Documentary sources and methods for precolonial african history. In addition, many of the documentary sources that we do have are based on the. Local documentary and oral sources existed that could produce. A discussion of historical sources and the problems posed by. Yet, the written sources we have offer only brief glimpses into precolonial africa, and do not offer a continental, but a more localized history. Evaluate the strength and weakness of oral traditional and oral history in the reconstructing of african history.
This has a tremendously distorting effect on our perception of the past. African historiography was challenged by the availability of written sources. A study of history shows that people, both individually and as groups or nations, repeatedly encounter the same kinds of problems. A history of twentiethcentury african literatures edited by oyekan owomoyela. Secondary sources include books and articles about a topic. Primary sources and other evidence including those from archaeology are used. Historians and other scholars rely on primary sources to conduct research. What are the disadvantages of written sources of history. In the philosophy of history, the question of the nature, and the possibility, of a sound historical method is raised within the subfield of epistemology.
For large areas of africa, particularly tropical africa, their timedepth is restricted to the last century or two. It is the process of shaping known facts into a coherent whole, one that explains cause and effect and. They are used to support arguments and theories given by historians and students of history. The written sources for african history are scattered throughout the world, often in archives to which access is difficult. Some conceptual clarifications the term history has become an ubiquitous word conceptualized differently by various scholars. Pdf even though contemporary research on african languages and cultures is. Origins of african history 1 concept of two africas 2 the relationship between african history and world history 2 sources of african history 4 oral traditions 5 written sources 11 historical linguistics 14 anthropology 17 archaelogy 24 origins and evolution of man 25 the aspects of human evolution influence of the environment on human life. Oral traditions as sources oxford research encyclopedia of. History and historiography annvillecleona school district. Academic writing sources are the materials used by the writer to gather information about their subject. Advantages and disadvantages of oral tradition oral tradition can be defined as testimony transmitted by word of mouth from one generation to another. Methods, sources and interpretations across the african divide ghislaine lydon for ages, the sahara has been portrayed as an emptyquarter where only nomads on their. Surprisingly, given subsequent developments in the field, there has been no comparable text since, making this volume. For instance, the traditional conception of history epitomized by historians like herodotus father of history, his great successor thucydides, livy and tacitus, the greatest of the roman historians.
Spurred in part by the ongoing reevaluation of sources and methods in research, african historiography in the past two decades has been characterized by the. Traditional african music brothers and sisters, the white man has brainwashed us black people to fasten our gaze upon a blondhaired, blueeyed jesus. The series aims to expand the sources available to historians of africa, and to rectify bias that may have been introduced into the writing of african history. For this purpose historians have to employ various sources in order to gather information on african history. Primary sources can come in many forms, from an official document or diary, to a firsthand account from a person who lived through a historical event. The history of writing traces the development of expressing language by letters or other marks and also the studies and descriptions of these developments in the history of how writing systems have evolved in different human civilizations, more complete writing systems were preceded by proto writing, systems of ideographic or early mnemonic symbols symbols or.
It will replace daniel mccalls classic africa in time perspective as the introduction to african history for the next generation and as a reference for professional historians, interested readers, and anyone who wants to understand how african history is written. Documentary sources for african history are limited. The study of historical method and of different ways of writing history is known as historiography. In martin klein, sandra green and alice bellagamba eds. The focus of this article is the breadth and depth of african archaeology. The term historiography also refers to the theory and history of historical writing. By john thornton, university of zambia, allegheny college, the.
African history must be the history of african peoples and not merely the history of their invaders from europe and asia, and studies of european contacts in africa, where european archival materials remain the major source, should focus on the role played by africans in the events that have shaped the continent dike, 1965. African historiography and the challenges of european. For an interesting essay on the american indian oral tradition, see peacock unwriting empire by writing oral tradition. Writing african history pays homage to daniel mccalls pioneering text, africa in time perspective. Some of the important sources of history are as follows. What are the steps for writing an annotated bibliography. To reach them often requires a considerable expenditure of time and money, quite apart from the necessary linguistic knowledge. Its stress on indigenous african sources is also hoped to inspire individual researchers to search actively for african sources and to make these available to the. Introduction slavery and the slave trade have been age old institutions and practices in almost every continent in the world. Important sources of history primary and secondary sources.
Writing history is not simply stringing a lot of historical facts together in some sort of chronological order. You will need to ask different sorts of questions about each type of source, and apply them in different ways to your own. The first step is to decide which sources will be most critical for your topic. Prejudice against black africans in particular, which goes far back in history, has meant that african history has been dictated by eurocentric or even racist research. African history ancient mediterranean history asian history.
