can history be popularized without trivializing it?

Answer 1

Of course.

Just look at the efforts of some of our greatest "popularisers" of history,

Simon Schama
AJP Taylor
Kenneth Clarke
Richard Holmes
Michael Wood

I believe all of these have produced work which makes history more accessible to the public without trivialising it and making it more exciting without sensationalism.

Answer 2

Can you enjoy a bottle of wine without being a connosieur?

Can you enjoy a Jaguar or a Porsche without being a trained race car driver?

Is history only for the most learned of scholars?

I am not sure what you mean by trivializing history through popularization, but I do work in the field, and the organization for which I work, the Supreme Court Historical Society, does a good bit of public education, sponsors lectures, publishes books, conducts case reenactments, etc.

Our goal is not to turn everyone who attends our programs or reads our books into renowned scholars on the topic. Rather, it is to expand the number of people who are aware of the Court's role in the constitutional development of this nation. We tend not to try to reach out to prospective audiences with dry and arcane subject matter, but by recounting episodes in the Court's history that people will find interesting and engaging. If they become hooked on it, they may want to explore more deeply, but you have to get folks in the door first, not drive them away with turgid scholarship only an antiquarian could love.

Too often history, and many other fields I expect, suffer from lack of marketing. There are interesting stories to tell, telling them in an interesting way, at least to my way of thinking, does not trivialize them.

Answer 3

Yes, people love a good story. Actual events are often more fascinating than any fiction. It is hard to separate heroes from villains and right from wrong in much of history but interest and controversy will always exist anyway.
Dates and other facts will always be important to History but the struggles of people against tyranny, ignorance, starvation, and other recurring themes will always be popular.

Answer 4

Yes - a thousand times YES! Unfortunately very few writers and film producers and teachers take the time to do that, but it can and should be done every day.

Answer 5

Only amongst history buffs.