Historical Revisionism in the New Normal.pptx

discussion of historical revisionism

1. HISTORICAL REVISIONISM/DISTORTION IN THE NEW NORMAL

2. Revisionism or Distortion?

3. History is written by victors. - Winston Churchill -

4. Historical revisionism was born as a child of politics, but it can be helpful if its purpose is academic. - Sofia Garcia- Bulle -

5. Revisionism at a Glance

6. Revisionism at a Glance

7. REVISIONISM AND DISTORTION What they are all about?

8. REVISIONISM In its most basic definition, historical revisionism is a reinterpretation of a past event or a presentation of new narratives based on newly discovered facts . LET US DEFINE THEM DISTORTION It occurs when historical accounts or narratives are changed to suit a personal agenda. It involves disinformation and lies to change history.

9. Is Revisionism Bad?

10. Historical Revisionism is Not All Bad There is nothing inherently wrong with revising historical accounts. R evision is a necessary endeavor when new information or witness accounts come to light. Historians always revise as new facts or data present themselves. The type of revisionism that historians engage in aims to produce the most accurate accounts given all available information—a stark contrast with the way the term is often used today . - Ferdie Llanes -

11. In essence, reconstructing the past to update it is not bad. As long as it follows the norms of academic research: ascertaining facts that convey the truth, corroborating contenting views, and producing impartial interpretations. History is a constant dialogue between the present and the past, as historians say. If not for the constant revisions, history would be static—the production of history books with revised editions attests to this fact, and it is proof that history is an open-ended book. Historical Revisionism is Not All Bad

12. So When Is Revisionism Bad?

13. From Columnist Gideon Lasco : While historical revisionism is not a bad thing, it becomes so when revisionism is used as a “euphemism” for outright lies . One of these lies is the “presented fact” that the Marcos era was a “golden age for the Philippines,” despite evidence stating otherwise. In fact, from 1977 to 1982, the Philippines’ external debt grew from $8.2 billion to $26 billion as the Marcoses continued to favor cronies and have exorbitant lifestyles, yet this continues to be denied even to this day.

14. A t a Glance President Ferdinand Marcos and his First Lady Imelda Marcos lived a life of royalty during their 20-year rule of the Philippines. (Right) Victims of the 1985 Escalante Massacre, where 20 protesters were gunned down in cold blood by Marcos’ soldiers. (Photos from CARMMA (Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law) / The Defiant)

15. Denial Is Distortion of History Historical revisionism is vital to introduce new voices and characters to history—however, it should be rooted in historical records and factual evidence. Hence, denying the fact that thousands were killed during martial law and that billions were stolen from the national coffers during that time is an outright distortion of history.

16. What Needs to be Done?

17. 1. Truth shall prevail Of course, some truths can be very hard to take, but “truth” is a relative term, and interpretation of different sources can be construed in different ways by different people. Nonetheless , this does not give anyone a free pass to revise history without factual basis, deny one’s experience of the situation, nor spread misinformation among the masses to erase what has been done—good or bad.

18. 2. Social Media to revise their policy on misleading content The enemy of truth is not the outright lie because an outright lie is easy to see and expose. Perhaps we could create videos on the platform to combat the disinformation.

19. 3 . Do some fact-check In fact-checking the Philippine economy during Martial Law, Jan Carlo Punongbayan pointed out the wealth of data from the Philippine Statistics Authority to debunk the myths of the Marcos years. One myth is that the Marcos years marked the Philippine economy’s “golden age.” Inflation reached 50.3 percent in 1984 “brought about by Marcos’ pernicious policy of debt-driven growth and crony capitalism.”

20. 4 . Read, read and read. We all need to do our part in fighting disinformation and challenging historical revisionism . Our collective duty, now more than ever, is to keep the crusade against historical revisionism going.

21. THANKS! Any questions? You can find me at: [email protected]