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Pseudohistory is a form ofpseudoscholarship that attempts to distort or misrepresent thehistorical record, often by employing methods resembling those used in scholarlyhistorical research. The related termcryptohistory is applied to pseudohistory derived from thesuperstitions intrinsic tooccultism. Pseudohistory is related topseudoscience andpseudoarchaeology, and usage of the terms may occasionally overlap.
Although pseudohistory comes in many forms, scholars have identified common features in pseudohistorical works. Pseudohistory is almost always motivated by a contemporarypolitical, religious, or personal agenda. It frequently presents sensational claims or abig lie about historical facts which would require unwarrantedrevision of the historical record.[3] Another hallmark is an underlying premise that powerful groups have afurtive agenda to suppress the promoter's thesis—a premise commonly corroborated by elaborateconspiracy theories. Works of pseudohistory often point exclusively to unreliable sources—includingmyths andlegends, often treated as literal historical truth—to support the thesis being promoted whileignoring valid sources that contradict it. Some works adopt a position of historicalrelativism, insisting that there is no such thing as historical truth and that any hypothesis is equal to any other. Many works conflate mere possibility with actuality, assuming that if somethingcould have happened, then it did.
Notable examples of pseudohistory includeBritish Israelism, theLost Cause of the Confederacy, theIrish slaves myth, thewitch-cult,Armenian genocide denial,Holocaust denial, theclean Wehrmacht myth, and the claim that theKatyn massacre was not committed by the SovietNKVD.
The termpseudohistory was coined in the early nineteenth century, which makes the word older than the related termspseudo-scholarship andpseudoscience.[4] In an attestation from 1815, it is used to refer to theContest of Homer and Hesiod, a purportedly historical narrative describing an entirely fictional contest between the Greek poetsHomer andHesiod.[5] The pejorative sense of the term, labelling a flawed or disingenuous work of historiography, is found in another 1815 attestation.[6] Pseudohistory is akin to pseudoscience in that both forms of falsification are achieved using the methodology that purports to, but does not, adhere to the established standards of research for the given field of intellectual enquiry of which the pseudoscience claims to be a part, and which offers little or no supporting evidence for its plausibility.[7]: 7–18
WritersMichael Shermer andAlex Grobman define pseudohistory as "the rewriting of the past for present personal or political purposes".[8]: 2 Other writers take a broader definition; Douglas Allchin, a historian of science, contends that when the history of scientific discovery is presented in a simplified way, with drama exaggerated and scientists romanticized, this creates wrong stereotypes about how science works, and in fact constitutes pseudohistory, despite being based on real facts.[9]
Robert Todd Carroll has developed a list of criteria to identify pseudo-historic works. He states that:
Pseudohistory is purported history which:
- Treats myths, legends, sagas and similar literature as literal truth
- Is neither critical nor skeptical in its reading of ancient historians, taking their claims at face value and ignoring empirical or logical evidence contrary to the claims of the ancients
- Is on a mission, not a quest, seeking to support some contemporary political or religious agenda rather than find out the truth about the past
- Often denies that there is such a thing as historical truth, clinging to the extreme skeptical notion that only what is absolutely certain can be called 'true' and nothing is absolutely certain, so nothing is true
- Often maintains that history is nothing but mythmaking and that different histories are not to be compared on such traditional academic standards as accuracy, empirical probability, logical consistency, relevancy, completeness, fairness or honesty, but on moral or political grounds
- Is selective in its use of ancient documents, citing favorably those that fit with its agenda, and ignoring or interpreting away those documents which do not fit
- Considers the possibility of something being true as sufficient to believe it is true if it fits with one's agenda
- Often maintains that there is a conspiracy to suppress its claims because of racism, atheism or ethnocentrism, or because of opposition to its political or religious agenda[10]
Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke prefers the term "cryptohistory". He identifies two necessary elements as "a complete ignorance of the primary sources" and the repetition of "inaccuracies and wild claims".[11][12]
Other common characteristics of pseudohistory are:
The following are some common categories of pseudohistorical theory, with examples. Not all theories in a listed category are necessarily pseudohistorical; they are rather categories that seem to attract pseudohistorians.
