From sources to evidence

History Teaching and the Contestation of Narratives About the Past

Abstract

This article aims to examine critically the uses of historical sources and the construction of evidence in History education (Ashby, 2001; Ginzburg, 2002; Hartog, 2013). For this analysis, we use an empirical set comprising observations of History classes, an interview with a primary school teacher within a research context, as well as a bibliographic review. We understand that, in the present moment, witnessing the resurgence of far-right ideologies and increased political polarization in public discourse, the process of mobilizing sources to produce evidence must be questioned, as it lies within a contested space involving individuals with diverse knowledge bases and beliefs. We highlight the rationales that researchers and teachers employ in presenting History, emphasizing how the use of sources and focus on evidence converge to assert “the will to truth" (Chartier, 2022) of historical explanations. We draw on the notion of "conspiratorial fantasies" (Demuru, 2024) to draw attention not only to the content of these narratives but also to the effects that their forms produce on individuals and groups who believe in them. Among these effects is the production of specific meanings about the past, especially regarding sensitive education currently contested, such as Slavery in Brazil and the Civil-Military Dictatorship. Finally, we propose a possible approach for teaching practices, believing in the construction of sensitive narratives capable of sharing experiences and humanizing individuals whose past suffering has been persistently denied or downplayed.