A Place in the World: New Local Historiographies from Africa and South AsiaAxel Harneit-Sievers BRILL, 2002 - 384 pages Local histories, written and published by non-academic historians, constitute a rapidly expanding genre in contemporary non-Western societies. However, academic historians and anthropologists usually take little notice of them. This volume takes a comparative look at local historical writing. Thirteen case studies, set in seven different countries of sub-Saharan Africa, India and Nepal, examine the authors, their books and their audiences. From different perspectives, they analyse the genre's intellectual roots, its relationship to oral historical narratives, and its relevance and impact in local and wider arenas. Local histories, it turns out, pursue a variety of agendas. They (re)construct local and communal identities affected by rapid social change. Often, they (re)write history as part of cultural and political struggles. Openly or implicitly, all of them place local communities on the map of the world at large. |
Contents
Constructing Community | 31 |
Yoruba Town Histories | 65 |
A New York city of Ibibioland? Local Historiography | 87 |
A Survey of | 111 |
Interfaces and Dynamics | 135 |
The Central African Historical Research Project | 161 |
Kikuyu Historiographies | 201 |
Ethnohistories | 255 |
A Negative Case | 289 |
Local Constructions of History | 309 |
Remakings of | 331 |
Academic and other HistoriansAn Uneasy | 367 |
About the Authors | 375 |
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A Place in the World: New Local Historiographies from Africa and South Asia Axel Harneit-Sievers No preview available - 2002 |
Common terms and phrases
academic historians accounts Akak athomi authors Benin City Benin history Bhopal British century Chemjong chiefs chieftaincy Christian chronicle claims clan colonial concept context Cross River debate dynasty East African Efik Egharevba Ejagham elders elite emerged Enugu ethnic groups ethnographic European Eweka example Garhwal Gciriku Geider genre habari historical knowledge historical writing historiography Ibadan Ibibio identity Igbo community histories Igboland Ile-Ife India institutions ituika Kavango Kenya Kenyatta khaṭīks Kikuyu King Kiranti Kshatriya Kumaon land language Limbu lineage locality London Lonsdale Luvale Maasai Mambo Leo Mau Mau mbari Mbunda migration missionaries modern Muoria Muriuki Nairobi narratives nation Ndebele Nigeria Nkayi Nkayi and Lupane non-academic nsung Okiek Onitsha oral tradition origin past political pre-colonial present publication published recent reference region rule rulers Self-published Shambyu Shangani Short History social society sources Studies Swahili texts tion tory town University Press Wiya written Yoruba Zambia