Facts, objectivity and interpretation

FACTS AND OBJECTIVITY are the knowledge base of reconstructionism, thedominant approach in sport history among those firmly committed to finding truths about the sporting past. ‘It is the search for truth that must guide our labours’, wrote Geoffrey Elton whose philosophy continues to guide the field.1 However, if the search for truth prevails in history, reconstructionists have, over time, revised their understanding of the relationship between truth, facts and objectivity. As David Hackett Fischer reminded reconstructionists some time back, ‘it is no easy matter to tell the truth, pure and simple, about past events; for historical truths are never pure, and rarely simple’. Indeed, he explained, ‘the process of historical truth-telling itself is even more intricate than the truths which historians tell’: Every true statement must be thrice true. It must be true to its evidence, true to itself, and true to other historical truths with which it is colligated. Moreover, a historian must not merely tell truths, but demonstrate their truthfulness as well. He is judged not simply by his veracity, but by his skill at verification.2