The history of the fatherland or the biography of the historical person can be studied not only from textbooks, but also from sources of personal origin. What is it? You will learn about this in our article, and we will also tell you about the different types and classifications of this phenomenon.
Sources of personal origin. Definition
Many scientists explain that this is a huge layer of diverse verbal sources, which are united by common signs of origin. It is they who most accurately and consistently convey the process of development of interpersonal relationships.
The content and origin of the sources are very diverse. Their differences lie not only in the content and form, but also in the methods of transmitting and providing information. Therefore, it is customary to classify them. The following is a classification of sources of personal origin.
Feature Separations
Initially, sources are classified by communication links, which are considered in two aspects. Sources of personal origin are divided into diary entries or interpersonal. The last group is divided into documents with a fixed addressee (they are still referred to as epistolary genres) and an undefined addressee (confession and essay).
There is another methodology of source study of sources of personal origin, but it is not so relevant for us.
It is noteworthy that the epistolary genres were originally intended for immediate publication. And essay genres belong to deferred publication.
The search and use of auto-communicative sources is difficult. Often they were destroyed by the creators or casually stored. Unfortunately, in our country there is no system for their storage, unlike office sources. If they persisted, they ended up in personal funds in the form of collections.
Historians have noted a tendency to change attitudes toward materials of personal origin as historical sources.
But before moving on to studying the evolution of such documents, let's talk about examples.
Paper exhibits from the past
We have already examined the definition and classification. Let's get acquainted with examples of sources of personal origin: memoirs, autobiographies, essays, confession, letters.
We will consider each species separately. In the meantime, let's talk about the formation of personal documents.
The evolution of verbal sources
In the 17th century, sources of personal origin that arose were formed in Western Europe. They were similar to domestic ones. Subsequently, their development led to the fact that Russian counterparts significantly differed from sources of Western European origin. Scientists believe that the whole thing is the evolution of memoirs.
Century XVIII is characterized by the progressive development of human individuality, as well as the creation of secondary social ties that were formed and structured by society and state intervention. Unfortunately, this factor has reformed the development of sources of personal origin. It is noteworthy that the essay as a genre is almost absent, and as for the memoirs, they live in the form of an autobiography. Domestic authors of the memoirs of the 18th century wrote their biographies as if "in isolation." Since they did not have the opportunity to read the works of other authors.
In the sixties of the XIX century, the formation of consciousness of Russian society was completed. This is evidenced by the publication of historical journals, including the Russian Archive. It is in these conditions that memoirs acquire the status of documents of personal origin as a historical source. Now we will take a closer look at each of the types of such documents.
Memoirs or āmodern storiesā
Their "father" is considered to be Philippe de Commin. He wrote the first memoirs at the end of the 15th century. They were published only after three or four decades. But, let's start, first of all, with the definition.
The memoirs āmodern storiesā are a source of personal origin, in which the author captures a significant social event.
De Commin compares his activities with the case of the chronicler. In Russia, such a genre appears only in the 17th century. So, Sylvester Medvedev described "contemplation ... of the activities of Sofia Alekseevna." His contemporary A. A. Matveev writes similar notes.
The French nobleman Ruvroix Saint-Simon created a standard memoir. He described not only the events that he saw, but also the people who participated in them, and also comprehended the tasks of contemporary history.
But there were also such āmodern storiesā that from the genre of memoirs grew into diaries. This happened with the recollections of Armand de Colencourt about the Napoleonic battles.
Historians conclude that memoirs are sources of personal origin, as a historical source was written in order to be published immediately. Indeed, many of them contained an answer to the reaction of society.
Memoirs of an Autobiography
This genre of memoirs reflects the establishment of secondary social ties of the author in the world. These works most often pursue family goals.
Features of sources of personal origin are as follows. Records are intended for posterity. At the initial stage of their existence, the selection of information is characteristic. Domestic memoirs and autobiographies derive their origin from the traditions of life, since in Russia in the Middle Ages there were no biographical genres. These include autobiographies of famous people, as well as official autobiographies that are in the personal files of employees of institutions. Historians note the outstanding memoirs of Andrei Timofeevich Bolotov, born in October 1738. He received his usual home education. He studied foreign languages, including French and German. He did not study long in a private boarding house. At 17, he was left without parents. Then he entered the service and received the rank of officer. Soon he had to participate in the Seven Years War. He was in reserve. Bolotov had the opportunity to watch the battle that he described. His observer position has become normal for him. Bolotov saw a lot, but did not participate in the events of the 18th century, which he had to describe in his memoirs.
After the war, Andrei Timofeevich already served in the office of the governor. The XVIII century is considered to be the era of encyclopedists. Bolotov himself was also passionate about the sciences. He especially loved agronomy. The man the first in the XVIII century began to breed varieties of tomatoes. He developed his own system of digging, and also practiced healing. Then magazines appear. Bolotov publishes his magazine "Countryman". At this time, he began to publish philosophical works, and also wrote plays for theaters. Andrei Timofeevich was fond of all areas of his century. However, he managed to avoid the palace coups, although he was closely acquainted with Count Orlov.
The source of personal origin are memoirs-autobiographies. Great attention is paid to issues of service, especially in detail is described the production process, as well as receiving a salary. However, the researchers noticed that the authors completely lack the desire to record the course of history or historical realities. In the XIX century, memoirs of modern history pushed autobiographies to the background, but in the future there is interest in them. Consider the following concept of a source of personal origin.
Essay writing
An essay is another type of source that is designed to convey the individualās unique experience in a historical time span. An essayist on paper sets out his own opinion on his acute problem. He differs from a publicist in that he speaks on his own behalf, and not from a representative of any social group.
