Your image of Columbus?

Discuss a minute or two with a classmate:

a. What image do you have of Columbus?

b. Where you have gotten your image of Columbus from (for instance school, movies or books).

Images in the popular history articles

In pairs, together with a classmate:

a. Look at the images in the articles from Sweden and Germany and analyze how people are depicted; for instance men, women and aboriginals?

b. Discuss in what ways the images can help the presentations of history and also how they might be a problem. Use the articles to provide examples of problems and potentials in using images.

In the Swedish article women and Aboriginals are overshadowed by the Spanish men (i.e in the initial image Indians are pictured as crouching in the shade while Columbus is centrally located in the light). Also in the German article Columbus holds a central role in the images.

To be given the role of the victim or being marginalized in other ways is a problem in terms of historical memory, empowerment and identity. An image can say more than a thousand words, therefore it is important to say good things and to be able to critically examine pictures.

Distant and close reading

One way to quickly get an overview of the content of a text is to make a wordle. Copy the text from the articles from Sweden and Germany and paste it on wordle.net.

In pairs, together with a classmate:

a. Make a wordle per country (print or use print screen PrtSc to copy and then paste the "wordclouds" in word).

b.Consider what similarities and differences in your two wordclouds mean. What image of Columbus appears, if any?

c. Compare your findings with your conclusions from the analysis of the images. Similarities and differences?

d. Read the German and Swedish texts and consider what is lost when using wordle in textual analysis. Consider also whether a wordle gives an accurate picture of the contents of a text. What limitations do wordle have in textual analysis?.

Wordle is based on word count and visualize in an easily accessible way which words are commonly used in the text. This can quickly give you some idea about the content of a text. But as the core of a text can be highlighted in many other ways than through repetitions there are risks of errors when using this type of analysis. A quantitative historical examination, such as using word count, needs to always be accompanied by a qualitative analysis to see what nuances are overlooked.

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Analysis in group

Split up the pairs and make new groups of four and analyze the following:

a. Describe Columbus in a few written sentences and highlight differences. What was Columbus like? How is Columbus described in the different texts? What are the key differences between the ways in which he is portrayed in each article?

b. Why is Columbus described in such different ways in the texts?

c. How can one notice that the text is written for a popular historical magazine? Compare for instance the headlines, images, quotes and narratives in the magazines with the design and content of your textbook.

a. Hero versus tyrant. As a teacher you can guide the students so that they can see how Columbus is for example described as a fighter that despite major problems manages to find the land of his dreams, but that he also can be said to be a tyrant. The texts of Columbus also give the opportunity to discuss how a contradictory and controversial historical character may have very different characteristics in different texts.

b. Differences can be explained by for instance different questions, selections, perspectives, and interpretations when writing history the texts. As a teacher, it is appropriate to ask students what questions the text is based upon. Different starting points give different historical accounts. Is it for example the portrayal of Columbus as a person or as part of a structural alteration that is central to the text?

c. The choice of headlines, dramaturgy and image options are just a few examples of how one tries to make the story more interesting but perhaps less balanced. The German text is based mainly on uncertainty and the risk of being lost at sea and the Swedish text is based on a critical drama in which Columbus becomes a tyrant. Popular history is often based upon strong single narratives about actors, like Columbus in the German text. Underlining drama and the unexpected and emphasizing violence and suffering are also a parts of media logics, like in the Swedish text.

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Trustworthy?

In groups analyze:

a. What sources are used in the texts to describe Columbus’ deeds?

b. What theoretical position (bias) do you think the author has?

c. How trustworthy do you consider the texts to be?

a. In the Swedish text, there are references to Columbus logbooks and letters. There are references to the logbooks in the German text as well. The references are quite imprecise and it can be assumed that they are used only as secondary sources. In general, letters and logbooks are good historical material if they were conceived in proximity to the event they depict. The problem is that these documents were written to be read by others and be judged in retrospect. They are for this reason often euphemistic descriptions of what happened. An important aspect is to alert students that no sources referenced are written by the Indians. Most of the sources that were written by the natives were burned by the Spaniards, which makes the historiography even more Euro-centric.

b. The tendency of the writer is apparent; the Swedish text a holds a strongly critical perspective. In addition to selling a groovy tale that stands in stark contrast to the heroic image of Columbus, it holds a critical emancipatory perspective. This is a bottom-up perspective that attempts to make visible vulnerable groups and criticize power structures; an important perspective that stimulates critical analysis of historical events and processes. In the German text, the tendency is rather to highlight the thrilling dramaturgy of the journey towards the unknown. The author makes the story an actor's history, where Columbus is the "hero" and main actor and all other actors are just bystanders

c. The idea behind this question is to further attune to reflection about critical thinking. The source-critical criteria of evidence, sourcing, corroboration, and context may not be directly applicable to a magazine article. References to source material (a kind of evidence) and whether the text is consistent with other literature on the subject (corroboration and context) can at least give important clues to the relative credibility of the texts, despite its popular historical framing. As mentioned in the comments to question a, it is partly primary sources that are cited, but these are weaknesses in terms of tendency. They are written to be read by the people in power. So there is a historical basis for what is written, but the circumlocutions and attempts to popularize make the content of the texts, at least partly, biased.