Historical Narrative Research Articles

Allegorization of History in Burial at Sea

The paper titled “Allegorization of History in Burial at Sea” investigates Khushwant Singh's novel as an allegorized history of post-independent India. Published in 2005, Singh's narrative intertwines the lives of fictional characters with historical figures. Using a combination of textual analysis and historical data, this study examines how Singh's portrayal of these characters serves as an allegorical representation of broader historical narratives. By analyzing the allegorical elements within the novel, the study reveals how Singh's fictionalization serves to critique the idealized images of prominent historical figures, such as Jawaharlal Nehru, and the socio-political dynamics of their time. The findings suggest that Singh's work offers a complex re-interpretation of historical events and figures, highlighting the intersection of fiction and history. The significance of this study lies in its contribution to the discourse on the allegorical nature of historical fiction. This research provides a comprehensive analysis of how fictional works can reshape our perceptions of historical reality.

Florence, Byzantium and the Florentine Colony in Constantinople: An Impossible Love?

ABSTRACT This study examines the diplomatic and political efforts made by Florence to establish a significant institutional presence in Constantinople. It explores Florence's diplomatic relations with the Byzantine Empire, which are analysed in three distinct phases: the first, from the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204; the second, from 1421 to 1434, following the arrival of the Medici; and the third, from 1434, including the Ecumenical Council, to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The research aims to provide an historical narrative and a comprehensive study of the origins and development of political contacts between Florence and the Byzantine Empire, an enquiry into the Florentine privileges granted in 1439, and a critical discussion of the genuine presence of a Florentine colony in the Byzantine capital.

The interplay of Christianity and Ndau African traditional religion in shaping climate change adaptation in Zimbabwe: An Afrocentric analysis

AbstractThis paper utilizes Afrocentric tenets to explore how the Ndau people's shift from African traditional religion to Christianity affects their understanding and experience of climate change. Set against recent climate‐induced disasters in Chimanimani, the study employs Afrocentric qualitative methods, including talking cycles and philosophical sagacity interviews, to gather data from household heads and village leaders. Findings indicate that traditional religious practices significantly influenced rainfall patterns and disease control, impacting agriculture. The transition to Christianity has markedly altered the community's climate change adaptation strategies. Despite this shift, Christianity has provided benefits, aiding communities in coping with droughts, death, property destruction, livelihood disruption, and climate change‐induced diseases. This study contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 13, emphasizing the importance of understanding society's social rubric to combat climate change. By employing Afrocentric lenses to analyze the Ndau people's historical and cultural narratives, it offers a unique perspective on religious evolution and climate adaptation.

Julius Malema, from Masupatsela to the Formation of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF): Historical Narrative

Julius Malema was born in 1981 during the apartheid era in South Africa and began his political journey at an early age. As he rose in the political space, he became prominent, playing a critical role in reviving the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL). He was exposed to formal politics from the age of nine when he joined Masupatsela (Trailblazers), the youth brigade of the African National Congress (ANC) at the time. He rose to positions of power through joining the ranks of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS), the ANCYL, and post his expulsion from the ANCYL, established his own organisation, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), of which he is the current president, also known as the commander in chief (CiC). The article interrogates Malema's role in South African politics, and how he contributed to growing factionalism in the ANC. First, the article discusses Malema's early stages of joining politics, and his gradual growth, until he became the president of the ANCYL in 2008. Second, the article discusses his role in the politics of the mother body, the ANC, that is, in policies. Third, the article scrutinise why Malema was expelled from the ANCYL and, last, the emergence of the EFF in 2013 and its radical stance in the politics of South Africa.

When Our History Meets Their History: Strategies Young People in Serbia Use to Coordinate Conflicting Group Narratives

ABSTRACTWhen a multiethnic state, such as the former Yugoslavia, dissolves in a violent ethnic‐based conflict, new generations grow up on one‐sided historical narratives. While there is plenty of evidence of how appropriating such narratives delegitimises outgroups, studies on how young people coordinate diverse group narratives are lacking. To address this issue, we explored promotive strategies young majority group members use in building a more inclusive historical understanding of two conflicting (majority and minority) narratives. The sample consisted of ten pairs of ethnic Serb high school seniors with a task to jointly build one common narrative of two one‐sided narratives adapted from post‐conflict textbooks of majority (Serb) and minority (Bosniak) ethnic groups. We used step‐by‐step dialogical analysis of semantic promoters in participants' interactions to capture how ingroup and outgroup perspectives are collaboratively positioned. Our results suggest that participants use various cognitive, affective, identity and value‐based strategies to coordinate conflicting perspectives. The identified promotive strategies can help in developing evidence‐based educational materials and teaching environments, especially in post‐conflict and divided societies.

