Storytelling is a powerful process in adult education as a useful instructional approach in facilitating adult instruction and. There is a rich tradition throughout africa of oral storytelling. Professor bonner, who has conducted research in south africa, swaziland, and mozambique to some extent, emphasises the significance of oral history in africa. African history was to be the history of africans, a history that had begun well before the european discovery of africa. The written records of civilization had guided haley only to the dim past. Project muse phenomenology and the problems of oral history. In a global effort, african oral history archive records and showcases the continents acclaimed or unknown history makers, giving unprecedented access to all those who were at the heart of events that shaped africas modern history. Ohjsa creates space for academics in collaboration with oral history practitioners, archivists and librarians to publish scientific papers in the field of oral history the focus of the journal is on the methods of oral history research as well as the results or oral history research done in and on southern africa expanding to the rest of africa and eventually to the rest of the wor. Some of the history of these countries, however, is naturally mentioned in this history of the rest of africa but is kept to the minimum needed to make the rest comprehensible. This article offers the text of remarks given by professor turner on march.
The focus of the journal is on the methods of oral history research as well as the results or oral history research done in and on southern africa expanding to the rest of africa and eventually to the rest of the world. Oral tradition and indigenous knowledge south african. The study of african history as an independent and autonomous focus of scholarship is a recent development. Oral and written storytelling traditions have had a parallel development, and in many ways they have influenced each other. Themes in the literary traditions of contemporary africa are worked out frequently within the strictures laid down by the imported religions christianity and islam and within the struggle between traditional and modern, between rural and newly urban, between genders, and between generations. The journal publishes textual analysis and criticism, historiographical and bibliographical essays, archival reports, and articles on the role of theory and nonhistorical data in historical investigation. Storytelling is a powerful process in adult education as a useful instructional approach in facilitating adult instruction and learning, especially during preliterate eras. Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. Mar 20, 20 besides being a goldmine for scholars, oral literature in africa is a delight for the general readerthe people and animals and spirits of africa live, laugh, weep and quarrel between the covers of this book.
Ancient egyptian scribes, early hausa and swahili copyists and memorizers, and contemporary writers of popular novellas have been the obvious and crucial transitional figures in the movement. It includes a new introduction, additional images and an updated bibliography, as well as its original chapters on poetry, prose, drum language and drama, and an overview of the social, linguistic and historical background of oral literature in africa. Colonial historians writing on africa believed that before colonization, africa had no history. Until the late colonial period, it was widely believed among western historians that africa, south of the sahara, had no civilization and thus no history. An investigation into the implementation of oral history in. This chapter provides a series of oral history accounts of hospicepalliative care development in africa. African literature oral traditions and the written word. A journal of method focuses on historiographical and methodological concerns. The most ambitious and most extensive treatment of african history and historiography are to be found in both fage and oliver 1982 1986 and the eightvolume unesco general history of africa unesco 19811993. What makes oral history attractive in contemporary south africa.
Ohjsa creates space for academics in collaboration with oral history practitioners, archivists and librarians to publish scientific papers in the field of oral history. Horalhist is an hnet discussion network established in 1996, based on an earlier listserv, ohal, developed by terry birdwhistell of the university of kentucky. This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. African literature african literature the influence of oral traditions on modern writers. Oha also offers a series of publications on community oral history, family oral history, oral history and the law, and other subjects. The culture and history of quotation was published in 2011, and, to appear around 20, an edited study of dreaming and telepathy. Part of our mission is to assist you in exploring oral history. May 30, 2018 a great oral tradition assignment doc pdf the nok assignment doc pdf the phoenicians and carthage assignment doc pdf trade in ancient west africa assignment doc pdf ghana assignment doc pdf timbuktu assignment doc pdf mansa musa assignment doc pdf aksum assignment doc pdf the zimbabwe ruins assignment doc pdf prince henry the navagator assignment doc pdf maafa, colonialism. Song as oral tradition in west africa the british library.
Mmokeng rodney makina 17 pages requires subscription or fee pdf zar 50 view all issues subscription. Oral history is not folklore, gossip, hearsay, or rumor. During the interviews, the historian should consider avoiding any leading questions. Oral traditions and african history continue to lean heavily on the sources these men preserved. But todays professional historians of africa can and would work to a more professional standard. Ruth finnegan was elected a fellow of the british academy in 1996 and an. Oral historians attempt to verify their findings, analyze them, and place them in an accurate historical context. The perspective phenomenology offers to oral history is that during the process of both conducting the interviews and assembling a text, the historians existing assumptions about the place or topic of investigation should be bracketed as much as possible. The importance of oral traditions in african history. Africa underwent a much needed and imperative change, the african. Besides the two major sources of african history written documents and archaeology, oral tradition takes its place as a real living museum, conserver and transmitter of the social and cultural creations of peoples purported to have no written records. Oral history in south africa is broadly categorized within the realm of living tradition. In addition to the workshops that we offer to community groups, we are happy to provide this manual as a resource and guide to oral history interviewing. The seed that brought about the birth of ohasa was planted in 1999 when the then department of arts, culture, science and technology dacst was mandated by cabinet to conceptualise and spearhead the national oral history programme nohp for south africa.
Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Oral history is the systematic collection of living peoples testimony about their own experiences. A history of oral and written storytelling in nigeria simeon edosomwan, ph. A great oral tradition assignment doc pdf the nok assignment doc pdf the phoenicians and carthage assignment doc pdf trade in ancient west africa assignment doc pdf ghana assignment doc pdf timbuktu assignment doc pdf mansa musa assignment doc pdf aksum assignment doc pdf the zimbabwe ruins assignment doc pdf prince henry the navagator assignment doc pdf. Ajayi and crowder 1985 is a colorful and wellillustrated historical atlas. Besides being a goldmine for scholars, oral literature in africa is a delight for the general readerthe people and animals and spirits of africa live, laugh, weep and quarrel between the covers of this book. It is axiomatic that historians should use all available sources.
Purpose of the njelele rainmaking shrine through the oral testimonies of local. Oral histories are stories that living individuals tell about their past, or about the past of other people. The study was also undertaken because there is a lot of oral history of the minority groups in kenya like the yaaku, segeju and suba. Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families. Oral traditions as sources oxford research encyclopedia. The journal publishes textual analysis and criticism, historiographical and bibliographical essays, archival reports, and articles on the role of theory. Existing independently of writing for centuries yet interwoven with such technologies to the present day is a wide variety of oral traditions passed down from generation to generation through live performance, and widely. Historians rarely pause to reflect on the history and theory of our own discipline, but it is a salutary exercise, particularly when the discipline is as young as african history. This is a short history of africa excluding egypt, ethiopia and dutch and british south africa, which are the subjects of separate histories. African historiography has been on the cutting edge of methodological innovation for the last three decades, utilizing written sources, oral traditions, archeology, linguistics, ethnography, musicology, botany, and other techniques to bring respect and maturity to the field. Oral history association of south africa oral history.
Oral tradition and indigenous knowledge written documents are very important sources of history. Finally, i shall try to summarise some of the results of oral history in africa. After south africas first democratic elections in 1994, education in south. The use of oral tradition is a distinctive and essential element in many fields of african studies. The interview in which the professional historian records an elderly africans oral testimony about the past has a central place in the historical practices of african history as it emerged as an academic inquiry in the immediate postcolonial period of the late 1950s and early 1960s. The oral tradition is a living, and dynamic organism within the african community, and. The book is available as a free pdf and ebook download thanks to the generous support of interested readers and organisations, who made donations using the crowdfunding website unglue. Oral history is all about making contact with people, so join us at our annual meeting and please join the oral history association. African literature the influence of oral traditions on. Oral tradition as a historical source by kizerbo, joseph.
African literature african literature oral traditions and the written word. Preserving oral history is a critical first phase of genealogical research and data preservation. The oral tradition as a source of african history sage journals. Oral literature in africa has been accessed by hundreds of readers in over 60 different. Field collection of oral tradition has been revolutionized by the development of small, cheap, and portable tape recorders of reasonable.
Technologies such as writing and printing play a vital role in transmitting history, thought and creativity, and such technologies have a long history in west africa. Commission trc and subsequent oral history proj ects elevated testimony as part of the south. Oral history has been the major source of reconstructing the past of mainly oral societies, and thus has a particular relevance to the african continent. Oral history is a process where information is elicited through interviewing a person. Although written his tory existed for centuries in west af rica, most writing was in arabic, and the. Written by linda shopes, this guide presents an overview of oral history and ways historians use it, tips on questions to ask when reading or listening to oral history interviews, a sample. Jallow david henige 2006 traces the beginning of the use of oral tradition as historical evidence to the period after the second world war. These interviews are conducted with people who participated in or observed past events and whose memories and perceptions of these are to be preserved as an aural record for future generations. I argue for a reconstruction of preliterate african history from oral traditions. Letters, diaries, and even old shopping lists can tell us a lot about how people lived, what they thought and how they felt about what happened around them. Abstract a lot has been said about the slow death of the oral tradition aspect of indigenous communication. Historiography and methods of african history african. Oral literature in africa is part of the world oral literature series published in conjunction with the world oral literature project. This discussion is of particular relevance to african communities.
Making sense of oral history offers a place for students and teachers to begin working with oral history as historical evidence. The research methods are grounded in a social science approach. In spring 1980 the oral history journal in a black history edition featured articles on west indian migration by elizabeth thomashope, west indian communities in brixton by donald hinds, pakistani life histories in manchester by pnina werbner, and an overview of black labour by harry goulbourne. First and foremost, ohasa is a product of the post1994 political transformation and a baby of the department of arts and culture. Oral history is both the oldest type of historical inquiry, predating the written word, and one of the most modern, initiated with tape recorders in the 1940s and now using 21st. Understanding the traditional and contemporary purpose of the njelele rainmaking shrine through the oral testimonies of local people in matobo. Oral traditions as sources oxford research encyclopedia of. Oral history is a field of study and a method of gathering, preserving and interpreting the voices and memories of people, communities, and participants in past events.
Phenomenologys potential contribution to oral history lies first and foremost in this broad, overarching view of the subjectivity of knowledge. In particular, it reflects the richness of oral history in the african context through the voices of health workers and other individuals caught up in the development of hospicepalliative care across the continent. This sense of inferiority was unfortunately internalized to various degrees by the cultures themselves. The history of africa begins with the emergence of hominids, archaic humans andat least 200,000 years agoanatomically modern humans homo sapiens, in east africa, and continues unbroken into the present as a patchwork of diverse and politically developing nation states. Naison 2005 describes the bronx african american history project baahp, an oral. The importance of oral traditions in african history bartleby. One of the most crucial aspects of the development of philosophy of african history has been a realization of the importance of the spoken or oral traditions in the framing and interpretation of african history. In his pioneering work, oral tradition as history, vansina argued that storytelling was a culturally appropriate research method, although he had to convince the historical establishment that it was respectable.
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