Writing African History Edited by John Edward Philips
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 includes chapters on sources of historical data, including oral tradition (David Henige) and oral history (Barbara Cooper), indigenous written documents (John Hunwick) precolonial European documents (John Thornton) and colonial and mission documents (Toyin Falola), as well as chapters on archaeology (Susan Keech McIntosh), biology (Dorothea Bedigian), physical anthropology (S.O.Y. Keita) and historical linguistics (Christopher Ehret). The second half of the book includes chapters about different perspectives on history. Covered in this section are social science (Isaac Olawale Albert), art history (Henry John Drewal), Africanizing history (Diedre L. Badejo), economic history (Masao Yoshida), local history (Bala Achi), memory and history (Donatien DIBWE dia Mwembu), world systems theory (William G. Martin), African links to the African diaspora (Joseph E. Holloway), and gender perspectives (Kathleen Sheldon). 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.
DETAILS
552 pages Size: 9 x 6 in ISBN: 1580461646 Binding: Hardback Publication date: 01/May/2005 Price: 75.00 USD / 50.00 GBP Imprint: University of Rochester Press Series: Rochester Studies in African History and the Diaspora
Subject: African Studies BIC class: AVH
STATUS: No information available at this time Details updated on 20/04/2005
Contents 1 What is African History? John Edward Philips 2 Archaeology and the Reconstruction of the African Past Susan Keech McIntosh 3 Writing African History from Linguistic Evidence Christopher Ehret 4 Physical Anthropology and African History Shomarka Keita MD 5 The Importance of Botanical Data to Historical Research on Africa Dorothea Bedigian 6 Oral Tradition as a Means of Reconstructing the Past David Henige 7 Oral Sources and the Challenge of African History Barbara Cooper 8 Arabic Sources for African History John O. Hunwick 9 European Documents and African History John K. Thornton 10 Mission and Colonial Documents Toyin Falola 11 Data Collection and Interpretation in the Social History of Africa Isaac Olawale Albert 12 African Economic History: Approaches to Research Masao Yoshida 13 Signs of Time, Shapes of Thought: The Contributions of Art History and Visual Culture to Historical Methods in Africa Henry John Drewal 14 Methodologies in Yoruba Oral Historiography and Aesthetics Deidre L. Badejo Ph.D. 15 Local History in Post-Independent Africa Bala Achi 16 Africa and World-Systems Analysis: A Post Nationalist Project? William G. Martin 17 What Africa Has Given America: African Continuities in the North American Diaspora Joseph E. Holloway 18 History and Memory Donatien DIBWE dia Mwembu 19 Writing About Women: Approaches to a Gendered Perspective in African History Kathleen Sheldon 20 Writing African History John Edward Philips
Reviews " . . . a serious, balanced, and useful work that ought to become basic for outsiders new to the field as well as for specialized Africanists." -Joseph C. Miller, T. Cary Johnson, Jr. Professor of History, University of Virginia "African history has clearly come of age with this monumental, comprehensive guide." -Merrick Posnansky, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA "This is essential reading for anyone interested in African history, and should be the first book read by anyone who does not know anything about African history." -Paul E. Lovejoy FRSC, Distinguished Research Professor, Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History
posted
This does not look like a history book at all. It looks like a mish-mash of everything. Models for proper histories of Africa are the UNESCO series and many of the Cambridge History of Africa series. On a regional level Adjai and Crowder or Crowder himself have done some useful work.
Cheikh Anta Diop's L'Afrique noire precoloniale is a very good source text along with Anteriorite des nations negres[Africaines].
This does not look like a history book at all. It looks like a mish-mash of everything. Models for proper histories of Africa are the UNESCO series and many of the Cambridge History of Africa series. On a regional level Adjai and Crowder or Crowder himself have done some useful work.
Cheikh Anta Diop's L'Afrique noire precoloniale is a very good source text along with Anteriorite des nations negres[Africaines].
quote:Originally posted by Though2:
The editor's final chapter explains how to combine various sorts of evidence into a coherent account of African history.
Thought Writes:
This is what is known as a multidisciplinary approach. Is this not the goal?
posted
A better title would have been something like "Perspectives on Africa's Historical Past". A proper history entails an empirically confirmable narrative and sequential analysis of the major causal events and factors--economic, religious, sociological, technological, etc.--in the past of some particular area.
There's nothing wrong with a multidisciplinary approach to anything but in the case of history there has to be a coherent narrative in terms of time and space.
Which, of course, is not to say that the text doesn't have merit.
posted
When they start talking about that disporia crap you know you are dealing with a nut.
Posts: 5822 | From: USA | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Challenges to Euro-centric fabrications of history continue to force changes, as evident from increasingly new publications of revised history, but African leaders, scholars and the like, need to push for even more conservation of African relics within their homelands, increased involvement of African researchers on excavation sites, and ensure that scrutinized history reach classrooms. If you leave history largely to outsiders, and not take matters into your own hand, you shouldn't be surprised, if you get Peter Pan-like constructions of history, that we are all too familiar with. So, let the progress continue!
It should be remembered that people like Bernal, though given much spotlight, built on what many other scholars have brought to light, long before the publication of "Black Athena" and its subsequent publications.
posted
The book edited by Philips, I also had reservations about, until I realized that it is about methods, and perspectives. As an elderly person I note how few young people have gone into iron age archeology, linguistics, population genetics, Egyptology, or even gained the skills to participate in the examination of the manuscripts in Timbuktu, and other places.
Why is this? There is also work to be done in botany, comparative zoology, etc in the African regions. Opportunity exists; people will help; just commenting in circles on debates about Egypt and other topics is not very productive of new information, and insights.
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic