Task 15. Answer the questions. 1. What is a chronicle? 2. How were historical events treated in chronicles in contrast to a narrative or history? 3. What is a universal chronicle? 4. How is the word "chronicle" sometimes used nowadays? 5. Why are chronicles the predecessors of modern "time lines" rather than analytical histories? 6. What are chronicles dealing with events year by year often called? 7. In what way did most chroniclers tend to take their information? 8. Why are the most chroniclers' viewpoints highly localised? 9. What are the most important English chronicles? 10. What chronicles were important sources for Elizabethan drama? 11. Is it possible to say how many chronicles exist? Why?
Ответы
1. A chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Chronicles are the recording of events as they happen, without much in the way of thematic organization, theoretical analysis, or subjective interpretation.
2. Chronicles often differ from narratives or histories in that they present a straightforward timeline of events, often without the analytical or interpretative insights that are characteristic of a more sophisticated historical narrative. Whereas history tends to examine causes and effects, a chronicle is more about the order and dates of events.
3. A universal chronicle is a chronicle that attempts to cover events of the entire world, often starting from the creation of the world and extending to the chronicler's present day. They give comprehensive coverage of known historical events across different regions and cultures.
4. Nowadays, the term "chronicle" is sometimes used to refer to columns or regular features in newspapers and other periodicals or to detailed long-form accounts of particular events or periods.
5. Chronicles are considered the predecessors of modern "time lines" rather than analytical histories due to their linear and sequential nature, focusing on the order of events and their dates rather than on causal relationships or thematic content.
6. Chronicles that deal with events year by year are often called annals. The focus of annals is to record events over the course of each year in a systematic manner.
7. Most chroniclers tended to take their information from the records that were available to them, which would often include written documents, witnessed accounts, and oral tradition. Their accounts were generally compilations of these various sources.
8. Chroniclers' viewpoints are often highly localized because they typically wrote within a specific geographic or cultural context and prioritized events of particular relevance to that setting. They often had limited access to information from outside their locale.
9. Some of the most important English chronicles include the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," which is an invaluable source of early English history, and works by chroniclers like Bede, Matthew Paris, and Geoffrey of Monmouth.
10. Chronicles that were important sources for Elizabethan drama include Raphael Holinshed's "Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland," which provided material for many of Shakespeare's historical plays, among others.
11. It's challenging to say precisely how many chronicles exist because they were widespread in many cultures over several centuries, and many have been lost, remain unpublished, or are undiscovered. Additionally, the definition of what constitutes a "chronicle" can vary, adding to the complexity of quantifying them.