African words, African voices : critical practices in oral history

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African words, African voices : critical practices in oral history

edited by Luise White, Stephan F. Miescher, and David William Cohen

（African systems of thought）

Indiana University Press, c2001

  • : hbk
  • : pbk

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Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: pbk ISBN 9780253214683

Description

Until the advent of African independence, Africans were not considered fitting subjects for historical research and their words, voices, and experiences were largely absent from the continent's history. In 13 lively and provocative essays focusing on all areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, oral sources are seen as a way to restore African expression to African history. African Words, African Voices evokes the richness and relevance of oral sources for understanding a complex past for readers at all levels. Contributors include E. J. Alagoa, David William Cohen, Laura Fair, Babacar Fall, Tamara Giles-Vernick, Isabel Hofmeyr, Abdullahi A. Ibrahim, Corinne A. Kratz, Stephan F. Miescher, Bethwell Allan Ogot, Megan Vaughan, Luise White, and Kwesi Yankah.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Table of Contents: Introduction: Voices, Words, and African History David William Cohen, Stephan F. Miescher, and Luise White Part 1. Giving Africa a History 1. The Construction of Luo Identity and History Bethwell Allan Ogot 2. Reported Speech and Other Kinds of Testimony Megan Vaughan 3. John Bunyan, His Chair, and a Few Other Relics: Orality, Literacy, and the Limits of Area Studies Isabel Hofmeyr 4. The Dialogue Between Academic and Community History in Nigeria E. J. Alagoa 5. The Birth of the Interview: The Thin and the Fat of It Abdullahi A. Ibrahim Part 2. African Lives 6. Conversations and Lives Corinne A. Kratz 7. The Life Histories of Boakye Yiadom (Akasease Kofi of Abetifi, Kwawu): Exploring the Subjectivity and "Voices" of a Teacher-Catechist in Colonial Ghana Stephan F. Miescher 8. Lives, Histories, and Sites of Recollection Tamara Giles-Vernick 9. Senegalese Women in Politics: A Portrait of Two Female Leaders, Arame Diene and Thioumbe Samb, 1945-1996 Babacar Fall Part 3. African Imaginations 10. Nana Ampadu, the Sung-Tale Metaphor, and Protest Discourse in Contemporary Ghana Kwesi Yankah 11. Voice, Authority, and Memory: The Kiswahili Recordings of Siti binti Saadi Laura Fair 12. In a Nation of White Cars . . . One White Car, or "A White Car," Becomes a Truth David William Cohen 13. True Stories: Narrative, Event, History, and Blood in the Lake Victoria Basin Luise White Names of Conference Participants Contributors Index
Volume

: hbk ISBN 9780253339485

Description

Until the 1960s and the advent of African independence, African history was rarely concerned with African lives. Africans were not considered fitting subjects or authoritative sources for historical research and their voices and experiences were largely absent from the continent's history. Efforts to restore African expression to African history have characterised of much of postcolonial historical research and writing, but questions about the use of oral sources in the quest for truth continue to plague interpreters and interpretations of the African past. African Words, African Voices shows African historians involved with and committed to developing unique methodologies for dealing with history on their own terms. African historians from North America, Europe, and Africa, confront questions such as the relationship between a community's oral and written history, the role of personal histories, the effects of racism and colonialism, the suppression of facts, and how historians should mediate and interpret research data. Focusing on all areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, the essays brought together here reflect the extraordinary range of engagement that represents the state-of-the-art of African history writing. For readers at all levels, African Words, African Voices is a lively and provocative volume that evokes the richness and relevance of oral sources for understanding a complex past. Contributors include E. J. Alagoa, David William Cohen, Laura Fair, Babacar Fall, Tamara Giles-Vernick, Isabel Hofmeyr, Abdullahi A. Ibrahim, Corinne A. Kratz, Stephan F. Miescher, Bethwell Allan Ogot, Megan Vaughan, Luise White and Kwesi Yankah.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Voices, Words, and African History David William Cohen, Stephan F. Miescher, and Luise White Part 1 Giving Africa a History The Construction of Luo Identity and History Bethwell Allan Ogot Reported Speech and Other Kinds of Testimony Megan Vaughan John Bunyan, His Chair, and a Few Other Relics: Orality, Literacy, and the Limits of Area Studies Isabel Hofmeyr The Dialogue Between Academic and Community History in Nigeria E. J. Alagoa The Birth of the Interview: The Thin and the Fat of It Abdullahi A. Ibrahim Part 2 African Lives Conversations and Lives Corinne A. Kratz The Life Histories of Boakye Yiadom (Akasease Kofi of Abetifi, Kwawu): Exploring the Subjectivity and "Voices" of a Teacher-Catechist in Colonial Ghana Stephan F. Miescher Lives, Histories, and Sites of Recollection Tamara Giles-Vernick Senegalese Women in Politics: A Portrait of Two Female Leaders, Arame Diene and Thioumbe Samb, 1945-1996 Babacar Fall Part 3 African Imaginations Nana Ampadu, the Sung-Tale Metaphor, and Protest Discourse in Contemporary Ghana Kwesi Yankah Voice, Authority, and Memory: The Kiswahili Recordings of Siti binti Saadi Laura Fair In a Nation of White Cars ... One White Car, or "A White Car," Becomes a Truth David William Cohen True Stories: Narrative, Event, History, and Blood in the Lake Victoria Basin Luise White

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