The Historiography of Contemporary Events through Memoires and Personal Testimonies Significance and Research Cautions (The Case of Libya)

Abstract

The rapid development of events in the Arab region over the past 20 years has made a treasure chest of vital primary materials available to historians and other scholars. Many of these sources are not official documents, and include personal testimonies, press statements, accounts from those who have left power and others still active on the political and societal scene. Many are memoirs and testimonies, shared for a variety of motivations: personal, political and social. Historians of the "contemporary" must thus develop research methods that can sufficiently evaluate the content of these testimonies in a way that maintains rigor in cataloging the history of the present moment. Using present-day Libya as a case study, the study takes a methodological look at the published and unpublished material from politicians, political and social actors, activists, revolutionaries, and others who have written personal testimonies and submitted them to newspapers or broadcast media. Much of this was recorded while actors participated in events, protests, and popular disturbances witnessed in Libya since its independence in 1951. The paper finishes with a critique of the writings of politicians and political actors, showing the necessity for wide reading and context in the writing of the history of the present.