptionalism. Exploring the new politics of biopics in specific and historical films in general, the article adopts the notion of reverse engineering as both a stylistic practice and a means of recruiting historical figures to fight the political and cultural battles of populism. The article captures the changing framework of representing history with reference to The Whiskey Bandit, Bet on Revenge, Blockade, and Hadik and through analysing closely the construction of their protagonists. Analysing strategies of making historical characters appealing for contemporary audiences, the latter group of films are described as hyper-politicised historical imageries that transfer Christian, nativist, and anti-elitist agendas dominating the right-wing populist echo chamber into the story-worlds of biopics.

Filmic and other forms of historical representation in the history classroom: ancient Sparta

The aim of the present research was to examine whether a film is considered a more accurate source of knowledge about historical times when it is compared to the graphic novel it was inspired by, a poem and primary historical sources that deal with the same events depicted in the film. For that purpose, we used the film 300, which depicts the battle of Thermopylae and the Spartan agogi, as well as the role of the ephors in the Spartan political system. The data analysis validated that the cinematic representation is considered the most accurate and pedagogically appropriate representation of the past by the students, even though the limitations of the medium are thoroughly demonstrated in the classroom.

Отношение российской молодежи к современному отечественному историческому кино (на примере учащейся молодежи г. Краснодара)

The article analyzes the place of Russian historical cinema in the commemorative practices of Russian youth. It substantiates the relevance of studying the ideas conveyed in films of this genre. Based on the data of sociological surveys, statistics from informational and analytical publications, and video hosting platforms, the representation of the historical genre in the Russian film distribution system and audience evaluations of films released in recent years are investigated. Given that modern youth tend to process information visually, cinema serves as a communicative transmitter and can be one of the primary sources of historical knowledge. Using data from a sociological survey of students in Krasnodar, the study examines the attitudes of the youth audience towards modern historical films. Conclusion dwells upon the fact that the unpopularity of domestic films in this genre among young people is determined by both the quality of the films themselves and the limited scope of their genres. By analyzing the intersection between youth cultural consumption and historical representation in cinema, this study sheds light on the broader implications for how history is taught and perceived by younger generations. It suggests that enhancing the thematic diversity and production quality of historical films could increase their appeal and educational impact.

Foot and ankle fellowship-trained osteopathic orthopaedic surgeons: a review, analysis, and understanding of current trends.

Over the past several decades, orthopedic surgery has seen a substantial increase in the number of surgeons completing fellowship training. Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs) continue to advance their orthopedic education through subspecialty fellowship training. DOs have represented between approximately 6 % and 15 % of American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) fellows. Although historical representation has been considered strong, the fellowship match years 2020 and 2021 have seen a decline in osteopathic orthopedic surgeons participating in foot and ankle fellowships. This deviates from the recent trends of increasing participation across orthopedic subspecialities. To investigate and review the trends of orthopedic foot and ankle fellowship training. Data was reviewed from the AOFAS regarding number of fellows matched and degree obtained. Data from the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) and Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) were reviewed for physician trends and match statistics. Fellowship match years 2020 and 2021 have seen a decline in osteopathic orthopedic surgeons participating in foot and ankle fellowships, with only roughly 3% of AOFAS fellows being osteopathic trained. Orthopedic surgery has the highest rate of subspecialty training of all surgical specialties. Although there is hope for an increasing osteopathic presence in orthopedic surgery, recent literature has pointed to potential for continued bias in opportunities for osteopathic students. We hope that increased participation of osteopathic graduates in orthopedic surgery training programs will result in the continued expansion of osteopathic orthopedic surgeons completing fellowship training, including in foot and ankle surgery.

Flora Tristán and María Nieves Y Bustamante, Two Moments In 19th Century Peruvian Literature

Peruvian literature of the 19th century has important representatives that have been studied by critics. Its contextual conditions are highlighted, especially with two transcendental historical events: the independence of Peru and the War of the Pacific. Flora Tristán published Peregrinaciones de una paria at a time when independence was being consolidated in Peru. Later, María Nieves y Bustamante published Jorge o el hijo del pueblo after the war with Chile. Both writers constitute two creative representations of historical moments of Peruvian society. The first based on a hybrid text: a mix of personal diary, travel chronicle and adventure novel; and the second, as a historical and romantic novel from the late 19th century in Peru. The objective of this essay is to explore the historical representation in the literature carried out by these two writers.

Historical Controversies and Collective Memory: Reassessing the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

This article explores the complex historical and public memory controversies surrounding the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, focusing on the National Air and Space Museum’s Enola Gay exhibition. It examines how different historians interpret the use of atomic bombs and the varying narratives presented to the public. Through the lens of Michel Foucault’s theory on popular memory, the study highlights the tensions between official narratives and revisionist perspectives. The analysis reveals how national patriotism and historical revisionism shape collective memory, questioning the ownership of historical truth. The Enola Gay controversy exemplifies the ongoing debate over historical representation, public history, and the ethical implications of wartime actions. By revisiting this controversy, the paper aims to provide a nuanced understanding of how history is constructed and contested, emphasizing the importance of inclusive and critical engagement with historical events.

