Cookbooks as Historical Documents

Author(s):  
Ken Albala

Historians use cookbooks as primary source documents in much the same way they use any written record of the past. A primary source is a text written by someone in the past, rather than a secondary source which is commentary by a historian upon the primary sources. As with any document, the historian must attempt to answer five basic questions of provenance and purpose if possible. Who wrote the cookbook? What was the intended audience? Where was it produced and when? Why was it written? There are ways the historian can read between the lines of the recipes, so to speak to answer questions that are not directly related to cooking or material culture but may deal with gender roles, issues of class, ethnicity and race. Even topics such as politics, religion and world view are revealed in the commentary found in cookbooks and sometimes embedded in what appears to be a simple recipe. The most valuable of cookbooks and related culinary texts also reveal what we might call complete food ideologies.

Author(s):  
Seema S.Ojha

History is constructed by people who study the past. It is created through working on both primary and secondary sources that historians use to learn about people, events, and everyday life in the past. Just like detectives, historians look at clues, sift through evidence, and make their own interpretations. Historical knowledge is, therefore, the outcome of a process of enquiry. During last century, the teaching of history has changed considerably. The use of sources, viz. textual, visual, and oral, in school classrooms in many parts of the world has already become an essential part of teaching history. However, in India, it is only a recent phenomenon. Introducing students to primary sources and making them a regular part of classroom lessons help students develop critical thinking and deductive reasoning skills. These will be useful throughout their lives. This paper highlights the benefits of using primary source materials in a history classroom and provides the teacher, with practical suggestions and examples of how to do this.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noemi Álvarez-Fernández ◽  
Antonio Martínez Cortizas ◽  
Zaira García-López ◽  
Olalla López-Costas

AbstractMercury environmental cycle and toxicology have been widely researched. Given the long history of mercury pollution, researching mercury trends in the past can help to understand its behaviour in the present. Archaeological skeletons have been found to be useful sources of information regarding mercury loads in the past. In our study we applied a soil multi-sampling approach in two burials dated to the 5th to 6th centuries AD. PLRS modelling was used to elucidate the factors controlling mercury distribution. The model explains 72% of mercury variance and suggests that mercury accumulation in the burial soils is the result of complex interactions. The decomposition of the bodies not only was the primary source of mercury to the soil but also responsible for the pedogenetic transformation of the sediments and the formation of soil components with the ability to retain mercury. The amount of soft tissues and bone mass also resulted in differences between burials, indicating that the skeletons were a primary/secondary source of mercury to the soil (i.e. temporary sink). Within burial variability seems to depend on the proximity of the soil to the thoracic area, where the main mercury target organs were located. We also conclude that, in coarse textured soils, as the ones studied in this investigation, the finer fraction (i.e. silt + clay) should be analysed, as it is the most reactive and the one with the higher potential to provide information on metal cycling and incipient soil processes. Finally, our study stresses the need to characterise the burial soil environment in order to fully understand the role of the interactions between soil and skeleton in mercury cycling in burial contexts.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 393
Author(s):  
Susanto Polamolo

