历史研究与档案的开放和利用——冷战国际史研究中的案例种种

Declassification and Use of Archives and Study of History:Cases in the Study of Cold War International History /

历史研究者的基本责任就在于揭开历史真相,尽可能地还原历史的本来面貌,而要做到这一点,就必须不断地发掘、梳理和解读原始档案和文献。本文结合作者在冷战国际史研究中实际接触的种种案例,具体而深刻地揭示了档案文献与历史研究之间的关系:开放和利用档案是历史研究的必要前提,历史研究的进步往往伴随档案开放的步伐;档案本身无法解开历史的迷团,而只能依靠研究者对档案文献的认真分析和解读;档案不是神圣的,研究者要时刻警惕,谨防落入档案文献作者有意无意设置的"陷阱";档案文献不是万能的,往往需要以口述史料作为补充;档案的开放和公布是两个不同概念,对于研究者而言,档案的公布固然十分需要,但其利用价值远远不抵档案的开放。

A fundamental responsibility of the historian' s is to reveal the true face of history and to restore history to its original form in the best way possible.This requires continuous discovery,sorting out,and interpretation of primary archives and documents. In using various cases the author has encountered in studying Cold War international history, this article illustrates in a concrete and profound way the relationship between archival materials and the study of history.Declassification and utilization of archives are necessary preconditions of historical studies,and therefore,new developments in historical studies are often abreast with declassification of archives.Yet,archives by itself cannot solve the puzzles in history,which have to be deciphered by researchers through careful analyses and interpretation of archival materials.Information from the archives is by no means sa- cred,and the researchers have to be constantly on guard lest fall into the'traps'laid intentionally or inadvertently by creators of the archives.Nor is archival information omnipotent, and often it has to be supplemented with oral historical materials.Declassification and publication of archival materials are two completely different conceptions.To historical researchers,published archival materials are of course useful,but their value cannot be even compared with that of declassified archives.