`` Indians Textualism, Morality, And The Problem Of...

In Jane Tompkins essay ‘Indians’: Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History†, several moral and philosophical problems with anti-foundationalism and poststructuralism are raised through the author s personal experiences and research of what truly happened during the European-Indian conflict when the British attempted to colonize what is now the United States. The most significant problem addressed in Tompkins essay is the tension that exists when poststructuralism is employed to avoid politicization of history because, by claiming every account is tainted with the individual s bias and is thus subjective, a concrete record of past events cannot be written. Without historical accounts to depend on, the study of history is devalued under this philosophical viewpoint and placed in an ivory tower where it can no longer be applied to the real world, creating a moral dilemma regarding the prevention of atrocities rather than create a depoliticized or completely accurate series of historical events. Tompkins essay challenges the poststructuralist mindset and showing how the removal of all subjectivity conflicts with the study of history. She does so by giving accounts of her life through the lens of poststructuralism, both as a child and as an adult doing research in the field of history herself. A large part of the essay consists of this example of the conflict between history and poststructuralism as she analyzes various resources in search of the objective truthShow MoreRelated Defining History Essay574 Words   |  3 Pagesdocument, quot;Indians: Textualism, Morality, and The Problem of History,quot; Jane Tompkins examines the conflicts between the English settlers and the American Indians. After examining several primary sources, Tompkins found that different history books have different perspectives. It wasn’t that the history books took different angles that was troubling, but the viewpoints contradicted one another. People who experience the same event told it t hrough their reality. This becomes a problem when a personRead MoreEssay on American Indians704 Words   |  3 Pages amp;#8220;amp;#8217;Indiansamp;#8217;: Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History;, an essay written by Jane Tompkins, a professor of English at Duke University, outlines Tompkins dissatisfaction on how American Indians are portrayed throughout history. As children, we are taught that in amp;#8220;1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue;, and that Peter Minuet bought all of Manhattan Island from the Indians for only twenty-four dollars worth of trinkets. In high school, we were taught thatRead MoreEssay on Historical Truth1410 Words   |  6 PagesHistorical Truth Historical Truth? As a child sits through history class in the first grade, he or she learns of the relationship between Christopher Columbus and the Indians. This history lesson tells the children of the dependence each group had on each other. But as the children mature, the relations between the two groups began to change with their age. So the story that the teenagers are told is a gruesome one of savage killings and lying. When the teenagers learn of this, they themselvesRead MorePsychology Observation Aspects: Biases, Assumptions, and Interpretations833 Words   |  3 PagesIntroduction Biases, assumptions and interpretations affect all areas of study. In Science and History, for example, sexual, racial/cultural and personal experience biases significantly influence research. In addition, Perspectivism can empty research findings of all meaning, depending on whether the researcher believes facts exist independent of perspective. Acceptance of universal Perspectivism, combined with triangulated comparison from several sources, can result in approximate truth. Body