Amidst the Shadows: The uses of Ancient History and its Teaching as a Lighthouse to the Obscurantism of the Present Time

Abstract

This article begins with a central question: how can Ancient History, particularly its teaching, serve as a beacon against obscurantism and address the difficult political issues of the present time? Thus, we tackle the challenges of the uses and receptions of Ancient History on one hand, and its teaching in schools on the other. The text is divided into three main parts. In the first part, we present some propositions, some pillars, for the teaching of History, especially an Ancient History that considers the sensitive issues of the present time as an intellectual starting point. Through a brief digression, we discuss the metaphor of the lighthouse, a fundamental vector underlying the interpretation proposed here. From there, two acts are developed that stem from conceptual relationships concerning historical thinking. In the first act, we discuss the controversial receptions of a cartoon produced by the BBC entertainment and journalism network. In the second act, we review a set of school ethnographic experiences to understand to what extent children in schools can appropriate Ancient History to interpret their own world. More precisely, through the narrative of Grade 6 students, we capture the understanding of the world and the formation of historical consciousness of young people between ten and twelve years old.