Popular vs. Academic History (Prompt 4)

Matthew Zang
In the field of history, one finds two very different styles written about it; Popular and Academic. Popular History is what you find on The History Channel or HistoryNet.com which include fairly short and sweet highlights of an event. Academic History on the other hand, seeks to analyze either a certain time frame or group of events to answer a questions and would be found in journals such as History Compass or The Journal of Interdisciplinary History.

Photo Courtesy of www.history.com

When looking at an article in Popular History we find that most times, all that the author is writing about is the details of what happened. For example, in the magazine, Military History, David Zabecki writes about the failed French invasion of the island of Jersey¹. He provides us with detailed descriptions of the action, etchings from newspapers of the time depicting the battle, and style of writing that is meant to read like a story. What is absent from this retelling however, is any form of analysis. The point of Popular history is not to analyse history and draw relevant conclusions but to entertain the audience with interesting and engaging stories of the past. By using non-academic language and an interesting plot, these articles can engage and transfix those who thought they had no interest in history. These magazines not only hope to entertain readers but also to guide them along to more academic readings of the subjects that interest them.

Illustration Courtesy of Military History Magazine

Analysis is the job of the Academic Historian whose essays are much less plot driven. Here you do not find the compelling descriptions of military generals and politicians, but rather something more along the lines of a deep study into a narrow topic. To take Alejandra Dubcovsky’s Communication in Colonial North America² for example, we see that it takes a very defined topic and delves into the minutia. It is also formatted much differently than a newspaper or magazine article would be, including an abstract and a clear page of references. These types of journal pieces are used for those that are actually studying something relating to the topic being discussed in these essays which is almost exclusively academics and scholars.
     
       The differences we find when comparing Popular and Academic Histories are that they have a different goal in mind, variable audiences and variant writing styles. Popular History is being written like a story so that the average person, who may not know many terms used by academics, can easily comprehend and be engaged by the history, while Academic History seeks to gain insight by plunging into depth about a particular topic.

References:

1.  Zabecki, David T. "The French are Coming!" Military History, November 2017, 22-29. 
2. Dubcovsky, Alejandra. "Communication in Colonial North America" History Compass 15, no.9 (September 3, 2017): E12408. Accessed October 7, 2017. doi:10.1111/hic3.12408.