Objectivity Vs Relativity

In his book, That Noble Dream, Peter Novick discusses the argument, in the historical profession over the noble dream of historical objectivity. The historical profession was founded in the late 19th century and it was founded on the ideal of firm historical objectivity. Between the two World Wars, this ideal of historical objectivity came into question as some historians began to support “historical relativism.” This counter to historical objectivity challenged the long supported notion that true history consists of facts alone. While this relativist view initially only served to put the hallowed notion of objectivity on the defensive, it did cause a significant disturbance in the historical profession as more and more young historians flocked to the relativist banner (Novick 16). In Natalie Zemon Davis’s book, The Return of Martin Guerre, about the famous case of a French peasant’s identity theft, she employs both objectivist and relativist views. Davis begins her writing on Martin Guerre by expressing an objectivist purpose, but her writing does not uphold this purpose, as Davis’s arguments slip into the realm of relat

After her preface, Davis’s account of the story of Martin Guerre becomes increasingly relativist. Even in her introduction to the book, Davis states that what she offers in the following pages is “in part [her] invention,” yet “held tightly in check with the voices of the past.” (Davis 5) By inventing anything, Davis is straying from the objectivist path, which holds that a historian should go on facts alone. Davis appears to be saying that she is using the facts a guideline. It would logically follow that Davis is using the story of Martin Guerre for some purpose, using the facts, but also adding in her interpretation, relevant to herself, her purpose, and the her society. Utilitarianism in history has been expressly reacted against by traditional objectivists, although it has been supported by relativists such as Becker and Beard. Beard wrote that how a historian selected and organized his facts was a deliberate act of purposeful thought, composed of “things deemed necessary, things deemed possible, and things deemed desirable.” (Novick 255) Davis’s account of the story of Martin Guerre is filled with possibilities. It is these possibilities upon which she builds her interpretation of the facts. Davis’s account of the Martin Guerre case is different than any that have come before her. In her interpretation, Bertrande, the wife of Martin Guerre, takes a much larger role. Traditionally, Bertrande has been seen as a simple, duped woman, which is supported by the facts. Davis takes her possibilities to build a case for Bertrande that elevates her as a crafty and empowered woman, which is desirable in Davis’s eyes. “It may have helped [Bertrande] to have had the example close at hand of her mother-in-law, one of those self-assured Basque females,” writes Davis as she supports the notion that Bertrande began to make her life her own way after her husband had left with the help of positive female role models. She goes on to say later in the book that Bertrande actually was an accomplice of Arnaud du Tilh, the man who was impersonating Martin Guerre. She supports this with no evidence other that the possibility that Bertrande knew “the touch of the man on the woman.” (Davis 44) She also supports this by assuming that Bertrande was not easy to fool. “Bertrande does not seem a woman so easily fooled, not even by a charmer like Pansette (Arnaud),” writes Davis (Davis 44). She supports this even when hard evidence shows that Arnaud was able to fool the people of their village for years, as well as almost fooling the courts, only to be refuted by the returned Martin Guerre himself. Davis has interpreted these facts in her own way, but she h

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