The Relativism of Historical Truth

Use this forum to discuss the June 2018 Book of the Month"The Girl Who Knew da Vinci" by Belle Ami
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Ginnamassa19
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Re: The Relativism of Historical Truth

Post by Ginnamassa19 »

I feel like I'd be more likely to Google the historical context if the story in question refers to a particular well-known historical figure (da Vinci, in this instance). With landmarks/landscapes or locations, it's always possible to imagine that there might *once* have been a grand mansion on a hill or something, but it doesn't exist anymore because it was burned down in an unrecorded fire, etc :P With extensively-documented historical figures, it's harder to fudge convincingly--although definitely possible!

Bottom line is, if the author is convincing enough, I won't really mind. XD
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Post by Anthony Martial Tata »

Actually, some things we believe to be true are just a composition of myths and lies. I don't see anything wrong in googling an historical fact to assess the truth behind an information.
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Post by garima597 »

Yes, If the book really piques my interest, then i will google its content to know the relativity between fiction and truth.
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Post by v i n »

The information that we read from the current histories told, for me is not the actual event that actually happens.
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Post by chelhack »

Yes I think that it would be very interesting in googling some of the names and places of which are presented within this book. Though, yet as mentioned within the topic even with googling such things how many facts and how much of the information that is presented passed down cover ups
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Post by Beth KG »

by Beth KG

What interesting questions you pose! I did Google a number of the galleries and places mentioned in the book and learned some interesting things as a consequence. Of course, we can never really know the past, only make "educated" assumptions. Propaganda is always abundant in any culture.
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Post by Gracedscribe »

I think history is more subjective than we would ever admit. All of us create, change, cover-up, adjust, or tweak whatever life throws at us, and that's how we survive. We are creating history every day. We view past history through our subjective perspectives and learn from it or reject it. No one would understand our motives or actions in the exact spirit we lived in when we are looked upon as history.
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Post by MishM1 »

Isn't it ironic to be questioning historical fact and fiction while being tempted to google to find out what is true? If what we understand about history is shrouded in misconception then how do we distinguish which source gives the real, unadulterated truth about the past? How do we navigate the "wikipedia" that is our history books?
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Post by Jessica Reehl »

I generally trust that specific places and history is correctly represented in a historical fiction novel. But, there are times when I will do some research, especially if I want to know more. Those are the best types of books, I think, that inspire me to learn more.
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Post by Miercoles »

I often google historical information to get an idea of what happened in the past. But history, even when seeming factual, is often not objective; one may also have to consider the viewpoint of the author, the purpose for the writing, and cultural perspectives.
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Post by ShareTheGift »

Yes, fact checking is important but for some reason the Uffizi didnt really bother me.

Although, I have a real pet peeve with Disney who changes facts in their programs geared toward children. You know how many kids are growing up that think John Smith and Pocahontas were married?
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Post by taffylee81 »

I think any accurate version of historical events is pretty hard to come by, as you have to take into consideration the views and opinions of the person writing it. In many cases history is written by the victor, and of course they would wish to cast themselves in the best light possible, so they may wish to exclude events or gloss them over when it’s contrary to how they want to be seen.
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Post by jay_2 »

I agree, “if you’re going to use real things, be accurate.” Personally, I don’t like reading things that are meant to be real, that aren’t accurate. I love history. I love accuracy. If anyone writes something like this, I usually go to google and do “fact checks.”
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Post by pixiequeer »

I honestly have thought about doing the research in the novel, but what she said also made me think about life in general as well.

It really does make you wonder. About everything. Especially because as time goes on, it seems the government likes to rewrite history based on what they want people to know versus what they don't want people to know.
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Post by LV2R »

cristinaro wrote: 01 Jun 2018, 16:34 Visiting the Uffizi Gallery, Angela tackles the issue of whether the missing painting belongs to Leonardo da Vinci or not. As she learns the real story of the painting, she ponders on the relativism of historical truth: “It makes you wonder how many other things we consider true about the past are shadowed in misconceptions and cover-ups.”

What are your views on the matter? Would you be tempted to google some historical names and places in the novel to distinguish between fact and fiction?
I always wish the author would make it clear to the readers if what they are stating is historically correct or not. The genre of historical fiction seems to mix up fact with fiction, which makes me want to google things to find out what is fact from fiction. But then again your discussion is about the relativism of historical truth, so can we really get to the truth? These things make me ponder this issue.
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