Anjelica Freeman

Howay/Hobson Reading

May 2, 2007

 

    History is written for all of us by someone else, often it is by someone who is much more well learned or studied in an area of interest only recently come upon by us, the student. Each author comes to their perspective with their own biases and their own perspective shaped by their unique experiences, it's important to keep these facts in mind when learning certain historical lessons previously unknown.

    Mary Malloy insisted on complete historical accuracy, she cited and cited and only referenced written sources and was extremely specific to the time period in question, before and after the Pacific Coast trade relations between the Boston's and the Natives was irrelevent to her point. Hobson on the other hand had an axe to grind, an issue with the European interpretation of history and essentially the fact that they stole or "improved" upon ideas that weren't theirs originally. Hobson was adament about dispelling "eurocentrism" and everything that went along with it.

    All of the reading that we have done is different, it is our job as a student and a reader to recognize it's origins in the author's perspective and realize our own filter and how it goes through us. Most importantly it's invaluable to me to keep my opinions to the text at hand, at least for the moment, take in  the writer's interpretation, weigh it against the other things i have read and then with my own limited expertise in said subject matter, come up with my own interpretation.