Barbara Ransby, ' Columbus and the Making of Historical Myth ', Race & Class

Résumé du document

This article is figures out how the real and historical Columbus has been transformed through centuries into a mythical (superhero) and exemplary explorer. The author's thesis then is that this transformation has been triggered and brought about by decades of government propaganda, mainly through the official educational system, in order to permit the political elite to justify their actions. This justification is aimed to ensure the acceptance of the use of imperialist and colonialist concepts, such as that of "savageness"

Extraits

[...] Similarly, the example of comparing legacy of Columbus to the legacy of Hitler”[v], given without further explanation is quite typical of a demonization rather than of a really accurate argument. Thus, the methods used by the author in writing this article are mainly of two sorts, both academic and journalistic methods. While the apparent research and fieldwork made by the author as the basis of the article seem to give it a scholar identity, the latter arguments exposed, being more emotional and rhetorical ones, make the article belong to a mere journalistic style. [...]

[...] I tend to think that scholars usually refer more to primary than secondary sources, while it is the opposite for journalists. Obviously, these two methods are melted, maybe again because B. Ransby is herself both a historian and a journalist. Yet, the concentration of these two methods does not jeopardize the strength of the author's thesis. The thesis seems proven to me; but in the mean time, this article seems to be destined to a public which already agrees with the author. [...]

[...] After having set out this historical point, B. Ransby investigates the importance of the Columbus myth for the cultural elite responsible for creating official or state-knowledge; and her conclusion is that not only the majority of scholars does know the reality of the Columbian discovery but even refuses to show and diffuse it publicly, creating what the author calls gently the “reticence of scholars to dethrone Columbus”[ii] This point permits her to make some links with the present and show that the emphasis put on Columbus by the American government is definitely linked with the creation of the American ideal of the frontier, of the discoverer, of western progress and thus that the Columbian ideal has been created from nothing, long after the historical events B. [...]

[...] In a nutshell, I did not really learn anything from that article. Interestingly, I have always taken the point made by the author for granted so I did not think at first it needed to be advocated anymore. Anyway, this article may have proven useful in a culture where historical lies are so common, especially at the time of an official mass-murderer anniversary. Barbara Ransby, Columbus and the Making of Historical Myth Race and Class 33 Ibid. p [iii] Ibid. [...]

[...] Even more than that, one could note that the thesis is taken as true since the beginning of the article; we are not considering an article trying to prove a thesis but we are rather in front of a political article reminding the readers of a famous thesis, proven before by academics, in the context of Columbus' official anniversary. This would be the main weakness of the article, from my point of view. As I already agree with this article, I cannot really judge if it makes its point or not, from an outsider sight. My general opinion about the article is of a very good yet not very original piece of work. [...]