Articulating Change and Responsibility: Identity, Memory, and the Use of Historical Narratives in German Parliamentary Debates on Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

ABSTRACT Conceptually contributing to the literature on culture/identity, ontological security, and narrative, this article explores Germany's articulation of historical memory in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We argue that this is done through (re)interpretation and contestation, combining biographical continuity and narrative adjustment. Based on an analysis of 107 speeches in the German parliament, we claim that German foreign policy discourse is marked by a tension between different principles which are rooted in a normative dispute among Germans seeking to draw the ‘right lessons’ from the country's history. This dispute is exemplified by ongoing German attempts to contextualise and situate their own past within the present through political narratives.

Settler Midwifery: A Colonial Tool in Canada's Reproductive Healthcare System.

The land we call Canada is a settler colonial country where reproductive healthcare is used as a mechanism to control, subjugate, and erase Indigenous people and to advance the White settler state. Healthcare providers play an integral role in the healthcare system and contribute to Canada's colonization. In this piece, we critically analyze how settler midwifery is complicit with colonialism in reproductive healthcare by exploring the history of midwifery in Canada, midwifery education, and contemporary settler midwifery. European settlers omitted the history of Indigenous midwifery in Canada and to justify their erasure, they conceptualized Indigenous Peoples as uncivilized and their birthing practices as substandard. To establish a colonial healthcare system, settler midwives replaced traditional Indigenous birth attendants. When midwifery became regulated, midwives were required to train in formal post-secondary institutions that sustain colonial logics, systems, and practices. Midwifery education programs maintain colonialism by reinforcing medicalized Western practices and sustaining barriers to the growth of Indigenous midwifery. As a result, Western birthing practices are widespread among settler midwives and Indigenous Peoples face barriers to comprehensive and culturally sensitive care. To decolonize Canadian midwifery, we must dismantle stereotypes about Indigenous Peoples and their birthing practices in historical narratives, implement an anti-colonial approach to midwifery education, support Indigenous midwives in returning birth home, and improve the provision of culturally sensitive care. Settler midwifery in Canada is complicit in colonialism; building anti-colonial alliances can help support Indigenous midwives in leading a decolonial future for reproduction and birthing.

The Haunted Theatre: Mark Ravenhill’s The Haunting of Susan A

Different art forms such as music, light, sound, digital art, dance, painting, sculpture, ritual, and film can be part of the theatre. Through these components, theatre might be used to stage human existence, behaviours, places, historical dimensions, cultural history, emotions, passions, fears, and various narratives and experiences in the social dimension. Mark Ravenhill, focusing on the history of the King’s Head pub, famous people’s stories over ale, and the possibilities of what once could have happened in the room where the audiences are gathered, represents cultural history, passions, and fears and portrays a ghost story using light and sound techniques and various narratives related to the King’s Head Theatre in London. Ravenhill portrays a distinctive ghost and haunted story in his newest play, The Haunting of Susan A (2022). The ghost takes place in the world of Susan, and a private trauma is witnessed when Susan mentions the ghost or feels the ghost during the performance. This paper seeks to study the impact of Ravenhill’s play, which centres on the theatre’s past and, using Suzanne Ahmet’s ghost story, tries to activate audiences’ memories and fear and observe uncanny feelings in audiences. This study will explore the performance at King’s Head and the history of the pub, along with the theoretical approach of hauntology, envisaging which celebrities stopped by for an ale in the King’s Head history and Susan’s story (Suzanne Ahmet), an actress before, a real story (Susan insists) in The Haunting of Susan A.

