October 12 is called ‘Día de la Hispanidad’ in Spain. In the US, Columbus Day is observed on the second Monday in October. I’ve always wondered why I got so little information about such an important event in history when I was at school. Here are some interesting videos about Columbus:
http://www.history.com/topics/columbus-day/videos#christopher-columbus-man-and-myth
http://www.history.com/topics/columbus-day/videos#christopher-columbus-sets-sail
http://www.history.com/topics/columbus-day/videos#christopher-columbus-sets-sail
http://www.history.com/topics/columbus-day/videos#columbus-ships-are-marvels-of-engineering
Is history always written by the victors?
Well, always the History is counted by the eye that looks it, and somtimes you can find paradoxes between differents books.
ReplyDeleteUsually, the victors talk about theirs heroic deeds, and not about theirs fakes.
What would you talk about your life? Your bad and sad experiences or your good and happye experiences?
I agree with you. Even though we tend to think that historical facts are objective the truth is they vary depending on who/where you get them from. I learned a lot of different perspectives about Columbus and what he did in the New World when I was living on the other side of the world. It's like listening to two sides of a story, both of them are partly true most of the time... (or as Campoamor said "En este mundo traidor, nada es verdad, ni mentira...)
ReplyDeleteMaybe the victors have the best position and all the advantages to write history according to their perspective, although to understand history properly both sides should be known. There are occasions in which the defeated aren't allowed to speak clearly depending on the political circumstances. One example could be The Spanish Civil War. When it finished and during the dictatorship, people with republican ideas couldn't express or write their opinion openly. Fortunately, as time has gone by, some books have been written showing the statements of the defeated.
ReplyDeleteTwo years ago I was in the presentation of a book and a documentary about old people who had lived during this war and was so moving to listen their experiences after having been quiet so long.