The first venture towards the deeuropeanization or dewesternization of africa s history was the creation of courses on aspects of african history and the writing books on african history, thereby creating a platform for the development of indigenous african historiography. Pdf writing african womens history with male sources. The problems of knowledge in history are basically epistemological. The general history of africa gha is a pioneering corpus, unparalleled in its ambition to cover the history of the entire african continent, since the appearance of human beings to contemporary challenges faced by africans and their diasporas in the world. One of the best sources of african history is being able. African literature the influence of oral traditions on.
Without sources a history is almost worthless as it cannot hope to have the same reliability, or even understanding, as a well researched piece of work because differing viewpoints are not synthesised or challenged, leaving an argument bare both perhaps factually and intellectually. Wood writing boards brooklyn museum of art are used for this purpose. It directs readers to literatures on the history, goals, and practices of african archaeology, aiding readers unfamiliar with archaeology to gain insight into issues around evidence and interpretation. Some of the history of these countries, however, is naturally mentioned in this history of the rest of africa but is kept to the minimum needed to make the rest comprehensible. A griot is an oral historian that recounts the history of africa in song, story, or poetic form. Using an array of sources, these scholars were successful in showing that africa not only had a history but that its history and the writing of it date back to ancient antiquity. The writing of african history involves collection of historical facts and interpreting them logically so as to develop a clear account of events that took place in africa in the past.
Sources and methods in african history boydell and brewer. Jul 14, 2006 writing african history pays homage to daniel mccalls pioneering text, africa in time perspective. What are the advantages of a written source in history. Reviewed for hafrica by esperanza brizuelagarcia, history department, montclair. Historical approaches to all time periods are welcome. Sources and methods in african history book description. Primary sources a research guide to primary and secondary sources for african history. African sources for african history intends to give african viewpoints a more central place in the writing of african history, by making african perspectives more easily available. Sources of african history a source of history can be divided into two big groups, remnants and storytelling which usually are called primary and secondary sources. Primary sources may include diaries, letters, interviews, oral histories, photographs, newspaper articles, government documents, poems, novels, plays, and music. The danger in the thought that oral traditions are not a reliable history source material is enourmous that it has skulked into the minds of some students of history. Lydon and bruce hall, excavating arabic sources for the writing on slavery in western african history. Writing african history has been challenging and mostly difficult, due to a lack of. Other sources of african history include museums, archives, and libraries.
Primary sources are materials produced by the people or groups directly involved in the event or topic under discussion, ether as participants or as witnesses. It also shows, however, that there are still many unresolved questions regarding the place of oral materials in the writing of history, and which historians must pay attention to. Using arts as historical evidence in teaching history yonghee suh old dominion university this is a comparative case study of how three high school history teachers in the u. Dec 10, 2007 the first half of the century saw a rigorous examination and analysis of primary sources in the reconstruction of african history.
This is a eurocentric view that the early africanist historians have always debated. Also shows how this writing rejects the prevailing notion of primordial savagery for the continent, creates and reaffirms african selfrespect, and restores and establishes the continents claim to historical antiquity and civilizations. Writing in history introduction students new to history writing may be confused at first about what the process entails. A discussion of historical sources and the problems posed. Databases help you identify articles in scholarly journals or books on a particular. Primary sources in american history 2nd edition finkenbine, roy e.
The middle ground was held by those who accepted the 1 henige, oral tradition as a means of constructing the past in philips ed, writing african history, p. Often, your professor will assign an annotated bibliography relatively early on in the writing process, so perhaps you do not yet know exactly which sources will be the most important or how exactly. Analysis of both sorts of sources is crucial to historical writing, but your approach to primary sources should be quite different from your approach to secondary sources. The collection and analysis of primary sources is central to historical research. Writing african history is an essential work for anyone who wants to write, or even seriously read, african history. The problem of historical knowledge is one of the core issues which arise in the writing of history. Akosua perbi fulbrightscholarinresidence manchester college indiana, u. Feb 04, 2020 secondary sources analyze a scholarly question and often use primary sources as evidence. The written sources of history are the documents that have recorded through the written word the events that have happened in a certain period of time written sources are composed of chronicles, journals, books, novels, blogs, periodicals, letters, maps, telegrams, censuses and other documents with statistics, yearbooks, dissertations, laws, documents issued by the government, or handwritten. The use of oral tradition is a distinctive and essential element in many fields of african studies. African literature african literature the influence of oral traditions on modern writers. Writing african history, university of rochester press, london 2005. Unesco eolss sample chapters world civilizations and history of human development african civilizations.
