Challenges of Studying Written and Oral Sources in Africa

One of the biggest issues facing Afri sack up historians is the fact that the orbit of actual African History is relatively new. A large majority of the reservoirs available are pen from the point of view of Europeans, with an Intended audience of Europeans. L In this swellhead method of reporting history, Africans were viewed more than as objects a people with a past plainly no history. 2 The create verbally historical sources leaved by imperialists robbed Africans of their voice.The ace challenge facing African historians Is to catch out a way to Inject the African voice Into the narrative, and thus roved a more accurate representation of the Continental history. This task presents more profound questions. What qualities make someone an African? Is it sufficient to be a black person living on the continent? atomic fall 18 there levels of ethnicity? Are the descendants of Africans brought to other parts of the world In the slave trade Africans? Ultimately, who decides w ho Is African? Equally problematic is the Issue regarding what represents a reasonable source, either pen or spoken.Each presents unique challenges that must be addressed in order to qualify the value of the In miscellaneaation they portend to provide. While the more traditional African historical sources are Invariably prone to the problem of European bias, cave paintings offer a source that was born out of a desire of an African (not a European) to docu handst their construes. For example, the rock art of Gill Kefir in what is present-day Egypt represents people allegedly engaging in the catchy of swimming. 3 This offers historians perhaps the oldest example of source material regarding African history. UT what does this Written source actually tell African historians? Most importantly, it definitively proves that someone was there, and through scientific dating cuisines, It indicates approximately when they were there. This is real, hard evidence, which underpins all historic al search. 4 This Is not to Infer that there are not problems with the use of the paintings as a source of usable evidence. The older a source is, it is more likely to be inaccurate. 5 Were the people in the paintings actually swimming, as scientists believe?Does that mean that the cast off where the cave paintings were found was once a land that contained lakes or rivers? Or did the cave painters devise their art from the second-hand memories of others who had traveled to faraway lands? What was the reason they chose to document their experience? Was it graffiti? Was it done for religious reasons? Was it a territorial marking? Archaeological sites are less prevalent in Africa than other parts of the world, which Is problematic In having the ability to compare this particular site to others.Further, the available pull in needed to compare these archaeological finds are fewer in number in African regions, and sometimes less accessible due to political reasons. The In pathation In the African archives that do exist Is often more difficult to deliver than traditional archival Information In that well-nigh African engages are oral examination, and not compose, and nearly impossible to document without the benefit of oral history. 6 How can African historians mitigate these challenges and OFF source?One suggestion is to actively search for other existing examples of cave paintings and to compare them based on materials, method, content, location, etcetera When such(prenominal) comparable examples do not exist, scientists could initiate more archaeological digs, extend communication among scientists to broaden the evidence base, and exert political pressure upon leaders to focus on scientific endeavors, as well as the preservation of the archives. Like historians in other parts of the world, African historians face the challenge of deteriorating archives because of damage caused by the elements, water damage, and insects. Traditional pen sources such as gov ernment documents, tax records, and newspapers may also be lost due to archival neglect. Historians must consider several criteria of source criticism to narrow down each written sources historical value. 8 Regardless of the name on the document, who was the actual source? What was the real purpose of the document? Who was the intended audience? Did the author have personal motives in reporting it in the manner in which he did? For example, most government documents from Colonial Africa were written by Europeans, with an intended European audience.There is no African voice in this history. Africans were treated like objects,9 and colonial imperialistic authors of written sources believed that they actually were generating history for the first time?that Africa (and Africans) had no history before their arrival. 10 Another limitation of written documents is that they are created from the point of view of an observer, and thus produce an opinion that is completely subjective, and t hereby, by definition, are open to other opinions and observations. To address the limitations of written documents, historians often attempt to incorporate oral sources in continuative with written sources in order to strengthen historical evidence. Anxiety about flawed written sources drew scholars away from libraries and into towns and villages for historical narrative. 12 The incorporation of oral history into the narrative makes it more evidential and gives the written documents a more verifiable African voice. Relying on written documents from the Colonial period without the incorporation of oral sources, in many cases, produces an inaccurate version of African history.Typically, in the African history provided by Colonial Europeans their culture, norms, and ideology were largely ignored. One of the key methods to avoid (the opening of denying Africans a voice in their own history) is to include a peoples own oral traditions and life histories in ethnographically and archaeol ogical work. 13 Because most African languages in Colonial Africa were oral and not written,14 it is imperative to consider oral sources to bolster the evidence provided by written sources. oral examination sources can provide a wealthiness of historical evidence.For example, Historical linguists use oral sources to accurately track the movement of people across the continent. 15 This evidence of human migration can help excuse cultural change, which is important when considering that a lack of concentration of people in a particular area makes a study of their culture less possible. literal histories offer first-hand accounts of events. These oral histories evolve into oral traditions16 stories passed down from generation to generation, offering us a glimpse of pre-colonial Africa not found in the Euro-centric written documents of imperialists.Oral sources obviously can complement the written, a realization that was for too long lost on most professional order to strengthen writ ten sources to form cohesive historical evidence is Jan Vinson, who establi bedevil that the stories handed down from one generation to another Were as stable and reliable accounts of their past as were the written chronicles and personal narratives (and) that in fact they were of the same genre. 18 In Bananas own words by creating a lifelike setting, (oral tradition) gives evidence about how situations as they were observed, as well as about beliefs discovering situations. 19 Thus, oral sources, through both shared oral history and oral traditions, combined with written sources, form a more credible account of historical occurrences than written sources alone provide. Oral sources, though, are not without their limitations. (H)Astoria can place trust in oral sources only to the extent that they can be verified by means of external evidence of another kind, such as archaeological, linguistic, or cultural. 