The Combing of History [Paperback]

The very metaphor that Cohen bases his book on in the first chapter is all about details as well. Camella Teoli, decided to leave details out of her story to her children. Her daughter who combed her hair everyday didnÕt know why she had a bald spot; she just knew it was there. Camella deeming her safety and social acceptance more important always left the historical facts of her industrial accident out of reach. However it was eventually through combing back through history that the incident was brought to memory again. In this way she combed over the details and later historians and others combed them back up according to their differing values. Of course Cohen himself cannot escape the selecting, judging and combing over that take place in writing his history. It is impossible to record everything so he records what is most meaningful to him and valuable to his argument.

Deciding what is important to us or what details we wish to remember often isnÕt a conscious choice. When listening to someone speak a foreign tongue, the words you will pick out and understand are those you have previously studied or those you have somewhat of a background in. In this way we have been accustomed or programmed to hear only certain things and until we change the programming we wonÕt hear or wonÕt understand other words or details. While this isnÕt necessarily a bad thing, it is something that leaves information behind and something that happens to everyone. Reading history is the same way. Those individuals who are natives to an area or have an extended background in a certain topic will bring an entirely different analysis than an outsider or newcomer will bring. Cohen outlines several examples of history being read differently due to background disparities.

Cohen believes, and I am also convinced that Òthe social recomposition of collective history requires the intervention of the stranger;Ó it is ok for the historian to be viewed as a Òstranger." It is also ok to listen to the voice which is native to the area of historical research. Cohen throughout the book points us to the way in which official constructions of history have formed the ways we think about the past. They may be pageants, movies, books, recreations, parades, etc. Even official versions leave out detail that individual and cultural analysis can comb out. I believe Cohen would tell us that the ÒglossingÓ of texts, the use of culturally Ònuanced vocabularies,Ó and the historical projects across the world are really a search and a move for voice and identity in history. No matter why, where, or how this ÒreadingÓ and ÒwritingÓ of history takes place it is to our advantage to listen up and ÒrememberÓ our own details of interest from these stories. This is where the combing of history begins.

Even though I have combed over much of what this book has to offer, my own personal combing through the text to write this piece has brought to my knowledge many viewpoints and perspectives I never thought possible.