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Historians’ Perspective of Events and Alienation of Teenagers
A historian’s perception of an event or group of people influences how they report events that they witness or what they read. Several historical accounts provide conflicting information about the same event, and making a comparative analysis provides an opportunity to understand how the author was influenced during their writing. Apart from providing different accounts of the same event, historical research sometimes demonstrates the author’s assumptions about the role of history. When describing an age set like the teenagers, an author may indicate how a recorded account is such groups may not be reflecting present of past culture that a community can be identified with. This essay makes a comparative analysis of two authors, Kurt Cobain and Jane Tompkins, to demonstrate how their perception influences their work.
Goths in Tomorrowland account for how teenagers have evolved, and the author creates a picture of a completely divergent culture. Society has norms that dictate particular racial communities’ identity, and when reading Kurt Cobain’s work, a relatively new culture is emerging among the youths. Kurt’s perception of the new culture is that it is harmless, and he does not find the need to explore what the older generation did. He suggests that twentieth-century youth is not the same as the twenty-first-century youth. He says, “if we look for a picture of the late-twentieth-century teenager in these fragments, we won’t find it. That’s because we’re expecting to find something that isn’t there.” (Hine, 2000, p 276).
The notion expressed by Kurt is in apparent contrast with Tompkin’s view on creating a historical account. According to Tompkins, the author of ‘Goths in Tomorrowland’ is an antifoundationalist and cannot provide a significant historical account that benefits future generations. In Tompkins’ view, “history puts us in touch with past events and its causes to avoid similar mistakes” ( Tompkins, 2002, p. 450). When reporting about the Goths, Hine did not provide any background that suggests the youths’ distinct cultural identity. This assumption can imply that Hine did not find it significant to separate teenagers; he feels he has a unique identity outside their cultural ties.
Tompkins’ approach to historical account is unique because there is particular concern about the actual events and their causes. When making a comparative analysis of past literature, Tompkins finds a vast disparity, and it is impossible to understand who reported the events accurately. However, the quarry’s answer about which account could be accurate is shelved when Tompkins discovers why some historical accounts ignore essential details about some events. The answer was found in the individual perception about the event or the people.
According to Miller, an author cited by Tompkins, America was vacant when the Europeans brought their culture (Tompkins, 2002, p. 451). The author of Goths in Tomorrowland finds this statement to be rude and unfavorable. The Indians had occupied the country before the coming of the white people, and Tompkins wonder how Miller could describe the place as vacant and void of any culture. Since a contested statement was made by a Europen who was made to believe that their culture was superior, he probably did not find the need to include details about the native’s future in his writing.
In Hine’s account, teenage life provides a significant example of exploring the change in cultural dynamics. The author portrays that the adolescent experience is a considerable challenge, and society has made this experience to be detached from reality. According to the narrative, it is common to find young people isolated and taken to learning institutions where parents expect them to learn the theory and science of existence (Hine, 2000 P. 275). However, there is laxity in providing teenagers with life skills and preparing them for social integration. A typical scenario is the alienation of teenagers from adult society and equally about society’s alienation from its teenagers.
When society takes little interest in educating and directing the youth about culture, they form their own culture. Hine poses that in an environment devoid of civic spaces, we should not expect people to learn how to behave as community members. There is a convergence of opinion between Hine and Tompkins because both of them advocate for the promotion of culture. While Hine sees an opportunity through the development of civic spaces, Tompkins believes that accurate historical accounts will control culture by providing necessary knowledge. In Tompkins’ view, we read history to understand past events to avoid making similar mistakes or upholding acceptable practices. It is the same idea that Hine advocates for when advocating for empowering the youths amidst cultural transformation.
There is evidence of alienation of the youths in Hine’s account, and young people are often left on their own to explore the culture. When this happens, a community’s cultural bond is broken as young people explore and adopt what they believe is right. Hine argues that young people drive themselves to extremes to create space to be themselves (Hine, 2002, p. 281). This behavior of the youths potentially makes them be regarded as rebelling from culture. Recording an account of today’s youth may not represent a culture that has been practiced by their tribe for decades. Therefore, it is possible that those who will be reading about historical events 100 years from now may never understand how certain community events were held because of these differences.
Conclusion
Tompkins and Hine have demonstrated that the author’s perception matters when recording a historical or cultural event. Foundationalism is about understanding the source information to enable the reader to learn from events under study. While Tompkins goes into detail to explore how the European and the Indians encounter happened, Hine is focused on youth for today. What the children did in Disney land 20 years ago is different from what they are ding now, and readers have to understand the perception of whoever is reporting the event for proper interpretation.
Works Cited
Hine, Thomas. The rise and fall of the American teenager. Harper Collins, 2000.
Tompkins, Jane. “Indians: Textualism, morality, and the problem of history.” Ways of reading (2002): 275-281.