History as a Grab Bag

Journal of Applied History, vol. 7, pp. 27–59

Abstract

Abstract During the three years that the coronavirus raged in the Netherlands, historical references to the Spanish flu were a constant factor in the reporting of the COVID-19 pandemic in Dutch newspapers. This study focuses on the use of historical knowledge about the Spanish flu in the reporting of COVID-19 between 2020 and 2022, both in terms of content and purpose, to gain more insight into the use of learned historical knowledge. The analysis shows that the mere fact that newspaper journalists had to take deliberate steps to obtain information about the Spanish flu did not make them more reluctant or cautious in using this kind of historical information. The main finding is that the use of learned historical knowledge suffers from the same problems as has already been shown in the literature regarding the use of observed and personally experienced historical knowledge in historical reasoning.

Authors 1

1. Yvonne Kleistra corresponding Aachen

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University https://dx.doi.org/4496 Leiden The Netherlands