Reimagining National Parks for the Twenty-First Century: Lessons from Yosemite’s Past

Many critics of the global rise in conservation displacements have traced the origins of this trend to nineteenth-century California and the establishment of Yosemite National Park. This historical narrative is often labeled the Yosemite model, which is characterized by the violent eviction of Indigenous peoples to create unoccupied wilderness. I propose that the Yosemite model historical narrative overgeneralizes events and neglects the larger geo-historical context. Through a close reading of archival records, I recover countering voices and alternative versions that complicate the Yosemite model narrative. The central goal of this article is to locate evidence from Yosemite’s past that can aid in imagining a future parks model more inclusive of Indigenous heritage claims and rights. Throughout, I give close attention to decades of changing geo-historical context, which allows a clearer perspective on conservation enclosures while providing hope for a more inclusive future national park model.

Limes (the Roman Frontier): Developing a Video Game for History Learning

The use of gaming technologies in education holds great promise to provide engaging learning experiences. Whereas video games have been successfully used to foster learning in several school subjects, the current understanding of the potential of video games for history learning is still limited. This paper details the development of Limes, a 2D top-down educational game created in Unity and rendered in pixel art. The game targets 5th/6th grade secondary school students and is set in the third century AD in southern Germany, a period characterized by political and social instabilities. Limes digs into the complex relations between the Roman Empire and the Alemanni tribe, one of the most powerful Germanic tribes of this period. The player can experience this pixelated world through the eyes of an Alemanni child, who forms a friendship with a Roman centurion. The unfolding narrative places the young protagonist in the precarious balance of peace and conflict, and the player needs to navigate the diplomatic tensions of the era. The gameplay consists of five levels, including primary missions and optional secondary missions which unlock special features (e.g., puzzles, quizzes). Limes incorporates a variety of game mechanics, ranging from running and interacting with characters to stealth missions, throwing rocks, and horse racing. These dynamics are integrated into the historical narrative of the game, enriching the player's experience. The game development process combined insights and methods from multiple disciplines, including game-based learning, educational, social, and cultural psychology, education sciences and pedagogy, and history education. Moreover, the game capitalizes on Unity’s wide array of development tools, which provide extensive customization possibilities, and employs pixel art, facilitating an engaging environment while maintaining a cost-conscious development process. Initial tests and expert feedback highlight the promise of Limes as a game that leverages historical accuracy and innovative educational tools to foster a deeper understanding of Roman history. Next steps include empirical studies with students to test the game's effectiveness (e.g., in improving interest in and knowledge of Roman history).

Making Memories: Countercultural Memory in Irenaeus, Martyrdom of Polycarp, and Apocryphon of James

Abstract Cultures define themselves largely by how they remember the past; the commemoration of history provides a link to bygone eras that helps determine social dynamics in the present. But not everyone remembers the past in the same manner. Not only do people champion competing historical narratives, but they also memorialize the past in different ways, such as erecting monuments, glorifying a specific person, constructing and honoring an archive, revering a symbol, holding an event that repeats periodically, maintaining an institution, and more. These various hubs of memory creation and preservation are often called “sites of memory.” This article explores how various Christian groups in the second century invested their social memory in divergent sites. These sites not only propagated differing forms of Christian expression, but also diverse notions of what it means to remember. While some championed preservation of the past, others believed that memory entailed radical innovation.

“The Disease of Killing”——The Disenchantment and Reenchantment of Zhang Guixing’s "Wild Boars Cross the River"

Zhang Guixing's recent work “Wild Boars Cross the River” contains not only a disenchantment narrative from individuals to nationalities and even species, but also a re-enchantment narrative constructed from three major symbols: monsters, masks, and opium. The novel performs a spectacular killing writing in the historical narrative, and its “disease of killing” overflows the historical period and penetrates into the current era. This article uses Max Weber's concept of “disenchantment” arising from his discussion of modernity and the resulting concept of “re-enchantment” as a benchmark to discuss the phenomena of “disenchantment” and “re-enchantment” in “The Wild Boars Cross the River”. And discuss how, with the balance between the two mentioned above, the novelist directly expresses the nihilistic spirit of the times through the writing of killings in historical narratives.

