《历史之源》章节试读

《历史之源》的笔记-第1页

History is, as Marx said, made by people in circumstances beyond their own choosing. But they "affect" those circumstances, in the lives they lead.

《历史之源》的笔记-千里之行 - 千里之行

历史是什么
任何历史都是临时性的，面对极度复杂性时试图说些什么。
Every history is provisional, an attempt to say something in the face of impossible complexity.
大多数发生之事都是人们试图实现特定目标的结果，可他们永不具备足以预见其后果的洞察力。人们出于与当下相关的原因，在与当下相关的环境中行事，但他们的所作所为激起了波浪，超出其自身并向外扩展，又与无数其他人所激起的波浪相互作用。在这些相互碰撞的波浪所构成的模式中，历史就在某处发生了。
The pattern which I favour is that of unintended consequences:the most, if not all, of what happens is the result of people trying to achieve certain ends, but never possessing the perspective to see what the effects will be. People do things, for reasons and within circumstances linked to their own present. But the things that they do cause ripples, spreading outwards beyond their own moment. interacting with ripples from a million other lives. Somewhere, in the pattern formed by colliding waves, history happens.

《历史之源》的笔记-第6页 - Chapter 1 Questions about murder and history

'the past is a foreign country;they do things differently there' VS 'the past is truly a foreign country,they do things just like us'

《历史之源》的笔记-第93页 - Chapter 5 Journeys of a thousand miles

History is, as Marx said, made by people in circumstances beyond their own choosing. But they affect those circumstances, in the lives they lead. 'Circumstances', 'history', and 'people' are not different things. They go on and on together, awaiting the historian who chooses to draw one pattern from the rest. The pattern which I favour is that of unintended consequences: that most, if not all, of what happens is the result of people trying to achieve certain ends, but never possessing the perspective to see what the effects will be. People do things, for reasons and within circumstances linked to their own present. But the things that they do cause ripples, spreading outwards beyond their own moment, interacting with ripples from a million other lives. Somewhere, in the patterns formed by these colliding waves, history happens.This is exactly what I think.

《历史之源》的笔记-第55页

法律本身和政治规章并不是我们的生活，知识我们生活于其中的房屋；不，它们只是房屋光秃秃的墙壁：其中所有必须的家具，调节和支持我们生存的发明、传统和日常习惯，都不是德古拉们或汉普登们的功劳，而是腓尼基的水手、意大利的泥瓦匠和萨克森的冶金家、哲学家、炼丹家、及预言家以及一切本遗忘已久的艺术家和工匠们的功劳。

《历史之源》的笔记-说出真相 - 说出真相

追求真实的危险
确定一种记载优于另外一种的危险在于，它是为了把“历史”浇铸成一个【单一的】真实故事。这也是寻求一种“客观的”或“科学的”历史所遵循的逻辑——就其意欲实现的目标而言，他们都是不可能的。……认为历史中存在单一的真实故事，这一观念仍然具有极大的吸引力，因而也具有极大的危险性。报纸每天谈论“历史”会如何对政治家或事件作出评判，政治家在“历史向我们表明”的基础上为外交政策辩护，全球的战争集团以他们的“历史”为基础证明其杀戮的正当性。这是省略了人的“历史”——不管过去发生了什么，也不管现在它被用作何意，都要取决于人，取决于人的选择、判断、行为和观念。【给过去的真实故事贴上“历史”的标签，是为了让它们看起来是独立于人的参与和作用而发生的】。
以史为鉴，面向未来？
有时人们会说，我们研究历史是要为现在获取教训。如果说历史为我们提供了有待学习的教训，我至今还未看到任何人在课堂上专心致志的学习教训的例子。如果这些教训（模式、结构、必然结果）存在的话，它们会允许我们预测未来。但它们没有，和以前一样，未来仍然是晦暗不明和令人激动的。但是，过去为我们提供了【吸取教训以供思考】的机会。回想人类过去所做的事情为我们提供了例证，我们借此思考自己未来的行为，正如对小说、电影的研究一样。
为什么要研究历史？历史何以重要？
首先仅仅是“乐趣”。研究过去时有一种愉悦，就像研究音乐、艺术、电影、植物学或者天文学一样。我们有些人能从这些事情中得到快乐：阅读古文献、凝视古画、发现某个与我们自己不完全一致的世界。
第二个理由是将历史作为某种思考的工具。研究历史必定意味着将自己带出当前的环境，探寻一个不同的世界。造访过去在某种程度上就像造访一个异邦，这不能不让我们更好的了解自己的生活和环境。考察过去的人们如何以不同的方式行事，为我们提供了一个机会去思考我们如何行事、我们为何采用这种思维方式、我们对哪些事情想当然或一味相信。
最后一个理由：以不同的方式思考自我，推断我们人类作为个体是如何“产生”的，也是为了认识到以不同方式行事的可能性。【历史是一种论辩，而论辩提供了变化的机会】。当某些独断论者声称“这就是唯一的行为过程”或者“事情一直就是这样”的时候，历史允许我们提出异议，允许我们指出总是存在【许多】行为过程、【许多】存在方式。【历史为我们提供了拒绝服从的工具】。

