Íistory / 1. History of
Ph.D., Chubina, T.D.
Biography
as the basis of
historical
figures and families studying
Biography as a
problem for research finds today the independent status in all system of knowledge and
historic-philosophical sciences about a man.
Scientists are interested in
questions: what is
biography, its
tasks, purpose, valued meaning; the nature of biography as the phenomenon of science and simultaneously
understanding of personality; the possibilities and scopes of biographic researches; genesis and development
of biographic genre in a social-cultural context; the place of
biographic knowledge in the system of science and its existing in public
consciousness; determination of biographic knowledge
by appearance of man, which is created by every history epoch, philosophy and culture; the typology of
biographies and biographic sources.
In indissoluble unity with program
options of
concrete-biographic studios this theoretical-methodological and historiography problematic makes original
framework of
«biographic consciousness» of every
cultural-historical epoch.
From old times the history and biography come forward as allies. The life of individuals
helped deeper and completely t find out the value and course of historical events, made the
chronology more concrete. With growth of general literacy, interest to biographies rose extraordinarily.
Biography is an additional
and neutral auxiliary
mean for historians by means of which it is possible to conduct additional researches of that or other
history phenomenon.
The conclusions of
biographer depend
also from that, how right he was able to understand an epoch, that is depicted, and to understand a role,
which was played
by that or other historical person.
Historical
biographies of prominent persons, life and activity of which, caused the interest and which made an influence on an epoch where they lived in,
can turn out very valuable material for historians.
Not
only a
biographer runs into the problem of capturing the method of the object and ability to take away that or other
thought. In opinion of Aydelott, in case when the methodical
receptions of historian are not obviously suitable, he has complete right to use the
method of
biographers: «Often statistical expositions do not affect imagination as well as the
detailed biography.
In actual fact, direct address to the person it is especially useful in those
case, when the
historian, operating by digital data only, turns in a blind-alley. These faces can be not at
all typical for the
given epoch, and fully probably, that on the basis of their life and activity it not
impossible to do some generalizations; however the study of these persons will point in a new opinion, will
prompt new hypotheses, that eventually will help to understand that or other phenomenon as the
whole».
For
many scientists-historians the notion «a
prominent person»
is considerably extended. Historical biography must be engaged not only in biography of political
figures, it has to spare attention and to representatives of other levels and
to take into account the features of that or other historical period.
Aspiration
of historian to objectivity
is based on that he judges
other on what
knows about himself.
People give birth of thought. None man is the passive product of the age. The historian
is foremost interested
in that to understand, how those or other changes are. Thus,
a biographer and historian meet in that, as Herbert Batterfild reminds about it, admit that every person is a source of new
and new actions which is impossible to predict.
A necessity in the theoretical understanding
of the past, understanding of contemporarity and
determination of contours of future grows today. Modern researchers are
more concentrated on indissoluble
intercommunications of man, history
and culture. A man, not even realizing it,
created history, culture and, that is very substantially, itself.
History as an important factor of
culture belongs to the
human creative phenomena of civilization. But actually to the real history it is
necessary to pass a cleaning
way from ideological dogmas,
falsifications and simplifications.
History researches – it not only large fundamental works from important history themes, it the study of history the past of separate families, separate
figures also.
Literature:
1.
Willam
O. Aydelotte. Quantification in History. // Don Karl Rowney and James Q. Graham. Quantitative History:
Selected readings in the quantitative of historical data. –
2.
Herbert Butterfield. History and
Human Relations. –
3.
Ïðîáëåìû
áèîãðàôè÷åñêîãî æàíðà â ñîâåòñêîé èñòîðè÷åñêîé íàóêå. Íàó÷íî-àíàëèòè÷åñêèé
îáçîð. – Ì., 1988.
4. Âèëüñîí À. Áèîãðàôèÿ êàê èñòîðèÿ. –
Ì., 1970.
5. Îãíåâ’þê Â.Î., Êðàâ÷åíêî
Ï.À. Ëþäèíà – êóëüòóðà – ³ñòîð³ÿ. – Ê., 1999.