Sources and methods in histories of colonialism : approaching the imperial archive / edited by Kirsty Reid and Fiona Paisley.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Reid, Kirsty, editor, author.

Paisley, Fiona, editor, author.

Series:

Routledge guides to using historical sources

The Routledge guides to using historical sources

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Postcolonialism--Historiography.

Postcolonialism.

Historiography--Social aspects.

Historiography.

Historiography--Political aspects.

Colonies.

Europe--Colonies--Historiography.

Europe.

Imperialism--Historiography.

Imperialism.

Physical Description:

xi, 199 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, 2017.

Summary:

Sources and Methods in Histories of Colonialism provides an in-depth study of the relationships between archives, knowledge and power. Exploring a diverse range of examples and surveying the now substantial scholarly literatures on the functions and scope of the 'imperial archive', it facilitates a deeper understanding of the challenges of working with a range of specific source genres within imperial and colonial archives. Covering the late eighteenth century to the present day and drawing on material from a range of modern empires including those established by Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States, chapters discuss themes such as the emergence of photography as an archival tool, the use of oral history in histories of colonialism and the ways in which the state informs the archive and vice versa. This book considers the ways in which newer ways of thinking about the past have challenged more traditional views of 'the archive', provoking questions about what archives are and where their conceptual, geographical and chronological boundaries lie. Examining a wide selection of source material including government papers, censuses, petitions and case files and providing both an overarching introduction to the subject and close analysis of specific case studies, this book will be essential reading for students of imperial and colonial history. Routledge Guides to Using Historical Sources is a series of books designed to introduce students to different sources and illustrate how they are used by historians. Each volume explores one type of primary source from a brood spectrum and, using specific examples from around the globe, examines their historical context and the different approaches that can be used to interpret these sources. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction / Kirsty Reid and Fiona Paisley

Democratizing the photographic archive / Jane Lydon

Archival detours: sourcing colonial history / Penny Edwards

Decolonizing the archives: a transnational perspective / Victoria Haskins

Archiving Algeria: power, violence and secrecy / Abdelmajid Hannoum

Colonial knowledge and subaltern voices: the case of an official enquiry in mid-nineteenth-century Java / G. Roger Knight

Making people countable: analysing paper trails and the imperial census / Alexandra Widmer

Institutional case files: insanity's archive / Catharine Coleborne

Gender, geopolitics and gaps in the records: women glimpsed in the military archives / Vera Mackie

Oral sources / Maria Nugent

Living empire / Fiona Paisley.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780415521758

0415521750

9780415521765

0415521769

OCLC:

960230186