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Essay / Silencing the past by Michel-rolph Trouillot: How power shapes the making of history
Love, hatred, fear are universal emotions experienced in history and are shaped by cultural traditions and religious, economics, politics and violence. Often emotions are undetectable, like memory and silence which are hidden and hidden away to be forgotten from historical records. As described by many authors such as Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Irène Lévia and other researchers; emotions are often hidden and silenced in historical context, but can be remembered through personal narratives passed down from generation to generation. Throughout history, stories have been falsified and embellished to appear honorable, fearsome, and powerful. Silencing the Past by Michel-Rolph Trouillot explains how certain historical narratives are constructed while others are silenced, how power shapes the making of history. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Trouillot, a prominent Haitian anthropologist and historian who uses the Haitian Revolution to illustrate his understanding of how the past is remembered, constructed, and silenced. Henri Christophe, King Henry of Haiti, built a magnificent palace called Sans Souci which quickly lost its connotation. Colonel Jean-Baptiste Sans Souci was a former slave of Bossale involved in the Revolution who excelled in guerrilla tactics but was betrayed and killed by Christophe. Christophe had the fabulous idea of building the palace near where the murder took place and decided to name the palace after the enemy he defeated, Sans Souci. The connection between palace and man, Sans Souci, has been removed and long forgotten, silenced. The story does not belong to its narrators, professional or amateur, which concludes that the story is not only fixed on one narrative but on many perspectives if given the chance to be heard. Historical facts are not created in the same way, stories lie between what happened and what would have happened. It relies on extreme power capable of controlling how it will be told over time. Archives hold such power, enclosing distorted accounts and omitting certain aspects of history to control the difference between the chronicler, who never misses a single detail, and the narrator, who can hide the truth and generate silences in his stories. This includes not only Sans Souci, but also the history of Columbus, the Mayflower, slavery, the Alamo and the Holocaust. Trouillot asserts that our knowledge of slavery concerns only slavery in America, that American historiography, for reasons perhaps not too different from its Brazilian counterpart, has produced its own silences on African-American slavery ; There were blacks and whites in North America debating both the symbolic and analytical relevance of slavery to the present they were experiencing. The importance of slavery in the United States has involved not only professional historians, but also ethnic and religious leaders, political figures, journalists and various associations within civil society as well as independent citizens, who do not are not all activists. Affirming that slavery, in countries like Brazil, is silenced, in the hope of being forgotten. Although such silence occurs, it does not mean that it is lost on its narrators. The story does not belong to the narrator who tells a story, whether professional or amateur; others will debate falsetruths versus silent realities that have yet to be told. Therefore, asserting that historians can retrieve various sources to substantiate this assertion; open the doors of historical archives which extend into little or no perspectives. The limited variation of narrators is the reason why theories of history are very narrow and one-sided, which distorts the historical narrative. Often, silence is a form of resistance that distorts the historical narrative by not claiming the unspoken truth. Even if the silence is not actively hidden, it is a part of the story that is simply not talked about. Silence distorts the narrative by limiting the number of perspectives and reduces the possibility of other truths that Western historiography is not willing to claim. Western historiography is uniquely one-sided, containing falsified conceptions of events such as slavery, Columbus, the Alamo, the Fourth of July, and other national holidays. The truth of these fairy tales is silenced, hidden in an attempt to be forgotten. Silence evokes emotions by preventing individuals from talking about a nasty, disturbing, and haunting past. For example, Levin's article, Silence, Memory and Migration, explains how a Holocaust survivor remains silent when speaking about the death of her younger brother. The survivor shifts the narrative, withholding details that would quickly reveal his death while captured by soldiers. It is clear that his pain is greatly affecting his life, and yet this happened many years ago. Her silence has brought only misery and sorrow, unable to grieve and grieve properly, she remains broken for clinging to a silent past. It's quiet narratives like this that could potentially change other narratives told by professionals or amateurs. As Trouillot says, each historical account renews its claim to truth, arguing that Western historiography should not be entirely trusted. Each story can claim a new truth, a new perspective that can modify the one already written in history textbooks. History cannot be set in stone, narratives change as each narrator claims their own truth. Silences enter the process of historical production at four crucial moments: the moment of fact creation, fact assembly, fact retrieval, and retrospective meaning. Claim that silence at the time of creation results in the development of unreliable sources; it denies other interpretations of the story to be told, narratives that will most likely change history completely. Staying silent while the archives are written only leads to a collection of biased narratives that produce only false victories and inaccurate accounts in Western historiography. Silences of resistance against Western historiography include topics such as San Souci, the Haitian Revolution, and the reinterpretation of the Alamo. The recreation of the stories mentioned has caused Westerners to discredit and disapprove of these new claims, wanting to silence their voices by making mean-spirited remarks claiming the work is inadequate. To begin with, the Haitian Revolution is the least detailed story told by Westerners, making false accusations. this never happened or claiming a false truth to appear superior. Historical accounts are based on previous conceptions, themselves based on the distribution of archival power. In the case of Haitian historiography, as in the case of most third world countries, these previous conceptions have beendeeply shaped by Western conventions and procedures, meaning that Western historiography holds these countries back by denying people of color a simple education to become literate. First, writing and reading Haitian historiography involves literacy and formal access to an essentially French Western language and culture, two prerequisites that already exclude the majority of Haitians from direct participation in its production. Which leads Western historiography to be able to select with whom it wishes to share its knowledge. Western historiography focuses on power, money, trade and Europeans. Europeans who have set boundaries, who have proven to hide their knowledge from the world and who have chosen to become an elite country that only invites academics to access and enter their universities. Western historiography tends to silence negative findings by creating false narratives to gain popularity in mythologized celebrations. Narratives are necessarily structured in a way that life is not, meaning that narrators decide whether or not to express a fabricated narrative that alters the life story with or without any tangible evidence that can be proven as being the truth. Fabricating a false narrative is a way to maintain power by having a strong historical past that represents fear and terror. Staying fearful among other countries or being considered the strongest nation in war. For example, Columbus learned to be considered a hero in the eyes of the United States, America's founders. History has taught teenagers false narratives about what Columbus stumbled upon once he arrived in America; he enslaved and mutilated Native Americans, infected them with diseases they brought with them, and which killed a significant portion of the native population. Another false narrative that teens learn in school is how Thanksgiving came to be. It celebrates the coming together of the Pilgrims and the Native Americans, a union between the groups that is actually difficult to prove. In addition to Europe having the first universities, it also has the power to control history; be able to choose their own higher narratives for themselves. Furthermore, by containing the concepts of educational learning, Europe is able to control Western historiography and become the guardian of knowledge, which produces the whispers behind closed doors; a hidden transcription of reality. The whispers behind closed doors contribute to the understanding of the emotions of history despite the silence hidden in the historical archives. Closed-door whispers involve untold stories that are only discussed in protected environments. Sandra Greene's article, "Whispers and Silences: Explorations in African Oral" explores the hidden narratives of slavery and Christianity in Ghana. Christianity was first introduced to the Anlo region in the mid-19th century. Over time, he gained an increasing number of followers, a gain that brought traditional religious believers into a constant attack on their beliefs and practices. This prompted missionaries who operated in the region to condemn these practices and the colonial government to ban many of them. Opportunities for political authority and economic prosperity moved away from traditional religious orders and became increasingly associated with belief in Christianity and Western education; and the numbers have decreased. According to Greene, researchers documented both official stories and counter-narratives, as well as analyzed personal stories and.