Ideological Function of History. Problem of Objectivity in Historiography

Autor nastoji pokazati ideološku funkciju povijesti, koja proizlazi iz njezine zadaće samorefleksije društva, preko analize prošlosti i značajki same historiografije. Ukratko je prikazan razvoj historiografije, koja postaje svjesna svojih ograičenja i novih zahtjeva: prostornog i vremenskog odmaka od činjenica koje propituje, te utjecaja povjesničarova stajališta na točnost njezinih spoznaja. Ideološka se funkcija povijesti prikazuje na primjeru različitog tematiziranja istih događaja u udžbenicima povijesti, koji su upotrebljavani za vrijeme različitih političkih i državnih poredaka, djelatnih na prostoru današnje hrvatske države. Autor smatra da današnja historiografija stoji pred naoko prijepornim zahtjevom - treba doći do istinitih iskaza o prošlosti, ali i upozoriti na relativnost svojih iskaza.The author outlines the ideological function of history which stems from its task as a society\u27s self-reflection, by analysing the past and enumerating the features of histiography. The text includes a short review of historiography (which is becoming aware of its limitations and the new demands for a distance in time and space from the facts it investigates) and historians\u27 influence on the accuracy of its findings. The ideological function of history is illustrated by various thematization of the same events in history textbooks, which were in use during different political systems on the territory of the presentday Croatian state. The author thinks that today\u27s historiography is faced with a seemingly contradictory demand: it should reach the truth in its depiction of the past, but at the same time caution against the relativity of its findings