Questioning Historical Authority

Too often, students are told to blindly accept what is written in history books as undeniable fact. In America, we are trained from a very young age, often even in pre-school years, to listen to what a teacher lectures, memorize the data, and internalize the information as ultimate truth, such as the outcomes of wars and the origination of indoor plumbing. How can we be sure that we are being told the “right” version of history? Is it not often asserted that “history is written by the victors”? If what we are being taught in history class is in fact merely a biased re-telling of a story by unreliable witnesses or interpretable data, how can we be sure that we are getting the whole story, if we are learning the true story at all? These questions are also referred to in Anne Rubenstein’s chapter of Harry Potter and History titled, “Hermione Raised Her Hand Again: Wizard Writing History”, in which she asserts that J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series teaches the idea of questioning authority, and the importance of searching for the truth in historical stories.

In Kindergarten, a teacher chants a song about Cristopher Columbus, engaging the class to memorize the song, and therefore learn the details of Columbus’ great expedition to find a “new world”. We learned that he “sailed the ocean blue in 1492” and even learned the names of his three ships. Students are led to believe that Columbus was the first person who discovered America, but evidence suggests that he was not. Considering there were already an indigenous population living there, Columbus could not have been the first to discover the land. This amendment of history is also evident in the history books in the Wizarding world when Hermione consults Hogwarts, A History and when she asks Professor Binns about the Chamber of Secrets, to which he initially refuses to speak about because it is a “myth” rather than a factual story of Hogwarts (Rubenstein 316). Anne Rubenstein alludes that just like Muggles in the real world, “Hermione has learned that she cannot trust the official history of the magical world to answer her questions, (314)”.

So why are false records being kept and taught to students in the Muggle and Wizarding world? Rubenstein makes the obvious argument that “… people sometimes lie, and even when they intend to tell the complete truth, perceptions of the past differ (317)”. Oral histories, which are heavily relied on in Muggle history and Wizarding history, are not altogether reliable, and furthermore, artifacts such as diaries and written accounts can also be misrepresented by the author’s prejudices, or these accounts can be misinterpreted in terms of language. For example, some words in one language (“I miss you” in English) are not directly translatable in another language (“Tu me manques” in French) which leaves room for some serious misinterpretations of textual evidence.

Sorting through historical evidence to find the true story of our past is a daunting task, but it can be rewarding to come closer to the truth through thorough research. Rubenstein notes that because of untrustworthy and biased reporters, “even seemingly simple, trustworthy documents – newspaper articles, for example – cannot be taken at face value (318)”. Because of this, it is paramount to sift carefully through historical data, and to teach students not to blindly trust everything they read in history books, on social media, or even on the news.