Indonesia pernah melalui masa sulit di rezim Orde Baru. Kala itu, segala sesuatu yang paralel dengan khususnya sejarah seputar perumusan dasar negara (Panca Sila), menjadi begitu sulit untuk diperoleh, apalagi untuk mengemukakan fakta yang sebenarnya. Penelusuran dokumen-dokumen sejarah begitu minim didukung pemerintah, dokumen-dokumen itupun tercecer di mana-mana, publik hanya diedukasi dengan pendidikan sejarah dari para sejarawan versi pemerintah saja. Bukan karena Orde Baru telah menjadi masa lalu, tetapi, karena apa yang disebut sebagai sumber-sumber primer perlu diperiksa kembali. Di antaranya seperti: Naskah UUD 1945, yang disusun M. Yamin; Risalah Sidang BPUPKI-PPKI yang disusun oleh Sekretariat Negara; Sejarah Nasional Indonesia Jilid VI, yang disusun oleh Nugroho Notosusanto (dkk); Piagam Jakarta, yang disusun oleh Endang Saifuddin Anshari; Sejarah Pemikiran Tentang Panca Sila, yang disusun oleh Pranarka. Sumber-sumber ini diam-diam diterima, dan diam-diam pula diakui bermasalah, atau diragukan keotentikannya. Persoalan tersebut semakin diperjelas dengan temuan sejumlah arsip oleh para sejarawan tata negara seperti A.B. Kusuma, di mana sebelumnya, “Panitia Lima” (1975) telah pula menegaskan bahwa sumber-sumber yang dipakai pemerintah tidak valid, di antaranya adalah naskah yang disusun M. Yamin. Maka, sejarah perumusan Panca Sila kadang berada di jalan bersimpang, simpang batas-tegas pertentangan tentang keotentikan sumber sejarah, menjadi tugas utama agar sumber-sumber tersebut diuji satu dengan lainnya (metode heuristik dan konklusi eksplanatoris). Agar mengerucut satu kesimpulan yang utuh dan sistematis mengenai sejarah perumusan dasar negara dan pemikiran-pemikiran yang dikemukakan di dalamnya menjadi satu kesatuan pemahaman atas kenyataan, dan agar menguatkan sendi-sendi konstitusionalitas kita hari ini yang mulai tercerabut dari akar sejarahnya, bagaikan “inang yang dipaksa berpisah dari induknya”.Indonesia had been through a difficult period in the “Orde Baru” regime. At that time, everything parallel with history especially around the basic principle of the state (Panca Sila) became so difficult to obtain, especially to express the facts. The tracking of historical documents was so poorly endorsed by the government. The documents were scattered everywhere. The public was only educated with historical education from only government version historians. Not because the “Orde Baru” has become the past, but, because the so-called primary sources need to be checked again. Among them are: Naskah UUD 1945, compiled by M. Yamin; Risalah Sidang BPUPKI-PPKI, prepared by State Secretariat; Sejarah Nasional Indonesia Jilid VI, compiled by Nugroho Notosusanto (et.al); Piagam Jakarta, prepared by Endang Saifuddin Anshari; Sejarah Pemikiran Tentang Panca Sila, prepared by Pranarka. The above sources are secretly accepted, and secretly admittedly problematic, or are doubted the authenticity. The issue was further clarified by the findings of archives by state historians such as A.B. Kusuma, in which before, the “Panitia Lima” (1975) had also asserted that the sources used by the government were invalid, one of them was the text compiled by M. Yamin. Thus, the history of Panca Sila sometimes in a stray way of disputes about the historical sources authenticity. That became the primary task for which resources were tested against each other (heuristic methods and explanatory conclusions). In order to conceal a whole and systematic conclusion about the history of the basic formulation of the state and the ideas expressed in it become a unity of understanding of reality, in order to strengthen the joints of our constitutionality today which begins to be uprooted from its historical roots, like “a host which is forced to apart from its main”.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-247
Author(s):  
Ahmad Ihwani ◽  
Muhammad Noupal ◽  
Ari Sandi

This study aims to analyze the concept of character education according to Ibn Miskawaih in a philosophical perspective with a focus on studies from the side of ontology, epistemology, and axiology. The research method used is the library research method. Sources of literature in this study consist of primary sources and secondary sources. The primary source of literature is the book of tahzib al-Akhlak, and the secondary source is references related to character education such as other books from Ibn Miskawaih's essays, journals, or proceedings. Data analysis begins with unit processing, categorization, and ends with data interpretation. The results showed that ontologically, character education is an effort to curb the three forces that exist in the human soul, so that all body activities become good and spontaneous without the need for prior consideration. Epistemologically, the character education method includes willpower, self-introspection, thariqun thabi'iyyah and opposition methods. Axiologically, character education boils down to the middle path (al-wasath), with main virtues such as al-hikmah (wisdom), al-'iffah (maintaining self-purity), as-Saja'ah (courage) and al-'adalah ( justice).


2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Mireille Djenno

Whereas the literature on incorporating primary sources into undergraduate education is large and growing, a sustained discussion of the relationship between the collection manager—be it librarian, archivist, or curator—and the course instructor is conspicuously absent. Unlike secondary source material, which can generally be accessed independent of collection managers (or any other gatekeepers), primary source material is often mediated, making it almost impossible for course instructors wishing to use these sources to bypass collection or repository personnel. The partnership between them is therefore vital.