An alternativechronology is a revised sequence of events that deviates from the standard timeline of world history accepted by mainstream scholars. An example of an "alternative chronology" isAnatoly Fomenko'sNew Chronology, which claims that recorded history actually began around AD 800 and all events that allegedly occurred prior to that point either never really happened at all or are simply inaccurate retellings of events that happened later.[14] One of its outgrowths is theTartary conspiracy theory. Other, less extreme examples, are thephantom time hypothesis, which asserts that the years AD 614–911 never took place; and theNew Chronology ofDavid Rohl, which claims that the accepted timelines for ancient Egyptian and Israelite history are wrong.[15]
In the eighth century, a forged document known asDonation of Constantine, which supposedly transferred authority over Rome and the western part of the Roman Empire to thePope, became widely circulated.[16] In the twelfth century,Geoffrey of Monmouth published theHistory of the Kings of Britain, a pseudohistorical work purporting to describe the ancient history and origins of the British people. The book synthesises earlier Celtic mythical traditions to inflate the deeds of the mythicalKing Arthur. The contemporary historianWilliam of Newburgh wrote around 1190 that "it is quite clear that everything this man wrote about Arthur and his successors, or indeed about his predecessors fromVortigern onwards, was made up, partly by himself and partly by others".[17]
TheShakespeare authorship question is afringe theory that claims that the works attributed toWilliam Shakespeare were actually written by someone other than William Shakespeare ofStratford-upon-Avon.[18][19][20][21]
Another example of historical revisionism is the thesis, found in the writings ofDavid Barton and others, asserting that the United States was founded as an exclusivelyChristian nation.[22][23][24] Mainstream historians instead support the traditional position, which holds that the American founding fathersintended for church and state to be kept separate.[25][26]
Confederate revisionists (a.k.a. Civil War revisionists), "Lost Cause" advocates, andNeo-Confederates argue that theConfederate States of America's prime motivation was the maintenance ofstates' rights and limited government, rather than the preservation and expansion ofslavery.[27][28][29]
Connected to the Lost Cause is theIrish slaves myth, a pseudo-historical narrative which conflates the experiences ofIrish indentured servants andenslaved Africans in theAmericas. This myth, which was historically promoted byIrish nationalists such asJohn Mitchel, has in the modern-day been promoted bywhite supremacists in the United States to minimize the mistreatment experienced byAfrican Americans (such asracism andsegregation) and oppose demands forslavery reparations. The myth has also been used to obscure and downplay Irish involvement in thetransatlantic slave trade.[30][31]
While closely related to previous categories,historical negationism, or denialism, specifically aims to outright deny the existence of confirmed events, often including various massacres, genocides, andnational histories.
Some examples includeHolocaust denial,Armenian genocide denial,[32] as well asNanjing Massacre denial andNakba denial in the 1984 workFrom Time Immemorial byJoan Peters.[33]
Mainstream historians have categorized psychohistory as pseudohistory.[34][35] Psychohistory is an amalgam of psychology, history, and related social sciences and the humanities.[36] Its stated goal is to examine the "why" of history, especially the difference between stated intention and actual behavior. It also states as its goal the combination of the insights of psychology, especiallypsychoanalysis, with the research methodology of thesocial sciences and humanities to understand the emotional origin of the behavior of individuals, groups and nations, past and present.
Pseudoarchaeology refers to a false interpretation of records, namely physical ones, often by unqualified or otherwise amateur archeologists. These interpretations are often baseless and seldom align with established consensus. Nazi archaeology is a prominent example of this technique.[37] Frequently, people who engage in pseudoarchaeology have a very strict interpretation of evidence and are unwilling to alter their stance, resulting in interpretations that often appear overly simplistic and fail to capture the complexity and nuance of the complete narrative.[38]
(These following examples can belong to a variety of the above mentioned categories, or ones not mentioned as well).
