Dumbed-down history
AN EXCELLENT article on the rewriting of history by Geoff
Jones (World war one right-wing myth-making, Socialism Today No.74). I have not
read the two books that were reviewed, but have noted this trend of
simplification being used to ensure the dominant theory is the only voice heard.
This simplification is most apparent with the Sky/Murdoch
school of history/documentary channel programming. Battles are relived through
graphics and stirring commentary which has no relevance to the reality of war.
Even when participants are interviewed their contribution is reduced to small
soundbites that demean the individual and their suffering
The written histories are now aimed at markets and reviews
rather than from a standpoint of fact or even belief. Historians like EH Carr
are viewed as being dated and ‘unfashionable’, to be replaced by the
written-for-TV books of Simon Schama or the ‘nasty Bolsheviks’ opus of Orlando
Figes.
The dumbing-down that began in the 1980s with TV news and
documentaries is now following its logical path of being used to dumb down
written history, to make it fall in line with the ‘New World Order’s’ concept of
what history is. It reduces complex issues to ‘good guy, bad guy’ and degrades
the individual to the role of a pixel on a TV screen.
Shaun Moore
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