Academic: History is total fiction
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Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 23, 2009 00:00
ANTALYA - A series of conversations titled City-Museum-History Meetings, held over the past two years, has featured 48 speakers who have discussed 38 themes regarding the history and culture of the southern city of Antalya. The event has become an indispensable activity in Antalya.
The last guest of the event organized by th City Museum Project was Y. Hakan Erdem, an academic at Sabancı University. Erdem talked about the problems between the concepts of history and the perception of the past.
Highlighting that it is inevitable to include some portion of fiction while recording history, Erdem said today’s presentation of history is total fiction. "If you asked me whether history or fiction is stronger, my answer would be fiction," he said. Erdem showed a map of the immigration roads that Turks used while coming to Anatolia. "Turks are said to have come from the Altai region. There is no tribe that came from the Altai. It is obvious that it is totally fiction. Turks came from West Turkestan, 1,000 kilometers away from Anatolia. If the state itself creates fiction, many others do the same thing."
Erdem said comments made by today’s historians are open to questioning because historians resort only to historical documents. "It should be accepted that history can also be misunderstood. What is important is to share the documents or evidence that could go beyond the ordinary."
"The historical novels written recently are offered to readers just like history textbooks," Erdem added. "But one cannot learn history from novels."
Highlighting that it is inevitable to include some portion of fiction while recording history, Erdem said today’s presentation of history is total fiction. "If you asked me whether history or fiction is stronger, my answer would be fiction," he said. Erdem showed a map of the immigration roads that Turks used while coming to Anatolia. "Turks are said to have come from the Altai region. There is no tribe that came from the Altai. It is obvious that it is totally fiction. Turks came from West Turkestan, 1,000 kilometers away from Anatolia. If the state itself creates fiction, many others do the same thing."
Erdem said comments made by today’s historians are open to questioning because historians resort only to historical documents. "It should be accepted that history can also be misunderstood. What is important is to share the documents or evidence that could go beyond the ordinary."
"The historical novels written recently are offered to readers just like history textbooks," Erdem added. "But one cannot learn history from novels."