《历史之源》的笔记-all - all

● History made up only of those things which have caught our attention,that we have decided to repeat for mordarn ears.
● The past itself is not a narrative.In its entirety,it is as chaotic,uncoordinated,and complex as life.History is about making sense of that mess,finding or creating patterns and meanings and stories from the maelstrom.
● What had changed over the course of time was not just the fortunes of the ruling elite,but the ways in which people talked and lived.
● The historian needs to decides what he or she is trying to build,and waht the sources suggest and will support.
● Without bias,there would be no need for historians,'bias'is not something to fird and eradicate,but rather something to hunt and embrace.
● If the evidence that existed always spoke plainly,truthfully,and clearly to us ,not only would historian have to work to do,we would have no opportunity to argue with each other.History is above all else an argument.(A struggle between 2 ifferent cultures,2 different ideas about how the world should work)
● One way in which history begins is with sources.Another way in which it begins is with historians themselves: their interests,ideas,circumstance,and experieces.
● Gaps,spaces,elisions and slience.
● Synthesisi always involves silencing something.
● Enjoyment;using history as something with which to think,exploring an alternative world,they make us more aware of what we call home;history allow us to demur,to point out that there have always been many courses of action,many ways of bings.History provides us with the tools to dissent.

《历史之源》的笔记-第1页

Most, if not all, of what happens is the result of people trying to achieve certain ends, but never possessing the perspective to see what the effects will be. People do things, for reasons and within circumstances linked to their own present. But the things that they do cause ripples, spreading outwards beyond their own moment, interacting with ripples from a million other lives. Somewhere, in the patterns formed by these colliding waves, history happens.

《历史之源》的笔记-第108页

"像过去的人们所理解的那样"描述一件事,实际上意味着以特定的历史让你无所理解的或希望它被理解的方式去描述事件

《历史之源》的笔记-第1页

We can lay claim to the past of our identity, but to become imprisoned by the past is to lose something of our humanity, our capacity for making different choices and choosing different ways of seeing ourselves.

《历史之源》的笔记-第85页 - Chapter 5 Journeys of a thousand miles

Practically all historians writing today are marxists (with a small 'm').This does not mean that they are all 'left-wing' (far from it) or that they necessarily recognize or remember the debt.

《历史之源》的笔记-说出真相 - 说出真相

我想提出另外三个理由，来说明为何要研究历史，历史何以重要。
首先仅仅是“乐趣”。研究过去时有一种愉悦，就像研究音乐、艺术、电影、植物学或天文学一样。我们有些人能从这些事情中得到快乐：阅读古文献，凝视古画，发现某个与我们自己不完全一致的世界。我希望，就算没有别的价值，这本简短的导论也能让你享受某些历史要素的乐趣，希望你在与吉扬·德·罗兹、洛伦佐·瓦拉、利奥波德·冯·兰克、乔治·伯德特和索杰纳·特鲁斯的会见中获得愉悦。
由此出发，是我的第二个理由：将历史作为某种思考的工具。研究历史必定意味着将自己带出当前的环境，探寻一个不同的世界。这不能不让我们更好地了解自己的生活和环境。考察过去的人们如何以不同的方式行事，为我们提供了一个机会去思考我们如何行事、我们为何采用这种思维方式、我们对哪些事情想当然或一味相信。研究历史是为了研究我们自己，不是因为要从过去的世纪中折射出难以捉摸的“人性”，而是因为历史使我们感到非常欣慰。造访过去在某种程度上就像造访一个异邦：他们做着某些相同的事情和某些不同的事情，但他们首先让我们更加了解我们称为“家乡”的地方。
最后是我的第三个理由。同样它和前面两个理由相联系：以不同的方式思考自我，推断我们人类作为个体是如何“产生”的，也是为了认识到以不同方式行事的可能性。这将我带回了本书第一章的一个观点：历史是一种论辩，而论辩提供了变化的机会。当某些独断论者声称“这就是唯一的行为过程”或者“事情一直就是这样”的时候，历史允许我们提出异议，允许我们指出总是存在许多行为过程、许多存在方式。历史为我们提供了拒绝服从的工具。