Immanuel Velikovsky's booksWorlds in Collision (1950),Ages in Chaos (1952), andEarth in Upheaval (1955), which became "instant bestsellers",[7] demonstrated that pseudohistory based on ancient mythology held potential for tremendous financial success[7] and became models of success for future works in the genre.[7]
In 1968,Erich von Däniken publishedChariots of the Gods?, which claims that ancient visitors from outer space constructed the pyramids and other monuments. He has since published other books in which he makes similar claims. These claims have all been categorized as pseudohistory.[7]: 201 Similarly,Zechariah Sitchin has published numerous books claiming that a race of extraterrestrial beings from thePlanet Nibiru known as theAnunnaki visited Earth in ancient times in search of gold, and that they genetically engineered humans to serve as their slaves. He claims that memories of these occurrences are recorded inSumerian mythology, as well as other mythologies all across the globe. These speculations have likewise been categorized as pseudohistory.[39][40]
The ancient astronaut hypothesis was further popularized in the United States by theHistory Channel television seriesAncient Aliens.[41] History professorRonald H. Fritze observed that the pseudohistorical claims promoted by von Däniken and theAncient Aliens program have a periodic popularity in the US:[7][42] "In a pop culture with a short memory and a voracious appetite, aliens and pyramids and lost civilizations are recycled like fashions."[7]: 201 [42]
The authorGraham Hancock has sold over four million copies of books promoting the pseudohistorical thesis that all the major monuments of the ancient world, includingStonehenge, theEgyptian pyramids, and themoai ofEaster Island, were built by a single ancient supercivilization,[43] which Hancock claims thrived from 15,000 to 10,000 BC and possessed technological and scientific knowledge equal to or surpassing that of modern civilization.[7] He first advanced the full form of this argument in his 1995 bestsellerFingerprints of the Gods,[7] which won popular acclaim, but scholarly disdain.[7]Christopher Knight has published numerous books, includingUriel's Machine (2000), expounding pseudohistorical assertions that ancient civilizations possessed technology far more advanced than the technology of today.[44][45][46][47]
The claim that a lost continent known asLemuria once existed in the Pacific Ocean has likewise been categorized as pseudohistory.[7]: 11
Furthermore, similar conspiracy theories promote the idea of embellished, fabricated accounts of historical civilizations, namelyKhazaria andTartaria.
The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion is a fraudulent work purporting to show a historical conspiracy for world domination by Jews.[48] The work was conclusively proven to be a forgery in August 1921, whenThe Times revealed that extensive portions of the document were directly plagiarized fromMaurice Joly's 1864 satirical dialogueThe Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu,[49] as well asHermann Goedsche's 1868 anti-Semitic novelBiarritz.[50]
TheKhazar theory is an academicfringe theory that postulates the belief that the bulk ofEuropean Jewry is ofCentral Asian (Turkic) origin. In spite of themainstream academic consensus which conclusively rejects it, this theory has been promoted inAnti-Semitic and someAnti-Zionist circles, they argue that Jews are an alien element in both Europe andPalestine.
Holocaust denial in particular andgenocide denial in general are widely categorized as pseudohistory.[8]: 237 [51] Major proponents of Holocaust denial includeDavid Irving and others, who argue that theHolocaust, theHolodomor, theArmenian genocide, theAssyrian genocide, theGreek genocide andother genocides did not occur, or accounts of them were greatly exaggerated.[51]
MostAfrocentric (i.e.Pre-Columbian Africa-Americas contact theories, seeAncient Egyptian race controversy) ideas have been identified as pseudohistorical,[52][53] alongside the "Indigenous Aryans" theories published byHindu nationalists during the 1990s and 2000s.[54] The "crypto-history" developed withinGermanic mysticism andNazi occultism has likewise been placed under this categorization.[55][56]
TheSun Language Theory is a pseudohistorical ideology which argues that all languages are descended from a form of proto-Turkish.[57] The theory may have been partially devised in order to legitimize Arabic and Semitic loanwords occurring in the Turkish language by instead asserting that the Arabic and Semitic words were derived from the Turkish ones rather than vice versa.[58]
A large number of nationalist pseudohistorical theories deal with the legendaryTen Lost Tribes of ancient Israel.British-Israelism, also known as Anglo-Israelism, the most famous example of this type, has been conclusively refuted by mainstream historians using evidence from a vast array of different fields of study.[59][60][61]
Antiquization or Ancient Macedonism is a nationalistic pseudohistorical theory which postulates direct demographic, cultural and linguistic continuity betweenancient Macedonians and themain ethnic group in present-dayNorth Macedonia.[62][63] TheBulgarian medieval dynasty ofthe Komitopules, which ruled theFirst Bulgarian Empire in late 10th and early 11th centuries AD, is presented as "Macedonian", ruling a "medieval Macedonian state", because its capitals were located in what was previously theancient kingdom of Macedonia.[64]North Macedonian historians often replace the ethnonym "Bulgarians" with "Macedonians", or avoid it.[65][66] North Macedonian scholars say the theory is intended to forge a national identity distinct from modernBulgaria, which regards North Macedonia as an artificial nation.[67] The theory is controversial inGreece and sparked mass protests there in 2018.[68] A particular item of dispute is North Macedonian veneration ofAlexander the Great; mainstream scholarship holds that Alexander had Greek ancestry, he was born in an area of ancient Macedonia that is now Greece, and he ruled over North Macedonia but never lived there and did not speak the local language.[67][69] To placate Greece and thereby facilitate Macedonian entry into theEuropean Union andNATO, the Macedonian government formally renounced claims of ancient Macedonian heritage with the 2018Prespa Agreement.[67][68]
