Historiography
Last up-dated 24.02.06
History is a distinct academic discipline, nurses who want to study, research and write their history have to be prepared to find out about history and historiography.John Arnold commented in his book History A Very Short Introduction
- "Language can be confusing. 'History' often refers to both the past itself, and to what historians write about the past. 'Historiography' can mean either the process of writing history, or the study of that process... I use 'historiography' to mean the process of writing history; and 'history' to mean the end product of that process." (Arnold p.5).
Arnold's book is concise (134 pages), clear and interesting to read. It provides an accessible introduction to the study of history. In his account you will meet historians and their writings. You will follow some of the changing ways that historians have interpreted the past.
To study the history of nursing you will need to find out more about the way history and the history of nursing has been written. There are both texts and some very useful websites that can help you.
You could start by following the online tutorial for historians at: http://www.humbul.ac.uk/vts/history/index.htm
This will help you find information, it will also make you aware of some of the pitfalls of the web - a source where anyone can publish.
One website that will help you is the Institute of Historical Research site. Spend some time getting familiar with this site, there is an online journal History in Focus. Past issues include:
- Autumn 2001 Historiography - a convenient introduction to many of the current issues.
- Spring 2002 History of Medicine - of great interest to historians of nursing.
There is no single text that discusses the historiography of nursing. However, you may find some of the following are useful.
Nurse Researcher, Volume 5, Number 2, (Winter 1997/98)
The articles in this special issue were written by authors who were consciously trying to help nurses who might be unfamiliar with the discipline of history. They include:
Ann Marie Rafferty, Writing, researching, and reflexivity in nursing history.
Susan McGann, Archival sources for research into the history of nursing.
Barbara Mortimer, Counting nurses: nursing in the nineteenth century census.
Stephanie Kirby, The resurgence of oral history and the new issues it raises.
Christine Hallett, Historical texts: factors affecting their interpretation.
The reference lists in these essays each include useful further reading.
The Colloquium for Nursing History Research held a special meeting inEdinburgh in September 1999. Speakers, all professional historians, examinedthe place of nursing history in the context of their own discipline. The papershave been published and offer an excellent introduction to major researchapproaches.
Copies of this Occasional Paper can be obtained from:
Barbara Mortimer
QMUC
Edinburgh
EH12 8TS
£5 inc. P&P (Europe only)
Mortimer, B. ed. Defining Nursing History. Edinburgh: Queen Margaret University College, 2000.
Papers include:
Christopher Maggs, 'History of nursing', 'History of nurses': are the waters any clearer?
Deborah Simonton, Nursing History as Women's History.
Deborah Brunton, The state of the art of the history of medicine.
Stana Nenadic, Reflections on the Value of Nursing History to the Discipline of Economic and Social History.
Rima D. Apple, The power of nurses' narratives.
Jane Brooks, Nursing in the Academy: the early years.
If you want to research and write history it is important to make use of the Historical Journals. Several journals are particularly important for nurses interested in history. For example:
Gender and History
International History of Nursing Journal (UK)
Nursing History Review (USA)
Social History of Medicine
Women's History Review
The book reviews in these journals will repay careful scrutiny. There are many more sound journals, the ones you choose will depend on the time and place of your study and the theoretical approach which interests you.
From time to time journals celebrate an important anniversary with a special issue. The following issues are worthy of careful review:
Gender and History, Volume 11, Number 3, 1999.
In this tenth anniversary number eminent historians reviewed the areas of research which interested them. Some also speculated on ways forward.
Social History of Medicine, Volume 8, Number 3, 1995.
In this 25th anniversary issue Dorothy Porter, Ludmilla Jordanova and Margaret Pelling offered important articles on the theme of 'Historical Perspectives'.
A useful webpage to browse through is
If you wish to investigate more deeply into historiography most academic bookshops will have a section devoted to this subject.
