to an element of subjectivity. Much of today’s history has been established from science. For instance many people today believe that the world was created by the “big bang”, such a historical theory has been developed from and is based around scientific concepts. Many people today believe that science is factual but this is not the case. After all, scientific theories employ scientific concepts, which have been seen to change from time to time, so they seem better described as representations of reality, of whose real nature we remain mostly ignorant, rather than a mirror of its essential nature. This subjective nature and unreliability of science, infers that history developed on science is consequently partially subjective as well. A historian’s personal bias unavoidably influences their choice in material. In many ways a historian’s job is to fill in the gaps memory leaves, making their role an ideological and political one. This role of a historian inevitably lends history to elements of subjectivity. Historians both conform to and help erect structures by which their society functions around. Over the past century it has been seen how history has the ability to strategically ‘forget’ some aspects of the past while ‘remembering’ others. For instance, in Australia the Aboriginal identity for many years was suppressed by history. Historians and the white European society denied and concealed the facts that the Aboriginals were the original inhabitants. It was only through the objections and challenges brought about by memory; the truth of the issue was uncovered. Historians naturally prefer some interpretations of historical evidence to others for all sorts of cultural, social or personal reasons. The majority of historians use and search for evidence that will support and help them construct their account of what happened. David Irving, a British historian and author, is one o...
