FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INTEGRATION OF HERMENEUTICS AND HISTORY EDUCATION: METHODOLOGICAL SYNTHESIS AND PEDAGOGICAL TRANSFORMATION
Keywords:
Philosophical Hermeneutics, History Pedagogy, Fusion of Horizons, Historical Consciousness, Source Criticism, Didactic Transposition.Abstract
Contemporary history education faces an epistemic impasse between positivist fact-accumulation and post-structuralist relativism. While the former reduces historical learning to inert chronological memorization, the latter risks dissolving historical truth into arbitrary subjective narratives. This conceptual research article addresses this impasse by presenting an epistemological and didactic synthesis of philosophical hermeneutics and history pedagogy. Employing a qualitative philosophical-hermeneutic methodology, the study operationalizes the core concepts of Wilhelm Dilthey (Erklären vs. Verstehen), Hans-Georg Gadamer (Horizontverschmelzung, Wirkungsgeschichte, and productive prejudice), Paul Ricoeur (the hermeneutic arc and narrative mimesis), and Jörn Rüsen (typology of historical consciousness). The analysis delineates four fundamental characteristics of this integration: (1) the transition from objectivist source extraction to authentic dialogical inquiry; (2) the systematic operationalization of the hermeneutic circle across micro-sources and macro-contexts; (3) the reformulation of historical empathy as a disciplined "fusion of horizons" that avoids affective anachronism; and (4) a structured didactic transformation matrix contrasting classical instructional designs with hermeneutic pedagogical architecture. The discussion demonstrates that hermeneutic inquiry establishes rigorous disciplinary guardrails against radical relativism while actively inoculating students against dogmatic, state-sanctioned ideological narratives. Finally, the article outlines curricular, structural, and teacher-education models designed to cultivate mature, self-reflective historical consciousness.
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