Those who work in the research field in history and
other humanitarian sciences know the difference between sources and references
as they depend on both of them in getting their scientific material… also,
there is no absolute acknowledgment of what any of them may contain but
actually both are subject to scrutiny, criticism and comparison.
The source can be a spoken account given by one of
those who took part in the events or was an eye-witness… it could also be a
journalistic material published to cover or comment over the event when it
happened… furthermore, it can be an official document issued from an
institutional entity… moreover, it can be personal journals for one of the
decision makers or someone in connection with them… etc. All those are subject
to internal and external criticism and to other rules of scientific research
disciplines.
As to references, these are the researches and studies
that tackled what happened with study, analysis, detecting contexts and
surroundings, reading results and drawing conclusions… references, in turn, are
subject to criticism and one cannot take what they contain as if it is the
absolute truth.
Usually the one interested in studying a phenomenon or
a time period is advised to read the reference starting from its title then
directly its index and the list of its sources and references… if it was
discovered that that reference is not well-structured in its research; meaning
in its chronological order, thematic unity, or both… and it was clear that this
reference mixed between what should be mentioned in the core of the research
and what should have been listed in the drafts and indices… and that it adopted
an obvious outrageous bias towards a certain opinion or even towards the givens
of its point in an attempt to get around the scientific material with the aim
of proving what the author wants regardless of the reliability or veracity of such
opinion… further, it turned out that this reference depended on sources that
are not of the first degree and on other references that are questionable
regarding their relative objectivity… then, that reference is not credible to
rely on.
Here at this point in specific, comes the fault in
drama in general and in historic drama in particular… as a certain director may
say that he depended on tens of references to get his material for his drama
work without knowing that it is not about the number of references he referred
to… and not about how much they weigh in kilograms; meaning the number of
papers… but actually it is about whether those references are credible
according to the standards we mentioned some of them above.
It is really strange that some of those sources are
still alive and one can have their spoken account and ask them to provide what
can prove the veracity of such account… and after this subjecting this account of
that source to internal criticism to see how well-connected and consistent it
is with the sequence of events… and before all this, how mentally and
psychologically-fit this source is as he/she may be too old and is suffering
from oblivion or Alzheimer… and perhaps he/she is trying on purpose to hide
parts of the truth of what happened… after this, if we apply external criticism
by comparing this account with other ones and by verifying the authenticity of
the documents this source is providing… then this source becomes even more
important than some references.
Dear reader… you can imagine a researcher who is
already known to have chosen a certain topic in order to belittle those who
participated in it… and to prove for himself and for those who encouraged him
the veracity of the hypotheses he made, the sayings he promotes, the allegations
he gives or the lies he wants to wrap in a dress of truth… also, one finds this
researcher disclaiming the efforts he received from the one who supervised his
research and tried to guide him as possible… that supervisor who tried to adjust
the researcher’s distorted research discipline and what he got is that his
researcher student abstained from acknowledging him – like what happened with
that one whom they had as an auditor for a controversial TV series – when he
published his research… that his professor disowned him in public… can a
researcher with such description, either on the academic or moral levels, be
trusted?
Criticism in research disciplines is similar to the
knowledge branch of studying Islamic Hadith… I here mean al-Jarh wa al-Ta’dil
or discrediting and accrediting… which in turn is associated to what is called Ilm
ar-Regal or science of narration or biographical evaluation… as it was not
enough to attribute the account or opinion to X of prophet Muhammed’s
companions… but there was a whole scrutinizing search done over this narrator…
meaning whether he existed or not… and how mentally, morally and behavior-wise
fit this narrator was… and if he is trusted or not.
I believe many of those who are supposed to belong to
the field of research, post graduate studies and teaching professions in
university should be subjected to evaluation starting from their fluency not in
the foreign languages related to their researches but in their Arabic language;
meaning their mother tongue as some of them who became even university
professors cannot speak a single correct Arabic sentence.
If someone had the chance to attend the discussion of
a PhD or master’s degree, he would be appalled by the crimes committed against
Arabic language… so one can imagine who things are when the references and
sources are written in English or French especially if the research deals with
an era or subject that definitely has documents or periodicals related to it in
English or French.
Some will say they can seek the help of translators…
this is possible… but the problem is that the translator is usually not aware
of the whole image of the subject related to the document… and so, he produces
an automatic translation empty of any perception of the context and what lies
beyond words.
In my opinion, the relation between art works of
series and films, and historic events will stay complicated and a matter of
dispute… especially if those art works are connected to the current political
events and go in the heart of the running conflict in the society, region and
world.
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This article was published in
Al Ahram newspaper on June 22, 2017.
To see the original article,
go to:
#alahram #ahmed_elgammal
#Egypt #drama #history