1986 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 261-268
Author(s):  
R.M. Maxon

For almost two decades, the cult of Mumbo or Mumboism has attracted the attention of historians and other social scientists interested in the colonial history of western Kenya. This has led to its recognition as an important protest response to colonial rule among the Gusii and Luo from the period just prior to World War I through the 1930s. Its importance has been magnified by ascribing to it responsibility for the looting of Kisii town, the administrative headquarters of what was then South Kavirondo district in southwestern Kenya. The Gusii people living near Kisii did indeed loot the town in September 1914 in the aftermath of the withdrawal of the British administration and a battle between an invading German force from German East Africa to the south and British troops, but the responsibility of the cult of Mumbo is at very best problematical. An examination of contemporary documentary and published primary sources shows that the cult of Mumbo or its teachings had nothing whatever to do with the looting and destruction of Kisii town, and offers a cautionary note on the use and abuse of colonial sources in Kenya history.Such a cautionary note is particularly highlighted by two recently published secondary works: Bill Freund's The Making of Contemporary Africa and E.S. Atieno-Odhiambo's chapter in volume VII of the UNESCO sponsored General History of Africa. In constructing their broad accounts, neither author had the opportunity to make extensive use of primary source material.


1987 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 353-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey L. Gould

The historiography of the Nicaraguan workers' movement suffers from two basic problems: an extreme paucity and dispersion of primary sources and a tendency to compensate with analytic frameworks for what is lacking in substance. The triumph of a revolutionary movement in 1979, genuinely interested in allowing the Nicaraguan people to become ‘dueños de su historia’, has stimulated the search for primary source materials and has awakened the interest of historians in the trajectory of class struggle in Nicaragua. However, if at this moment, we do not confront fundamental methodological problems this new search for the past will offer precious little illumination on the problems of class development and conflict in contemporary Nicaragua.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lino Bianco

AbstractRuins are a statement on the building materials used and the construction method employed. Casa Ippolito, now in ruins, is typical of 17th-century Maltese aristocratic country residences. It represents an illustration of secondary or anthropogenic geodiversity. This paper scrutinises these ruins as a primary source in reconstructing the building’s architecture. The methodology involved on-site geographical surveying, including visual inspection and non-invasive tests, a geological survey of the local lithostratigraphy, and examination of notarial deeds and secondary sources to support findings about the building’s history as read from its ruins. An unmanned aerial vehicle was used to digitally record the parlous state of the architectural structure and karsten tubes were used to quantify the surface porosity of the limestone. The results are expressed from four perspectives. The anatomy of Casa Ippolito, as revealed in its ruins, provides a cross-section of its building history and shows two distinct phases in its construction. The tissue of Casa Ippolito—the building elements and materials—speaks of the knowledge of raw materials and their properties among the builders who worked on both phases. The architectural history of Casa Ippolito reveals how it supported its inhabitants’ wellbeing in terms of shelter, water and food. Finally, the ruins in their present state bring to the fore the site’s potential for cultural tourism. This case study aims to show that such ruins are not just geocultural remains of historical built fabric. They are open wounds in the built structure; they underpin the anatomy of the building and support insights into its former dynamics. Ruins offer an essay in material culture and building physics. Architectural ruins of masonry structures are anthropogenic discourse rendered in stone which facilitate not only the reconstruction of spaces but also places for human users; they are a statement on the wellbeing of humanity throughout history.


Antiquity ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 91 (359) ◽  
pp. 1401-1411
Author(s):  
Robert Witcher

Is the era of globalisation on the wane or on the cusp of a new phase of extraordinary expansion? US president Trump's abandonment of trade agreements and the rise of protectionism coincide with China's ‘Belt and Road Initiative’, an unprecedented investment in infrastructure across Asia, Europe and North Africa to improve the connectivity of China with its markets by both land and sea. The future is therefore anyone's guess, but what about the past? There has been much discussion by archaeologists about ancient globalisations (most recently, Hodos 2017), but archaeological studies have often typically been set within the looser framework of ‘connectivity’—the interconnectedness of people and places and the movement of material culture and ideas. The books reviewed here are concerned with various aspects of connectivity, focusing on the Eastern Mediterranean and its European hinterland. All of the volumes are edited collections, each adopting a different unifying theme—the influence of Braudel, a single country as microcosm, the transfer of technology, changevstradition, and the effects of boundaries and frontiers. Do any wider insights into connectivity in the past emerge? And where might archaeological studies of connectivity go next?


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