Essayism, as a type of source of personal origin, refers to the works of Michel Montaigne, namely to the āExperiencesā of 1581. In them, he conveys his own opinion on the problems of sorrow, solitude, perseverance, and so on. At the very beginning, he addresses the reader and declares that this book is sincere. The author did not set any goals, except for private and family. He did not think of profit or glory. By his work, he wanted to please his family. If you read the authorās appeal from beginning to end, you get the impression that we have memoirs. Yes, indeed, the Frenchman sets out personal experience, but it is worth noting that there is no retrospective information in his text.
It is noteworthy that essays and essays in Russia did not find great popularity. The first such texts appeared only at the beginning of the XIX century. These were Gogolās letters to friends or philosophical letters written by Chaadaev. Soon journalism choked, as a personal position obeyed the public interest.
Thus, in Russia, essay became a philosophical genre. Vasily Vasilievich Rozanov preferred it.
Confession
Confession monologue is a source of personal origin, as a historical source is a philosophical work in which the uniqueness of a personās individuality is affirmed. It is the mission that brings confession to the essay. This genre cannot be considered widespread. However, it is especially important for understanding the source of modern times. It is worth noting that medieval texts are not only theological, but also moralizing in nature. The beginning of such confessions was laid by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The philosopher created his confession in the 60s of the XVIII century.
Let's try to determine what the purpose of this work was. Initially, the philosopherās text can be considered memoirs, since the authorās personality is at the center of the story. He recalls and transmits events from his life from memory. He does not select events. Rousseau describes everything that he remembers, even the most insignificant little things. Literary scholars note that in these traditions he is similar to Bolotov. But Rousseauās text contains even more small details from his life. To understand the meaning of his work, it is necessary to pay special attention to the first paragraphs.
Thus, Rousseau's Confession is a philosophical work. Its meaning is to affirm the uniqueness of man, which goes against the generally accepted ideas of the Enlightenment.
In Russian literature there is a āConfessionā of Leo Tolstoy.
Sources of personal origin. Learning process
When acquaintance of historians with documents of personal origin, a work consisting of three stages is carried out:
- The origin of this source is determined, that is, the time and place of creation, authenticity. Historians also determine the motives for creating a written document. At this stage, auxiliary sources to be attracted are also determined.
- The content is studied, reliability, completeness, relevance and so on are determined.
- The historian conducts an analysis of the surrounding reality, which is reflected by the author in the materials.
The main properties of sources
For sources of personal origin, the main properties are defined:
- documentary;
- subjectivity;
- retrospectiveness.
All of them are associated with the manifestation of a personal principle in documents of this kind. These properties made it possible to determine the value and feature of this document, to take into account its specificity in the study. The documentary nature of such sources is characterized from the perspective of reflecting real events of the past. Such sources are also documents that tell us about the past. Retrospectiveness of a document characterizes the attitude to past events and is associated with the reflection of realities in the form of a written document. To date, the value of sources of personal origin is sufficiently substantiated. However, discussions continue in the scientific community on issues of secondary importance to memoirs, diaries, and also memoirs. The thing is that in documents of personal origin the emotional side of the author prevails. But clearly traced his professional style and analysis of events.
The value of such documents
Undoubtedly, sources of personal origin have value. They have their own characteristics, because they belong to a certain person and are able to reflect his perception of the world, phenomena, as well as historical events. Such documents contain socio-psychological information, which is very difficult to find in official sources. Also, such sources contain information and facts that are not covered in other materials. This enables the researcher to reproduce not only individual events, but also the features of a certain historical period.
The informational value of materials lies in the fact that official documents often lack information. And it is the study of memoirs that gives researchers useful factual material. This problem affected the documents of the era of the Soviet Union under Stalin. Therefore, it will not be amiss to recall the works of a Russian publicist and historian, as well as a politician R. A. Medvedev. He wrote more than 35 books on Russian history, where the first-person author described the political events that took place in the Soviet Union from the Twentieth Congress to its collapse. Memoirs are especially important when writing a biography or to recreate a political situation within a state. However, to describe mass events or to study agriculture, memoirs will play a secondary role.
Personal correspondence, diaries, memoirs and memoirs for historians in the reconstruction of military events are of great value.
Conclusion
Thus, our article has come to an end. We need to draw conclusions. First, sources of personal origin are considered a very valuable and important document in the study of historical events and phenomena. Secondly, the involvement of such documents in historical research for the historian will allow the work to be done more accurately and deviate from unnecessary grounds on official sources, which means that the cognitive significance of the problem under study will increase sharply.
Many of us kept diaries in childhood. They contained various memories. They reflected our emotional experiences, shocks. As they grow older and more domestic problems appear, people give up their hobbies, I donāt understand the fact that after many years it would be interesting for children, grandchildren and other descendants to read what we felt at their age, and also what excited our consciousness most of all, which events took place around us.
History can be studied not only from textbooks, but also from works of art, documentaries. For example, Lidia Yakovlevna Ginzburg - a contemporary of Blok and Akhmatova, was familiar with many poets of the twentieth century. All the memories associated with Mayakovsky or Yesenin, she bit by bit collected and recorded. Then these memories were embodied in a serious work, which with great pleasure is studied by philologists and literary scholars. It turns out that Vladimir Mayakovsky in five minutes could write a poem that children learn at school. He said that great poetry took him as much as 20 minutes!
Memoirs, diaries, letters will also be useful in the study of history. If children and adults do not learn history, then our people and our society will be doomed to gradual extinction. After all, each of us should know that history is recorded and studied in order not to make past mistakes and learn from them.