Postcolonial Identity and Discourse: Foucauldian Analysis of Shamsie’s A God in Every Stone

This research article delves into the intricate interplay between postcolonial identity and discourse in Kamila Shamsie's novel, "A God in Every Stone," employing a Foucauldian analytical framework This paper presents a Foucauldian analysis of Kamila Shamsie's novel, "A God in Every Stone." Drawing upon the works of Michel Foucault (2016), the paper examines the novel through the lens of power, knowledge, and the construction of historical narratives. Through a close reading of key characters and events, this analysis elucidates how colonial power structures and systems of knowledge production intersect in the novel to shape individual and collective identities. The present study has been conducted on Shamsie’s A God in Every Stone to highlight the process of colonization. The interpreter has examined the ways by which the colonized resisted colonial rule. Foucault’s model of Power has been used as the conceptual framework of the study to analyze the postcolonial aspects of Shamsie’s (2014) novel. The present study is qualitative in nature. The data has been collected through the close reading technique of the A God in Every Stone. For data analysis, those textual lines have been selected in which the elements of power and resistance are present covertly. The interpreter has explored different dimensions of Foucault’s power, i.e., Sovereign power and disciplinary power. British Empire justified its colonial rule over the colonized through the colonial discourse which was prejudiced against non-white people. The colonized people resist colonial rule through their dialogues in this novel. In A God in Every Stone, the major protagonist is Vivian Rose Spencer. She is an English woman who carried out digging in Turkey to unearth the ancient silver circlet. The interpreter has inferred that the colonizers used many disciplinary strategies to subjugate the colonized people. The Indian soldiers were trained by the British imperialists to fight in the battlefield on the Western Front. Many innocent Indian soldiers lost their lives in fighting the enemies of the British Empire. The major character of the novel Qayyum Gul, fought bravely in the battlefield. Unfortunately, he lost an eye during the battle. When he returned to Peshawar, he joined a freedom movement, which aimed to liberate India from the British colonizers. Ultimately, this Foucauldian analysis of "A God in Every Stone" underscores the intricate dynamics of power and knowledge in the colonial context and sheds light on the complexities of historical representation and identity formation in a postcolonial world.

Образ Средневековья в трилогии Итало Кальвино «Наши предки»

The article delves into the study of the medieval past in the European historical consciousness and cultural memory after the World War II. Reception and representation of the Middle Ages are considered as constants of the development of European and universal culture. The main subject of analysis is the image of the Middle Ages constructed in the fiction of the period. The focus of the study is the trilogy “Our Ancestors” (1960) by the Italian writer, publicist, literary critic Italo Calvino (1923–1985). The image of the Middle Ages in Calvino’s novels is considered in the context of understanding the European Enlightenment and current historical and philosophical reflection. The ways of constructing the image of the Middle Ages in Calvino’s texts are revealed, also its relationship with history, literature and folklore is examined. The study of the image of the Middle Ages can be useful both for clarifying the peculiarities of historical representations of his time and for understanding the epoch itself, which gave rise to the image.

Brown Bear a Symbol of Past and Present

Abstract The brown bear subject has been characterized lately by an increased level of research complexity. Inside current article the brown bear will benefit from a broader assessment of its modern history and representation, showing that it can be understood as a symbol over time. The historical representation will be related to the evaluation of the existing literature, offering a multitude of mythological and folklore meanings, starting from King Ragnar to the Bear Dance, proving the animal was present in the daily life of people from different parts of the world. Through the details displayed, the meanings of bear will be understood, showing the value of this symbol in history. This is similar to the presence of the constellation Ursa Major (Great Bear) among the other stars in the sky. Contemporarily it will be seen that the perception has changed today and what was previously deified is now stigmatized and brutalized. According to a survey conducted in Covasna and Brașov counties, 52% of the respondents expressed fear of bears, with 19% saying that they feel terrorized by them. As a result, people from Romania and from other countries use both non-lethal and lethal measures to solve possible conflicts with bears. In the Central Region of Romania, 220 preventive actions were taken from 2021 to 2022 to keep bears away from human settlements. Between 2017 and 2022, 4.405 phone calls were made to the 112 National Emergency Service reporting the presence of bears, while 154 bears were found dead for unknown reasons.

Historiographic Comics and Abina and the Important Men

ABSTRACT: Comics have long been praised as a medium ideal for nonfiction, and especially for memoirs of experiences in historic events such as war and persecution. I analyze Liz Clarke and Trevor R. Getz’s Abina and the Important Men: A Graphic History (first edition 2012), the first and most successful of Oxford University Press’s Graphic History Series. This series of collaborations between historians and artists exemplifies comics’ capability for nuanced historical representation. OUP’s Graphic History Series are graphic and prose textbooks aimed at high-school and college-level readers, the goal of which is not merely to relay historical facts, but rather to invite readers into historical inquiry, investigating how history becomes knowable as well as the material factors that limit and distort historical knowledge. Abina illuminates one woman’s quest to claim agency for her own life against the entangled forces of slavery, British colonialism, and West African patriarchy. Like the other titles that follow it in the series, Abina and the Important Men is composed of several parts, parts which combine to articulate “History” as a process rather than a simple object of knowledge. The comics portion of the textbook makes strategic use of the medium’s formal potential to complicate notions of time and space, and to exploit dissonances between individuals’ speeches, as well as between verbal and visual representation. These formal manipulations support Abina and the Important Men ’s interrogation of historical practices and invite inquiry into disciplinary history.

‘We’re the Boys Built the Empire’: National Media and Postcolonial Encounters in Eoin McNamee’s Resurrection Man

ABSTRACT This paper considers Eoin McNamee’s Resurrection Man (1994) as a Troubles novel acutely interested in the ways violence is transcribed into text. It argues McNamee’s depictions of the media satirise their attempt to contain historical explanations of the Troubles exclusively within the inherent sectarianism of the region. Instead, McNamee creates discursive encounters between Ulster and different trouble spots around the world, summoning the spectres of British imperialism. Through a discussion of decolonisation, memory and the legacies of Empire, the paper engages with the ways the local and the international intersect to interrogate nationalisms, borders, identities and historical representation.