Dacianism is a Romanian pseudohistorical current that attempts to attribute far more influence over European and world history to theDacians than that which they actually enjoyed.[70] Dacianist historiography claims that the Dacians held primacy over all other civilizations, including theRomans;[71] that theDacian language was the origin ofLatin and all other languages, such asHindi andBabylonian;[72] and sometimes that theZalmoxis cult has structural links to Christianity.[73] Dacianism was most prevalent inNational CommunistRomania, as theCeaușescu regime portrayed the Dacians as insurgents defying an "imperialist" Rome; theCommunist Party had formally attached "protochronism", as Dacianism was known, toMarxist ideology by 1974.[74]
The consensus among academics is that no unambiguously and strictly matriarchal society is known to have existed. Many societies are known, however, to have or have had some matriarchal features, in particularmatrilineality,matrilocality, and/ormatrifocality.[75][76] AnthropologistDonald Brown's list ofhuman cultural universals (viz., features shared by nearly all current human societies) includes men being the "dominant element" in public political affairs,[77] which is the contemporary opinion of mainstreamanthropology.[78] Some societies that are matrilineal or matrifocal may in fact havepatriarchal power structures, and thus be misidentified as matriarchal.The idea that matriarchal societies existed and they preceded patriarchal societies was first raised in the 19th-century among Western academics, but it has since been discredited.[78]
Despite this however, somesecond-wave feminists assert that a matriarchy preceded the patriarchy. TheGoddess Movement and Riane Eisler's 1987 bookThe Chalice and the Blade citeVenus figurines as evidence that societies ofPaleolithic andNeolithic Europe were matriarchies that worshipped a goddess. This belief is not supported by mainstream academics.[79]
Excluding theNorse colonization of the Americas, most theories of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact have been classified as pseudohistory, including claims that the Americas were actually discovered by Arabs or Muslims.[80]Gavin Menzies' book1421: The Year China Discovered the World, which argues for the idea that Chinese sailors discovered America, has also been categorized as a work of pseudohistory.[7]: 11
Josiah Priest and other nineteenth-century American writers wrote pseudohistorical narratives that portrayedAfrican Americans andNative Americans in an extremely negative light.[81] Priest's first book wasThe Wonders of Nature and Providence, Displayed (1826).[82][81] The book is regarded by modern critics as one of the earliest works of modern American pseudohistory.[81] Priest attacked Native Americans inAmerican Antiquities and Discoveries of the West (1833)[83][81] and African-Americans inSlavery, As It Relates to the Negro (1843).[84][81] Other nineteenth-century writers, such asThomas Gold Appleton, in hisA Sheaf of Papers (1875), andGeorge Perkins Marsh, in hisThe Goths in New England, seized upon false notions ofViking history to promote the superiority ofwhite people (as well as to oppose theCatholic Church). Such misuse of Viking history and imagery reemerged in the twentieth century among some groups promotingwhite supremacy.[85]
Supporters of Soviet communist pseudohistory claim, among other things, thatJoseph Stalin and other top Soviet leaders did not realize the scope of mass killingsperpetrated under the Stalin regime, that executions of prisoners were legally justifiable, and that prisoners in Sovietgulags performed important construction work that helped the Soviet Union economically, particularly duringWorld War II. Scholars point to overwhelming evidence that Stalin directly helped plan mass killings, that many prisoners were sent to gulags or executed extrajudicially, and that many prisoners did no productive work, often being isolated in remote camps or given pointless and menial tasks.[86]
TheChrist myth theory claims thatJesus of Nazareth never existed as a historical figure and was imagined by early Christians or arose from earlier beliefs such asstar worship. This argument currently finds very little support among scholars and historians of all faiths and has been described as pseudohistorical.[87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95][96]
Likewise, some minority historian views assert thatMuhammad either did not exist or wasnot central to founding Islam.[97]
The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (1982) byMichael Baigent,Richard Leigh, andHenry Lincoln is a book that purports to show that certain historical figures, such asGodfrey of Bouillon, and contemporary aristocrats are the lineal descendants ofJesus. Mainstream historians have widely panned the book, categorizing it as pseudohistory,[98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105] and pointing out that the genealogical tables used in it are now known to be spurious.[106] Nonetheless, the book was an international best-seller[105] and inspiredDan Brown's bestselling mysterythriller novelThe Da Vinci Code.[105][7]: 2–3
Although historians and archaeologists consider theBook of Mormon to be an anachronistic invention of Joseph Smith, many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) believe that it describesancient historical events in the Americas.
