This is the concept guide. For the full section on using historiography in exam answers, see Using Historiography in Your Answers. For the reference library of major debates, see 20th Century Interpretations.
What historiography is
Historiography is the study of how history has been written — the history of historical interpretation. It asks not just what happened but how historians have tried to explain what happened, why their explanations differ, and what drives those differences. Historiographical awareness means knowing that the way we understand historical events is shaped by the questions historians ask, the evidence they have access to, and the contexts in which they write.
It is distinct from history. History asks: what happened? Historiography asks: how have historians understood what happened, and why have those understandings changed?
Why interpretations change
Historical interpretations change for three main reasons: new evidence (archives open, new sources are discovered or reinterpreted), new questions (each generation asks different things of the past), and new contexts (historians are shaped by the political and intellectual world in which they write). Demonstrating awareness of these drivers — not just what historians argued but why they argued it — is what OCR’s mark schemes describe as ‘sophisticated AO3’.
Further reading: What Is Historiography? · AO3 Explained · 20th Century Interpretations
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