Making Space for the Present: Part 2

I wasn’t planning on having a part 2 to the previous post, but this week, I came across a quote in my readings from 2016, by British historian Mary Beard:

“One of the great things about history is that it sort of isn’t a done deal—ever. The historical texts and historical evidence that you use is always somehow giving you different answers because you’re asking it different questions.” [1]

I think that the core of this quote can be very challenging, but also very rewarding. As I mentioned last week, it makes us aware that the history we create and interpret is a product of our current moment. I think one of the challenging parts of Beard’s idea is that history is not static. When we look to the past, it is easy to want clearly-defined, specific answers to our questions. We want hard evidence. We want black and white.

But often, history provides us with an entire rainbow of grey.

If our questions keep changing, our understanding of the past will also continue to evolve. For me, I find that it's a (challenging) matter of striking a balance—wanting clear answers, but also actively seeking out different perspectives and expecting my mind to change.

[1] Quoted in Laura Millar, "A mysterious and malleable thing - evidence, memory and narrative," A Matter of Facts: The Value of Evidence in the Information Age (Chicago: ALA Neal-Schuman, 2019), 111.