historiography

What it means

1. countableuncountableThe writing of history; a written history.

   We limited the discussion to historiographies examining the development of the modern Middle East from World War I onward.

   2006, “Introduction”, in Israel Gershoni, Amy Singer, Y. Hakan Erdem, editors, Middle East Historiographies: Narrating the Twentieth Century, University of Washington Press, page 7

   2 more examples

   As was mentioned on p.31, value-judgments are generally considered the most conspicuous source of subjectivity in historiography.

   1991, Els Elffers-van Ketel, The Historiography of Grammatical Concepts, Rodopi, page 51

   This article examines the usages of the notion of “revival” in the context of nineteenth-century Balkan history and, more precisely, in different national historiographies in the region.

   2015, Alexander Vezenkov, Tchavdar Marinov, “The Concept of National Revival in Balkan Historiographies”, in Roumen Daskalov, Alexander Vezenkov, editors, Entangled Histories of the Balkans, Volume 3: Shared Pasts, Disputed Legacies, Koninklijke Brill, page 406

2. uncountableThe study of the discipline and practice of history and the writings of past historians.

   In its broadest sense, historiography has to do with the process of historical writing, the identification and use of source material, and the techniques and methods applied to the analysis of these data.

   1999, B. W. Higman, “1: The Development of Historical Disciplines in the Caribbean”, in B. W. Higman, editor, General History of the Caribbean, Volume 4: Methodology and Historiography of the Caribbean, UNESCO Publishing, page 5

   2 more examples

   Consistently the most underestimated and neglected debate in recent British historiography is that between Perry Anderson and Edward Thompson conducted in the mid-1960s in the pages of the New Left Review and the Socialist Register.

   2006, Keith Nield, “22: A Symptomatic Dispute?: Notes on the relations between Marxian theory and historical practice in Britain”, in Robert M. Burns, editor, Historiography: Critical Concepts in Historical Studies, Volume 2: Society, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), page 91

   Thus in this brief and schematic survey of modern Indian historiography an emphasis is placed on the role of the concept of the Indian nation in the writing of Indian history; this will provide contextual knowledge for the following chapters.

   2009, Nicole Weickgenannt Thiara, Salman Rushdie and Indian Historiography: Writing the Nation into Being, Palgrave Macmillan, page 6

In a sentence

As was mentioned on p.31, value-judgments are generally considered the most conspicuous source of subjectivity in historiography.

1991, Els Elffers-van Ketel, The Historiography of Grammatical Concepts, Rodopi, page 51

Where it comes from

1. Englishhistorio-
2. Proto-Indo-European*gerbʰ-
3. Proto-Hellenic*grə́pʰō
4. Ancient Greekγρᾰ́φω (grắphō)
5. Ancient Greekγραφή (graphḗ)
6. Englishhistoriography

From historio- + -graphy.