From the precolonial to the modern day toyin falola and tyler fleming encyclopedia of life support systems eolss and along the swahili coastline of east africa, vast trade networks developed. The history of africa begins with the emergence of hominids, archaic humans andat least 200,000 years agoanatomically modern humans homo sapiens, in east africa, and continues unbroken into the present as a patchwork of diverse and politically developing nation states. African history, eurocentric view, historical writing. All the material which has a direct bearing or can be any assistance in constructing the history of a particular period are called as historical facts or sources.
We intend to prepare you for the further topics which follow this lesson. Slavery and the slave trade in precolonial africa by dr. Malcolm x european and europeanamerican art galleries display african art, but they usually fail to name the artists. Traditional african music university of california. Forty years after the publication of daniel mccalls. European documents and african history chapter 9 writing. This is a short history of africa excluding egypt, ethiopia and dutch and british south africa, which are the subjects of separate histories. Aht 100 sources of african history kenyatta university.
Sources and methods in african history edited by toyin falola. There are obstacles that make it so we do not have a crystal clear, uninterrupted view of the past. African history has been a challenge for researchers because of scarce written sources in many regions, especially sub saharan africa. There are several sources of african history, one of which is a griot. Shows how postindependence history writing was predicated on a desire to achieve intellectual decolonization. Spurred in part by the ongoing reevaluation of sources and methods in research, african historiography in the past two decades has been characterized by the continued branching and increasing sophistication of methodologies and areas of specialization. Oral traditions as sources oxford research encyclopedia. The thematic range is equally broad, covering social, economic, political, cultural, and intellectual history. Guide for writing in history southwestern university. Sources and methods in african history ut liberal arts.
The present volume is dedicated to the study of written sources about africa and. It might well be a document, and we often think of history as a textual discipline, based on the interpretation of written texts, but it might also be a building, a piece of art or an ephemeral object. The primary sources, remnants and written documents are counted as more reliable than the oral history. Materials used to study history can be classified into three types. African sources for african history is a book series published by brill that aims to make available critical editions of indigenous african narrative sources from subsaharan africa. In oral traditions as a means of reconstructing the past, david henige. Patrick reals reading, writing, and researching for history offers great tips on how to read and interpret your sources, as well as some handy structure and style guidelines. Discuss the various stages to be considered in a scientific history research.
Sources then are the building blocks of history from. Records and narratives kept by african historians are among the most informative sources for the reconstruction of precolonial history on the continent. Spoken, written, unearthed toyin falola and christian jennings editors university of rochester press 2004 sources and methods have been an ongoing concern in african history since the early years of its development as a field of academic specialization. Thereare veryfewanthologieson theproblemsof sourcesand methodology. The goal of african history is not only to establish a chronology of events but also to recover the past from the local african perspective. Historiography, the writing of history, especially the writing of history based on the critical examination of sources, the selection of particular details from the authentic materials in those sources, and the synthesis of those details into a narrative that stands the test of critical examination. The first thing that leaps to mind is that the winners get to write history. What are the advantages and disadvantage of using oral. Archaeology and the study of africa african studies. A discussion of historical reconstruction from unwritten sources, published at the dawn of the era of modern african history in 1964. Any leftover of the past can be considered a source.
The challenge is how to recover local ways of knowing and being in societies far different from the perspectives of both the contemporary scholar and the authors of many of the sources used to write history. They credit tribes or regions with the production of works of art, but. Historiography and historical skills history textbook. Hamilton history departments writing a good history paper is very useful in decoding common instructor comments. It will replace daniel mccalls classic africa in time perspective as the introduction to african history for the next generation and as a reference for professional historians, interested readers, and anyone who wants to understand how african history is. Ancient and classical writers wrote about africa, even though their writings were unsystematic. Mary beard points out that our knowledge of which emperors of rome were depraved by m.
African historical research has also been presented and discussed in silences on african history depelchin 2005, writing african history philips 2005, the practice of history in africa. Sources of african history essay sample sample essays. Here the information is obtained by talking and listening to people with historical information. Themes in the literary traditions of contemporary africa are worked out frequently within the strictures laid down by the imported religions christianity and islam and within the struggle between traditional and modern, between rural and newly urban, between genders, and between generations.
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