Guerilla History: Viva la Revolution?

Inherited convention often provides the historian with the basic guide for forming his words. Structure, content, methodology; all of these seek provide the Cliophile with the language and form by which he may enter into conversation with the historical community and thus adscribe value to his work. However, adhering to such practices necessarily place the historian at a disadvantage vis-a-vis those who appraise his work. It is thus an act of submission at the very point of initiation that maintains and articulates a relationship of power. It colours the work before a word is spoken. Such a relationship should be renegotiated to the advantage of the historian in order that the work acts not to strengthen the historiographical status quo.

One may assume that actors that play their part in the grand theatre of history were subject to the self-same emotional contortions that you or I experience. Yet, these emotional responses are always neutralised in their translation into historical account. Explanation in history assumes on some level the rationality of leaders to the exclusion of the fundamental causes of human action: the irrational elements. This is not to undermine the intelligence or mental consistency, merely to question the boundaries of rational thought. Yet, these irrational elements are not represented, at least not to any noticeable degree: "Leader x was sad" hardly conveys the vividness and immediacy of his response. How can this be remedied?

A grand event, let's say a conference, can be represented scene by scene, action by action, dialogue written in full adn verbatim, if sources permit. Motivations of actors elaborated upon, as well as minor details, clothing, decor, room layout; all done with a historian's keen eye and skill with sources. Historical agency is not weighted to one event, to a few grand figures in some Carlisylian sense. Instead, long-term influences are articulated in conjunction with immediate ones; for those who exercise power are deemed to be subject to aspects of their environment, their cultural baggage, their personal and collective psychology, the nature of thier social interaction.

Thus will be created, as I have to cut short my writings due to temporal exigency, a micro-historical model that seems almost like a mirror image of Braudel. Whilst he attempted to view history from afar, this history will investigate the mysteries of the universe of the immediate sphere of action. A seemingly revolutionary act.