20 Oral sources are subject to misinterpretation because of selective or col lective memory, rumor, myth, or hearsay. That being said, oral sources subject to these limitations unbosom offer substance, because historians can still study why the subjects believe it happened that way. 22 African historians can mitigate the limitations of oral sources by searching for information that is precious, if not as historical evidence, but as information that is not readily apparent through the written archive. While attempting to glean evidence from a source on one topic, a historian may gain knowledge of another unintended topic.Ultimately, it is the duty of the historian to subject all written accounts to radical internal and external analysis to determine authenticity and credibility. If the accounts are thoroughly contemplated, and the texts can be compared to one another with the information contained in oral and other sources, they will continue to yield valuable information on the history of Africa. 23 These things considered if an historian wanted to get an approximation of how many Africans were enslaved, maimed or killed in the occupation of King Leopold in the Congo, where would they start? What sources would they utilize, and what would they expect to find?What there information superpower they accidentally stumble upon? I propose that a good place to start would be to examine any existing hospital documents from 1885-1908, to determine if there is a written record of the number of people treated for loss of limbs. Local censuses (if available), police records, legions ledgers, property records, death certificates might also prove as fruitful written resources. Additionally, missionary records in the region mighty prove to be valuable, curiously considering that they would probably not require translation, lessening the possibility that any information would be mistranslated.Another possible valuable written source might be records in the Belgian archive, or that of the present-day Democratic Republic of Congo. The historian mi ght hope to find information or documents concerning the Congo Reform Association, which might shed some light on the information she seeks. Additionally, research on the Congo Free State propaganda war and the International Association of the Congo might provide valuable useful written sources of evidence of injuries and deaths to those enslaved at that time.One might also be able to glean useful information from historical-based literature, such as Joseph Concords midsection of Darkness, Sir Arthur Cowan Doles The Crime of the Congo, and Bertrand Russell Freedom and Organization. Research on the parties evidence of the atrocities in the region, including Edmund Dine Muriel, Roger Casement and the aforementioned Bertrand Russell. Local museums might contain artwork from the region during Loopholes occupation that captures the outrage, desperation and helplessness of the affected.By speaking to locals, she might teach, through oral tradition, the stories passed down from generatio n to generation about the occupation. In the unlikely, yet still possible event, that any 106-year-old residents still survive, they would be able to provide first-hand oral history. Other than gaining information regarding the number of enslaved, killed and maimed, she would, in all probability, gain an understanding of the long-term effects of the occupation of Leopold upon the citizens, as well as information of how Loopholes occupation came to an end due to intense international criticism.Possible obstacles that she might experience In retreat, Leopold may have destroyed written evidence of the atrocities, as well as local artwork or libraries. His regime may have been so strict that any expression, either written or oral, was prohibited and subject to the same penalties as those who refused to work in the mines, or underperformed in their duties, diminishing oral sources. Lets consider that the same historian endeavored to shoot the approximate number of the descendants of dia sporas Africans who returned to partake in the so-called redeeming of Africa. Where might she begin, and what would she expect to find? What limitations might she encounter? What other information might she learn along the way? A good starting mint would be to visit the archives in Liberia and Sierra Leone countries set up as places of African repatriation for freed slaves. There, she could view the legal records regarding who came back and when they returned, who their family members were, where they lived, as well as their professions. Available Census documents would prove to be invaluable in that regard.Ships manifests would reflect the number of passengers returning to these countries, as well as the number of family members that accompanied them. She could research the founders of both countries, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, the first president of Liberia, and Christopher Koru Cole and Osaka Stevens, early leaders of Sierra Leone, to find documents pertaining to the numbers of retu rning Africans. She could study historical literature about repatriation, such as Back to Africa the Colonization Movement in Early Africa by herds grass Crummier, as well as Black Migration in America a Social Demographic History by Daniel M.Johnson and Rexes R. Campbell. She could also read the works of the men who themselves returned, such as George Washington Williams, Samuel Jay Crotchet, and Henry McNealy Turner. 4 Some limitations she might experience in her research inconclusive data due to the relative impossible action of proving that they (or their descendants) were indeed originally removed from the continent. Incomplete or inaccurate documentation might also prove to be a stumbling block in attaining this information.Additional research on topics such as the American Colonization Society, and the histories of both Liberia and Sierra Leone would not only provide numerical data, but also undoubtedly uncover unintended useful information about the achievements and politi cal and religious aims of those who returned, as well as how hey were received. Did they consider themselves more civilized than the native Africans whose descendants had not been removed from the continent?What other the reasons why some Africans did not return, even though they had the opportunity. Through personal interviews of present-day citizens who are descendants of returning freed slaves she could learn of the oral traditions they had developed. She might also learn of the artwork prevalent in these regions, as well as the folklore and literature that the return to Africa produced, and how it differed from that of indigenous Africans. As a recognized academic endeavor, (African history) has emerged only in the last four or five decades. 25 Until recently, African history was written by and for Europeans, and as such, didnt provide a realistic depiction of the people, the culture, and the overall actual history of the continent, but served more as a record of White encroachm ent, and functioned as a tool of propaganda to real the civilizing mission of Europeans. By altering traditional methodology and utilizing both written and oral sources, a more accurate picture of African history ND its people can be discovered and studied.Beyond the fade of imperialistic African history, there is a real history of the African continent that invites further study, and such an endeavor is necessary in restoring the African voice. If we fail to do so, (w)e run the risk of not only denying people a voice in the reconstruction of their own history, but offending and demeaning indigenous cultures when we use them as a model for the past without recognizing not only their changing past but their active involvement in changing and/or maintaining their identities and history in the present. 26