Historical Revisionism as Trauma Revisited: And, Why Historical Revisionism Is Necessary Anyway

Abstract

Historical revisionism is a feature of much history writing, because much history writing is done by members of dominant social groups or by historians unaware of, or consciously working to uphold, dominant historiographical (or social, cultural, religious, or political) paradigms. “Historical revisionism,” in this usage, means the occlusion of parts of the past, often traumas by which dominant historiographical paradigms are constructed and maintained. But this first act of historical revisionism necessitates a corrective, a second historical revisionism that overcomes the first, falsifying revision of historical truth. This second act of historical revisionism often entails revisiting occluded traumas. However, this is necessary, because history is a moral act, and historians are, ideally, moral actors.