Revitalizing Pancasila Ideology in Post-Reform Indonesia: An Analysis of Presidential Decree No. 24 of 2016

The revitalization of Pancasila ideology has become crucial in the post-Reformation era, considering that Pancasila once lost its role as the nation's ideological foundation. Presidential Decree No. 24 of 2016 was issued as a response to address the historical distortion that occurred during the New Order period, which marginalized Bung Karno's role in the formation of Pancasila. However, there has been little research that comprehensively discusses the impact of this Presidential Decree on the revitalization of Pancasila and the mainstreaming of its ideology in state policies after the Reformation. This study employs a qualitative design with a descriptive-analytical approach to explore the meaning and implications of the decree. The results of the study indicate that Presidential Decree No. 24 of 2016 successfully corrected historical inaccuracies and re-established Pancasila’s position as a dynamic ideology. The establishment of the Pancasila Ideology Development Agency (BPIP) is a strategic step in ensuring that Pancasila's values are integrated into every government policy, allowing Pancasila to function as a living and contextual ideology. The implications of this research show that the revitalization of Pancasila through government policies is not only important for correcting historical narratives but also for ensuring that Pancasila remains relevant and adaptive in addressing ideological challenges in the globalization era.

Decolonising humanitarian health: A scoping review of practical guidance.

Despite growing calls and efforts to decolonise global and humanitarian health, there is limited practical guidance for researchers, educators and practitioners on how to do so. This paper fills this gap by offering a narrative exploration of key recommendations on decolonising global/humanitarian health research, partnerships, teaching, organisational structures and other practices. We present concrete guidelines to support humanitarian actors in decolonising their work. We used a scoping review method. The search strategy was built on three overarching themes: decolonising, global health/health and humanitarian crises. We combined a MEDLINE and Web of Science database search with a grey literature search. In total, we screened abstracts and titles of 533 documents, excluding records that did not specifically refer to 'decolonising,' humanitarian and/or global health. We assessed full texts of 58 documents for eligibility, excluding documents that did not include practical recommendations. In total, 15 documents were included in this review. We identified five key themes: organisational structure, strategy and engagement; research partnerships and conceptualisations; funding for research and projects; the research lifecycle; and teaching and the curriculum. The principal finding is that humanitarian actors can decolonise their work by decentralising power, redistributing resources, critically reflecting on their work in the context of the broader socio-political landscape and recovering, centring and valuing marginalised Global South perspectives. Race was not a central analytical category in the reviewed literature, despite being an integral part of historical background narratives. Future research should reflect on practical steps towards racial justice in global/humanitarian health and be focused on ensuring that efforts towards "localisation" or "equitable partnerships" in global health are linked to decolonisation efforts, including in humanitarian health research. Our review underscores the importance of drawing on knowledge created by and for actors based in the Global South.

Gerhard Mercator as Sacred Geographer

Mercator’s Description of the Northern Lands (Septentrionalium terrarum descriptio), a map of the North Pole, appeared in his Atlas published in 1595. Despite returning to his research on magnetism and the geography of the Far North over the course of five decades, Mercator struggled to reconcile discrepancies in his data. This paper presents the various quantitative and qualitative methods Mercator used to grapple with uncertainty about the north, including relying on textual descriptions in historical travel narratives, comparing portolan charts and Ptolemaic maps, consulting studies by his contemporaries, and compiling compass readings. Although Mercator’s exploration of multiple approaches did not yield the geographic or magnetic certainty he sought, he designed a map that projected certitude. This paper argues that in the absence of geographical information and clarity about magnetism and the geography of the north, Mercator turned to theological reasoning to form a hypothesis about the North Pole as Paradise. It shows, too, that Mercator’s dual aim of describing both the physical and the sacred landscape of the Far North was gradually erased by his successors, thus obscuring the fact that his religious worldview informed his understanding and mapping of the Far North.

Is there something that connects the diversity of historical narratives?

The interview with Kenneth Nordgren from Karlstad University, Sweden, addresses key questions about transcultural dialogue, the role of historical thinking, and the challenges of teaching history. The starting point is the question of how transcultural dialogue and historical thinking have changed in recent years from the perspective of the interviewee. The interview also discusses how transcultural academic exchange can be promoted, taking into account different educational contexts and social values. It further considers how to ensure that the academic debate is not dominated only by socially or economically privileged groups. Other topics include the role of digitalisation and online communities in history education, and the benefits of cross-disciplinary approaches. The extent to which current global challenges such as pandemics, wars and climate change underline the need for increased transcultural exchange in history education will also be addressed.