Searches for Noah's Ark have also been categorized as pseudohistory.[107][108][109][110][111]
In her books, starting withThe Witch-Cult in Western Europe (1921), English authorMargaret Murray claimed that thewitch trials in the early modern period were actually an attempt by chauvinistic Christians to annihilate asecret, pagan religion,[112] which she claimed worshipped aHorned God.[112] Murray's claims have now been widely rejected by respected historians.[113][114][112] Nonetheless, her ideas have become thefoundation myth for modernWicca, a contemporaryNeopagan religion.[114][115] Belief in Murray's alleged witch-cult is still prevalent among Wiccans,[115] but is gradually declining.[115]
The belief thatancient India was technologically advanced to the extent of being a nuclear power has been popularized byHindu nationalists on the premise that "fantastical" scientific and medical achievements described inHindu mythology are historically accurate.[116] In 2014,Prime MinisterNarendra Modi told doctors and medical staff at a Mumbai hospital that the story of theHindu godGanesha—described as having the head of an elephant and the body of a human—showsgenetic science andcosmetic surgery existed in ancient India.[116][117] Another example was the2015 Indian Science Congress ancient aircraft controversy, when Capt. Anand J. Bodas, retired principal of a pilot training facility, claimed at theIndian Science Congress thatmythical aircraft more advanced than today's aircraft flew in ancient India.[118] Nationalists have proposed that these aircraft and other ancient mythical technology should be presented as authentic in school textbooks.[116] Aniket Sule, anastrophysicist at the Homi Bhabha Center for Science Education, said that "people close to the current [Modi] government... feel that the present curriculum for science and history is too Western-centric" and that they may "brainwash a generation" of Indian scholars with such claims.[116]
Baptist successionism posits that theBaptist church did not originate with 17th-centuryPuritanEnglish Dissenters, and that it instead represents an unbroken church lineage reaching back toJohn the Baptist and theBook of Acts via a familial relationship between historic Christian churches with beliefs similar to modern Baptists. Historians point to a lack of evidence linking the disparate sects that comprise the lineage and note that some of them held beliefs antithetical to Baptist doctrine.[119][120][121] Historian H. Leon McBeth wrote that "This view is based on inadequate sources, was more polemic than historical, and made large assumptions where evidence was lacking."[119] Successionism implies that the Baptist church predates the Catholic Church, calling into question whether Baptists are indeedProtestants and downplaying the influence of theReformation, contrary to evidence that the 17th-century founders of the Baptist movement viewed themselves as participants in the Reformation.[119][122] Some successionists claim that persecution by the Catholic Church explains the lack of evidence for the successionist lineage.[120][121]
Courses critiquing pseudohistory are offered as undergraduate courses in liberal arts settings, one example being inClaremont McKenna College.[123]
The Iğdır genocide monument is the ultimate caricature of the Turkish government's policy of denying the 1915 genocide by rewriting history and transforming victims into guilty parties.
The myth advanced by Joan Peters in her pseudo-historical book, From Time Immemorial
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)DescribingThe Holy Blood and the Holy Grail as a "monument of mediocrity"
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