Ranke: objectivity and history

Abstract

What is history? This question has been asked for centuries and there is still no single accepted answer. Many different opinions exist, with different methodologies and theories providing different answers. This article aims to rethink the idea of history as it was known to the German historian Leopold von Ranke (1795–1886) and reflect whether it is still relevant today. For a number of years, I have examined the concept of objectivity attributed to Ranke by looking at his private life and how it influenced his historical writing. In previous studies, scholars have examined Ranke's works, his use of language and how he dealt with specific areas of history. By examining his private life, I hope to not only provide an understanding of Ranke as an individual, but also shed new light on him as a scholar. Due to the fact that his wife was from Ireland, I have briefly examined his History of England and contrasted his treatment of Irish history with his account of English history. It shows that Ranke's Irish history was written from a pro-Catholic viewpoint, which is the opposite of his usual pro-Protestant outlook. It also shows that Ranke, like many other historians, did not always follow his strict self-set goal in his historical narrative. In this article, I want to argue that despite a number of problems that have been acknowledged with Ranke's understanding of the ontology of history, modern historians should still be interested in Ranke as a historian: So, why should modern historians ever contemplate reading Ranke for instruction on what they do today? Is he still central to historical thinking and practice? In this essay, I shall place this discussion within the larger debates on the nature of history as it is understood today.

Keywords::

• Ranke
• White
• historiography
• art
• science
• epistemology
• narrative
• relevance

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andreas Boldt

Andreas Boldt, originally from Germany, completed his PhD in History at NUI Maynooth in 2005. His thesis dealt with historiography and was entitled ‘Leopold von Ranke and Ireland’ which was published with the Edwin Mellen Press with the title The Role of Ireland in the Life of Leopold von Ranke (1795–1886): The Historian and Historical Truth in 2007; a German translation was published by the Franz Steiner Verlag with the title Leopold von Ranke und Irland in 2012. He teaches for the German and History departments at NUI Maynooth. His interests lie in cultural history, historiography, European history and Environmental History.