Running out the digital clock: transatlantic privacy politics and veto points in time

ABSTRACT Why does the European Commission continue to sign onto unstable international data flow agreements with the United States? After two agreements were struck down by the European Court of Justice, and clear signals that a new one could meet a similar fate, the European Commission agreed to the Data Privacy Framework. To make sense of this behavior, we connect traditional work on veto points with work on historical institutionalism to highlight an international negotiation strategy – running out the clock. While traditional veto points literature suggests multiple institutions with varying preferences will limit the set of potential policies or their adoption, we highlight how these dynamics change when considering veto points in time. We showcase our argument by building three historical narratives detailing the negotiation of the successive data flow agreements. Our findings have important implications for the future of the transatlantic privacy regime as well as negotiation dynamics.

On Not Translating: Making History in the French Language Classroom

Published in 1930 by Angus and Robertson, Souvenirs d’une Parisienne aux antipodes was proclaimed the first Australian book to be published in French. A collection of three autobiographical narratives, the book tracks Marie Niau’s life, from the siege of Paris (1870–71) to four years on a selection in the Daintree in the 1880s. Heralded by the mainstream press as worthy of a place in Australian archives yet labelled ‘a delightful little French reader’ elsewhere, the composite nature of the book and its multiple enunciative contexts confounded expectations where both language textbooks and historical narrative were concerned. Drawing on Paul John Eakin’s understanding of autobiography as narrative identity transaction and Claire Kramsch’s concept of multilingual subjectivity, this article focuses on the performative potential of the book in Australian classrooms with respect to learner identity and historical consciousness.

Reconstituting the ‘good woman’: Gendered visual politics on social media during 2021 state election in West Bengal, India

This paper explores the visual politics of gender in electoral politics in West Bengal (WB). We examine how women political candidates visually construct their non-verbal political performance on social media, and how such visuals relate to social mores and societal expectations surrounding femininity. Drawing on theories of the social construction of gender and visual political communication, we conducted a content analysis of 1,033 visual artefacts from eight individual women candidates and 205 from the Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) pages of the four main political parties taking part in the January-April 2021 electoral campaign for state-level elections in WB. We analysed how these candidates construct gendered relationships with the electorate through different cues on the platforms, such as sartorial choices (traditional or Western attire), use of culture-specific religious symbols (sindoor or vermillion, bindi – forehead marking worn by married Hindu women), and gendered/non-gendered political actions like cooking or serving food, giving speeches or meeting constituents in political processions. Our findings about the visually performed politics show a combination of cultural, political, and gender signifiers, which are mediated and remain connected to societal expectations, and historical narratives. The candidates’ negotiation of these aspects, in turn, underscores a reproduction of colonial legacies and, in the present day, an ongoing production of societal differences. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on visual politics of gender, particularly in Asian contexts. It sheds light on the nuanced ways women politicians use social media to construct their visual identities, and how the deployment of body politics into the relatively ‘new’ online sphere reifies ‘old’ social, political, cultural symbolisms, and norms regarding gender. In this way, this article highlights the importance of considering pre-digital forms of gendered identity construction and visual representation when analysing the contested terrain of digital visibilities.

The Transformative Role of Digital Tools in Comic Book Preservation

Traditionally viewed as static repositories, archives are now seen as dynamic entities capable of continuous reconfiguration and reinterpretation. This study examines how digital practices in comic book archiving maintain historical and emotional integrity, while making these artefacts relevant to contemporary audiences. This paper explores the theories of Wolfgang Ernst, Michel Foucault, Lev Manovich, and others in order to explain digital archiving as a dynamic and interpretive act that shapes historical narratives and cultural memory. Digital restoration of comic books focuses on preserving the original aesthetic and historical context, while recoloring revitalizes visual elements to enhance appeal. Reimagining involves comprehensive reinterpretation and aligns with new media theories in order to offer fresh perspectives on historical narratives. The discussion shows how these practices democratize access to cultural heritage, transforming archives into active sites of cultural engagement and potentiality. By balancing technical precision and interpretive insight, digital artists and archivists aim at ensuring that comic books remain vibrant and meaningful cultural treasures for future generations.