Historyk wobec metodologii
Historians and methodology

Summary/Abstract: Researchers of past events that deal with the empirism of the archive on a day-to-day basis identify the methodology of history with the methodology of historical research. This means that they assign the methodological status to attempts of verbalising the historical research methodology, which is erroneous. And, somewhat to the contrary, the methodology of history is reduced to the issue of historical research methodology. As a result, everything that resembles the more general and reasonable reflection on the historian’s methodology, ways of handling sources, the past or the social reception of historical knowledge, is classed as methodology of history. Such a reflection stems from the popular perception of methodology. This perception is shaped by verbalisation and conceptualisation – mostfrequently colloquial – of the general methodological/methodical experience. This experience is accrued through silently mimicking the existing research procedures that are generally acknowledged in the given historical specialty. The above situation results from the lack of appropriate competences of historians in the scope of the complexity of the methodological and epistemological discourse and the performance of the historical science without reflection. The series of articles published in the book issued by the Cracow branch of the Institute of National Remembrance edited by Filip Musiał titled Wokół teczek bezpieki – zagadnienia metodologicznoźródłoznawcze (On the Files of the Security Service – Issues Related to Methodology and Sources) is the perfect example of the situation described above in which practical historians attempt to voice their opinions as experts on the methodology of history, without any grounds for doing so (i.e. they lack relevant knowledgeof the subject of their statements). This article, written on the basis of the results of the analysis of a few essays selected from the abovementioned volume whose authors reduced the methodology of history to the research methodology, concentrates on emphasising the difference between the methodology of history and the methodology of historical research.

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