Erdrich Oral History

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Aforementioned, A Little History of the World is the introductory book to Gombrich’s extensive avocation. This narrative non-fiction publication is a notable, translated work of Gombrich. The genre of history of this text is oral history. What is oral history? Oral history is a collection of accounts about the past, originally passed on by word of mouth. The genre, oral history, usually refers to history textbooks, since they consist of innumerable collections of accounts and facts about past events. Although A Little History of the World is in the genre of oral history, many reviewers refuse to consider it as a history textbook. “I can't use the word “textbook” to describe it since it would be a drastic misrepresentation of the book's style. …show more content…

He mentions “That gets us quickly back into the past, and from there into the distant past. But you will never reach the beginning, because behind every beginning there’s always another ‘Once upon a time’ (Gombrich 2). With that being said, Gombrich makes a salient argument by stating that not necessarily history, but mankind, has no beginning. Not only in his published work, but also other historical sources prove his assertion, true. As far as we know, the Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) are the first species, closest to the Homo sapiens (mankind), which ever lived on this planet, but how do we know that there is not another species that lived long before the birth of the Neanderthals? Another question to take into consideration, is where did the Neanderthal species originate from? Also, were there other species in the Homo genus that existed during the time period of the Neanderthal’s …show more content…

In the final chapter, the renounced author states “I ended my account of the First World War with the words: 'We all hope for a better future it must be better.' Has such a future come? (Gombrich 284).” As we know, many nations struggle with poverty, sanitary issues, and/or starvation. For example, Global Issues states that out of 2.2 billion children in this world, 1 billion face poverty, out of which 1.4 million children die annually due to the lack of drinkable water and sanitation. On top of poverty and sanitation, many of the same nations are going through starvation. In accordance to Global Citizen, 870 million people in the world are going through extreme hunger today. Out of which, nine of the top ten countries in starvation are all in Africa: Burundi, Eritrea, Comoros, Sudan, Chad, Yemen Republic, Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Zambia. Over twenty-five percent of the population of each of these countries are show signs of malnutrition. However, in the midst of these worldwide daily issues, Gombrich states “Whenever an earthquake, a flood or a drought in a far-off place leaves many victims, thousands of people in wealthier countries put their money and their efforts into providing relief. And that, too, used not to happen (Gombrich 284).” Even though there are billions of people struggling with poverty, sanitation, and/or starvation, there

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