The world is full of bad history. Best-selling novels are full of it. Nostalgia-dripping reruns on Pax and the Hallmark channel are full of it. Blockbuster summer movies are full of it. Statements by the leaders of public opinion are full of it. Boy, are they full of it. Alan and John thought the world needed a place to expose bad history. This is that place.
The form we have chosen is a monthly weblog carnival. A carnival is a periodic showcase of good weblog writing on a common topic selected by the authors themselves. Each issue is hosted by a different blog and consists of a set of short descriptions and links to the articles. Some examples of carnivals are
The Tangled Bank (biology and natural history),
Philosophy Carnival (philosophy, obviously), and
The History Carnival (good history).
What counts as bad history?
For starters, we've come up with this list:
Bad presentations of history - This is the easy one. Review bad historical movies, books and teevee. How anachronistic are those uniforms? How improbable is that alternate history novel? Did kindly frontier doctors really talk like that?
Bad uses of history - When pundits, politicians, and talking heads get hold of history they often twist it beyond all recognition or justification. Tell us about the mangaled metaphors, unjustified parallels, or outright lies you find in the public sphere.
Historians behaving badly - Historians manage their share of embarassing talking head appearances, plagiarism scandals, and corporate sell-outs. We don't want mere unpleasant gossip. Contributions in this category should be of historians behaving badly in their professional capacity as historians.
If you can think of another category that should be included, run it by us.
Who can contribute?
All you need is your own weblog or website and an opinion. You don't need to be a professional historian and you don't need to write mostly about history. If you write only one post on bad history in you entire life, send it to us. The only requirement is that it be an original piece of your writing (not a copy of someone else's article and not link-and-comment) and posted in the last month. Send the link to the post and a short summary to this month's host or to us (we'll forward it).
Who can host the carnival?
Just like contributing, all you need is your own weblog or website. We'll advertise the schedule of past, current, and next hosts here. If you want to be on the calendar, drop us a line and let us know what month you are interested in hosting.
It's that simple.
Four (and a half) CoBHs later -- several of which have featured my work -- I think it's safe to say that we've scratched a lot of surfaces over the last year, but there's lots of pristine bunk out there, just waiting for bloggerly attention. Though I think professional historians have a special obligation to be tech-savvy and publicly outspoken on matters of historical interpretation and discourse, the Skeptics Circle community has been very engaged with historical illogic (e.g. Holocaust denial rebuttal here or here), and the CoBH itself was founded by the eminently skeptical John McKay.
I love this carnival -- its broad participation, its irreverent intolerance for ignorance, its potential as an educators' tool -- and I'm really honored that John has invited me to join the administrative team. It might seem odd for a professional, credentialed historian to take this step -- surely "Carnival of Bad History" will raise a few eyebrows on an academic cv -- but I intend to see this become one of the premier gathering grounds for reality-based snark, furious fact-checking and historical fun.
There will be a few changes coming: After the next quarterly installment, currently scheduled for June 20th, the CoBH will be going to a monthly schedule! It's a cliche, I know, but the blogosphere moves too fast for a quarterly event to maintain anyone's attention, and a healthy carnival needs a good rhythm and regular attention. The increased pace, though, means that we really need hosts! The next edition is scheduled for one month from now, and then we'll have one a month after that, etc. Contact John or I to volunteer, and make your mark in one of the most talked-about carnivals in the blogosphere! Or, if you just want to contribute material, you can send links to us or submit them here; nominations can be of other people's work as well as your own, if it deserves inclusion.
posted by Jonathan Dresner at 1:15 AM
Comments:
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