Writing African history / edited by John Edward Philips.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Philips, John Edward, 1952-

Series:

Rochester studies in African history and the diaspora 1092-5228 ; v. 20.

Rochester studies in African history and the diaspora, 1092-5228 ; v. 20

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Africa--Historiography.

Africa.

Historiography.

Africa--History.

History.

Physical Description:

xii, 532 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Rochester, NY : University of Rochester Press, 2005.

Summary:

Writing African History is an essential work for anyone who wants to write, or even seriously read, African history. It will replace Daniel McCall's 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. Africa in Time Perspective was written in the 1960s, when African history was a new field of research. This new book reflects the development of African history since then. It opens with a comprehensive introduction by Daniel McCall, followed by a chapter by the editor explaining what African history is (and is not) in the context of historical theory and the development of historical narrative, the humanities, and social sciences. The first half of the book focuses on sources of historical data while the second half examines different perspectives on history. The editor's final chapter explains how to combine various sorts of evidence into a coherent account of African history. Writing African History will become the most important guide to African history for the 21st century. Contributors: Bala Achi, Isaac Olawale Albert, Diedre L. Badéjo, Dorothea Bedigian, Barbara M. Cooper, Henry John Drewal, Christopher Ehret, Toyin Falola, David Henige, Joseph E. Holloway, John Hunwick, S. O. Y. Keita, William G. Martin, Daniel McCall, Susan Keech McIntosh, Donatien Dibwe Dia Mwembu, Kathleen Sheldon, John Thornton, and Masao Yoshida. John Edwards Philips is Professor of International Society, Hirosaki University, and author of Spurious Arabic: Hausa and Colonial Nigeria (Madison, University of Wisconsin African Studies Center, 2000).

Contents:

What is African history? / John Edward Philips

Archaeology and the reconstruction of the African past / Susan Keech McIntosh

Writing African history from linguistic evidence / Christopher Ehret

Physical anthropology and African history / S.O.Y. Keita

The importance of botanical data to historical research on Africa / Dorothea Bedigian

Oral tradition as a means of reconstructing the past / David Henige

Oral sources and the challenge of African history / Barbara M. Cooper

Arabic sources for African history / John Hunwick

European documents and African history / John Thornton

Mission and colonial documents / Toyin Falola

Data collection and interpretation in the social history of Africa / Isaac Olawale Albert

African economic history : approaches to research / Masao Yoshida

Signs of time, shapes of thought : the contributions of art history and visual culture to historical methods in Africa / Henry John Drewal

Methodologies in Yorùbá oral historiography and aesthetics / Diedre L. Bádéjo

Local history in post-independent Africa / Bala Achi

Africa and world-systems analysis : a post-nationalist project? / William G. Martin

"What Africa has given America" : African continuities in the North American diaspora / Joseph E. Holloway

History and memory / Donatien Dibwe dia Mwembu

Writing about women : approaches to a gendered perspective in African history / Kathleen Sheldon

Writing African history / John Edward Philips.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1580461646

OCLC:

57414526