historiography

noun

his·​to·​ri·​og·​ra·​phy hi-ˌstȯr-ē-ˈä-grə-fē How to pronounce historiography (audio)
1
a
: the writing of history
especially : the writing of history based on the critical examination of sources, the selection of particulars from the authentic materials, and the synthesis of particulars into a narrative that will stand the test of critical methods
b
: the principles, theory, and history of historical writing
a course in historiography
2
: the product of historical writing : a body of historical literature
a survey of the country's historiography
historiographical adjective
or less commonly historiographic
historiographically adverb

Examples of historiography in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But already by the mid-1980s, the pendulum had started to swing away from the historiography of Mr. Le Roy Ladurie and his Annales colleagues. Jonathan Kandell, New York Times, 23 Nov. 2023 In official Russian historiography, the Soviet intervention in Spain is seen as the direct precursor to the Great Patriotic War—Russia’s monumental fight against Nazi Germany in World War II. Andrei Soldatov, Foreign Affairs, 12 May 2023 Imagine Alan Turing initiating a light conversation about long-distance running, World War II historiography, and the theory of computation. WIRED, 10 Aug. 2023 Postwar politics and historiography both attempted to appropriate and glorify as well as discredit various forms of resistance. Christopher R. Browning, The New York Review of Books, 2 July 2020 There has been a trend over the past few years of scholars in the humanities engaging in deconstruction and intellectual archaeology which overturns old historical orthodoxies, understandings, and leaves the historiography of a particular topic of study in a chaotic mess. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 8 Aug. 2013 The British musical Six, a girl-power pop concert presented by the wives of Henry VIII, should be a simple excuse to hear decent impressions of Beyoncé and Adele; its needless gesture at feminist historiography is so limp that the characters openly admit it. Vulture, 28 Mar. 2023 This line of thinking has been floating around for a bit, chiefly among academic circles, and with this series, the journalist Moya Lothian-McLean is looking to push these ideas deeper into the public by unpacking the argument through a reframing of British historiography. Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 5 Jan. 2021 Conversely, scholars of fascism present the Shoah as a particular event that is not central to fascist historiography. David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Mar. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'historiography.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

see historiographer

First Known Use

1569, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of historiography was in 1569

Dictionary Entries Near historiography

Cite this Entry

“Historiography.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/historiography. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.

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