Gerry:
The simple answer is no one controls history. However, cultural agents have *always* controlled the
flow of information--from the people and places considered important enough to be commemorated by rock
art painters, storytellers, poets, and singers in non-literate societies to government censorship,
corporate sponsorship of research, academic self-selection, 'the market' for books, movies, etc. in
modern nation states.
All of us, collectively, control information. As a university professor I contribute to the
distribution of information about the past to hundreds of students each year. It's not a matter of who
should--it is a matter of how should I (and others in similar situations) control that flow of
information. The question should be (and in fact, started this thread) how do we make decisions about
sharing that information? In other words, how do we act as stewards of the past?
Bob
Gerry Reinhart-Waller wrote:
> Gerry here: I have ONE simple question -- who should control our
> history? Folks "come together" when life becomes nasty, brutish and
> short to form a "state". To think of each one of us writing his/her own
> history does sound a bit preposterous. Politically correct maybe, but
> preposterous nevertheless.
> Gerry
--
Dog Haiku
I lie on my back
In the sun, happier than
You ever will be.
Robert J. Jeske, Ph. D.
Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI 53201
414-229-2887 (office)
414-229-2424 (lab)
414-229-5848 (fax)
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http://www.uwm.edu/wcb.uwm/schools/532/156/rjeske/rjeske.html
Any opinions expressed here, reasonable or otherwise, are mine. They do not necessarily represent the
views of any organization, particularly the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
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