History, the abridged version

Art by Lynoelle Kyle Arayata

It’s one thing to revise some parts of your thesis, but it’s an entirely different story if you have to change the entire narrative—especially when it’s history. Not far from the various political discourse and social issues that have dropped a bombshell on our country’s status quo is historical revisionism—flagged as one of the most controversial arguments in remodeling the past. For some who may think it only concerns local historians and the like, you might consider thinking twice. This matter holds a grave and huge shift in our history by changing the past, imparting misconception to the present, and even worse—deceiving us of our own future.

As historical revisionism rewrites our past—though it might seem like just a customary revision of our textbooks—in a darker sense, it may just make us blind victims of the filtered past.

A tale to be told

            “History is dead”—that’s what they all say, yet precisely because of this, it’s our job to keep it alive. But people tend to focus more on the present, often forgetting the significance of the past—essentially turning our backs on the heroes whose sacrifices made the future possible. This very reason is also why historical revisionism can be, at times, a necessary step to fulfill our duty to ensure that accuracy in history is upheld—and not abused.

The accounts of the past show just how powerful history is—even as you’re reading this article, several events have already occurred and are being recorded, and all of these are currently laying down the tracks for the future. As author Nik de Ynchausti stresses in his article A manual for historical revisionists in Esquire magazine, studying as well as understanding parts of history is useful for comprehending both domestic and international affairs. That being said, history, though a complex matter, eventually opens the table for discourse. In fact, historical interpretations are always questioned in order to create more accurate information of the past in which historical revisionism comes into the picture, like in the case of raising awareness regarding the brutal reality of the Holocaust.

On the contrary to its original connotation, historical revisionism is now being used interchangeably with “historical negationism,” or the distortion of history which constitutes the denial of historical crimes. The former of which sheds light on the system of sexual slavery represented by comfort women that was originally removed from history books and the latter which rewrites former president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos as a hero, as mentioned by Victor Abecilla, a veteran columnist in the Manila Standard. He furthered that historical revisionism can be argued by citizens concerned in setting the record straight because for them, it can become a way to shed light on the real events that happened during the martial law era. After all, studying history with misleading information is as nonsensical as trying to revive it.

The underlying issue is that even though historical revisionism aims to correct history in an attempt to update the past, it is now becoming a method of negation that tolerates the changing of our nation’s true story.

Reversal of narration

What bothers us today is not just the importance of how history is formed but also on how history is inherited. Before, history was written by the victors, but right now, history is being rewritten by the victors.  As revisionism reveals its misuses, the twisted and torn ways of politics is slowly exposed and this manner makes the use of history even more significant and troubling.

At the core of revisionism lies the hands of politicians who are athirst to cover up their mistakes with yet other mistakes. In point of fact, British historian Richard J. Evans states that historical negationism is an oppressing denial of the truth in favor of the victor’s agenda. Through unethical statements as with the reworking of the Marcos historical narrative, the act gives rise to the continuation of centuries-old grievances for modern injustice to take root.

Moreover, the book The Uses and Abuses of History by Margaret MacMillan states that the abuse of history for self-indulgent and political purposes is simply “bad history.” Historical revisionism, in the context of denial of any wrongdoing like in the case of the Holocaust or Martial Law, is essentially historical trivialization—a purposeful twist of the truth to make the terrible seem trivial. Adding fuel to the fire, the very foundations of truth are on shaky ground when historical revisionism arises as people start to rely more on spam, clickbait, and fake news without completely reassessing its points, thus only confining oneself in inaccuracies.

As the twisted turn of history favoring those with more power is unfortunate, it is only when historical manifestation and ideology are accurate that history can be an effective teacher of our future.

Preserving people’s history

Once upon a time, the mental grasp of history was held equally with the law, forming a framework for the past and the future. But now that this has fallen by the wayside, law has become the foundation of the nation, and history is used as a tool for the elite and the propagandists—the new means for power.

We are all aware that President Rodrigo Duterte didn’t object to the burial of the late dictator at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. This issue has fired up strong oppositions from many groups, especially the Martial Law victims, who are to date still in outcry for justice. The president stated that he believes this calls for strengthening nation-building and to forget the tormented dark past of Martial Law in order for Filipinos to start anew. However, this call has easily divided the nation and impeded its progress as many worry that this view can dangerously distort our long-preserved history.

Far from deceiving our minds and instilling false constructs, taking away all the dark sides—the most essential parts of history—is like giving the youth a filtered education with only the sugar-coated parts of the past when it is usually from our mistakes that we learn to prevent such horrors in our future. And as historian R.G Collingwood stated, “History is for human self-knowledge…the only clue to what man can do is what man has done,” emphasizing its role in educating the future generations.

To drive home this point, in the end, we’ll only end up as victims of our own lack of critical understanding on the historical narratives stems from the untold versions from the point of view of all the Filipino people.

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            The ultimate goal of writing and rewriting history should be anchored on the reality of what is according to the people and not what should be according to whatever political power is invested on how it is revised. After all, our history will play as the memorable narration of our past; even serving as fuel for our present struggles—something that we can and must look back on with no regrets.

 

This article was originally published in the Heraldo Filipino Broadsheet, Vol. 31, Issue 3, in March, 2017