Revisionism is “a departure from any authoritative or generally accepted doctrine, theory, practice, etc.”
” It usually involves challenging the orthodox (established, accepted or traditional) views held by professional scholars about a historical event or time-span or phenomenon, introducing contrary evidence, or reinterpreting the motivations and decisions of the people involved. The revision of the historical record can reflect new discoveries of fact, evidence, and interpretation, which then results in revised history. In dramatic cases, revisionism involves a reversal of older moral judgments.”
The goal is obviously not to rewrite history, but rather to understand that 1. what we have been told is right or true should be properly questioned- that is every generations’ right and duty, 2. that any event will be perceived by multiple subjects which means there are many accounts surrounding any one given event, and 3. it is of utmost importance that we understand on what basis we find and hold our beliefs, however uncomfortable that may be.
“… “revisionist” has come to be viewed as something of a dirty word in many circles…
“it’s about changing narratives to reflect new information that historians learn or new ways of thinking…”
Even if we find that the old answer was the right one, we can at lest then be sure of ourselves that we did not accept anything blindly.
Iconoclastic Revisionisms 