bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Use of Comorian Documents
Authors: Ottenheimer Martin 
Published: May 2006

The Comorian archipelago is located at the northern end of the Mozambique channel in the western Indian Ocean. Of volcanic origin, the archipelago consists of four major islands and several smaller ones which, for many centuries, have been the sites of ports for ships from Asia, Africa, and Europe. They played an especially prominent role in the networks of maritime trade in the Indian Ocean during the fifteenth century and were involved in the maritime trade much earlier. As one would expect of people involved in trade over a long period of time, Comorians have been keepers of records. Thus, the Comoro Islands have become a rich source of both written and oral documents.Some of the numerous documents that have been discovered on the islands have served as the basis of the published histories of the Comoros. Others have been published themsleves and all have provided valuable information about life in the islands. Many documents, however, still remain unpublished. I have had the opportunity to collect numerous documents over the nearly twenty years that I have been gathering information about the Comoro Islands, and this collection continues to grow today. When I am not in the islands, Comorians send or bring documents to me in Kansas which I copy or record before returning them to their owners. During my trips to the islands I have taped oral information, photographed data of historical significance, hand-copied documents, and have been given or lent rare publications.
Hausa Poems as Sources for Social and Economic History, II
Authors: Duffill M. B. 
Published: May 2006

In the following commentary on three Hausa poems presented in Part I of this essay, I attempt to analyze each poem, paying greatest attention toWakar Talauci da Wadata. First I take up the matter of the dating of the poem from internal evidence and follow that with some general observations on the problems and methods involved in the analysis. The detailed commentary onWakar Talauci da Wadatafollows, divided into four sections: an examination of the objective conditions of poverty and wealth as they are presented in the poem; a discussion of the subjective evaluation of the condition of poverty and the condition of wealth, as Darho observed it among the Hausa; an examination of the way in which women are represented in the poem; and a discussion of the proposition that there are contradictions in the poem itself and in the social position of the poet. After discussingWakar Madugu YahayaandWakar Abinda, I try to placeWakar Talauci da Wadatain the comparative context of several Western European literary products and one Arabic. The object of this excursus is to show that in the literature of other cultures, more or less distant in both time and space, there have been concerns and preoccupations that are essentially the same as those that occupied the mind of Darho.Unlike the 1903 version of the poem used by Pilaszewicz and Tahir/Goody, the version from the Mischlich collection is undated, but there is internal evidence to suggest that the poem was composed no earlier than 1874/75 and probably between 1896 and 1910.
Reversible Social Processes, Historical Memory, and the Production of History
Authors: Roberts Richard 
Published: May 2006

In my research on gender relations and household dynamics in the handicraft textile industry of the western Sudan, I have been frustrated by the silences in the oral record concerning changes during the early colonial period. Whereas I have been able to reconstruct the social history of the precolonial era, including the changes induced by increased use of slave labor, my informants have been silent on what I would consider equally significant changes in the early colonial period.Using colonial sources, I have been able to reconstruct the broad contours of the period following the end of slavery, which hint at profound changes in the nature of the textile industry, gender relations, and household dynamics. These would, I anticipated on the basis of my previous fieldwork, be exactly the kind of transformative social change which would be recalled in the oral record. They ought to have become a central part of the social construction of the meaning of historical processes. But, as far as I have been able to determine, this has not been the case. Detail on gender relations and the productive processes appear again in my informants' accounts for the period just before and after World War II, drawn from personal experience. This paradox—apparently richer evidence in the oral record for an earlier era than for a chronologically closer one—has implications for both fieldwork strategies and for social history.
Knowledge Brokers: Books and Publishers in Early Colonial Zaire
Authors: Yates Barbara A. 
Published: May 2006

This paper is concerned with the process, problems, and politics of knowledge transfer in King Leopold's Congo. Since European languages were infrequently taught in Congo schools, the availability of printed materials in local African languages served as the primary means of achieving literacy and subsequently knowledge beyond that learned through practical experience.With the exception of Swahili, used in the Eastern Congo as a lingua franca, none of the several dozen major languages or the several hundred minor languages and dialects spoken in the Congo Basin had been reduced to written form before modern missionaries established themselves there beginning in 1879. Between 1879 and 1908, when the Congo was the personal possession of Leopold II, nineteen Congolese languages were reduced to written form and more than 400 titles in these languages were published. To the sophisticated modern reader such a narrow choice of literature may seem unworthy of study. But this printed media stock--primers, readers, textbooks, religious tracts, Gospels, and magazines--was all that was available to some tens of thousands of seekers after literacy and the major printed communications between Westerners and Africans in the Congo Basin. This fact, alone, gives such materials significance.Most of this literature was prepared for use in elementary schools. In 1908, when King Leopold's Congo was annexed by the Belgian Parliament, some 46,000 pupils of all ages were enrolled in colonial schools. Another 50,000 had probably attended these schools between 1879 and 1908. Over ninety-nine percent of these pupils attended schools run by eighteen mission societies (nine Protestant and nine Catholic).
La Renaissance de l'histoire eotile dans les années soixante
Authors: Perrot Claude-Hélène 
Published: May 2006

Dans le Sud-Est de la Côte d'Ivoire le début des années soixante est marqué par la tentative de sécession du Sanwi et ses retombées. Le roi du Sanwi, décidant de se détacher de l'Etat ivoirien qui vient d'accéder à l'independance, est allé avec ses partisans s'établir au Ghana où il a formé un gouvernement provisoire. II donne légitimité à ce mouvement en faisant référence au traité d'alliance qu'un de ses prédécesseurs Amon Ndiffou avait signé avec la France, représentée par Fleuriot de Langle, le 4 Juillet 1843.L'érection du Sanwi en Etat indépendant est le signal d'une sévère politique de répression qui s'abat sur les Anyi de la région. A Aboisso régne le sous-préfet Haccandie qui met en place un réseau d'agents de renseignements dans un pays où les villages et les families sont profondément divisées par ce qu'on commence à appeler “I'affaire du Sanwi”. En outre les crédits affectés à la région sont drastiquement réduits. Or antérieurement le Sanwi avait été le premier pôle de développement de la Colonie, dotée d'un important réseau routier pour l'écoulement des “produits” (café, cacao) et d'équipements sanitaires et scolaires. Et brusquement ce pays, d'où était issue une élite de lettrés et de fonctionnaires, se trouve déiaissé, voire sacxifie, au bénéfice d'autres parties de la Côte d'Ivoire.
William Ofori Atta, Nnambi Azikiwe, J.B. Danquah and the “Grilling” of W.E.F. Ward of Achimota in 1935
Authors: Jenkins† Ray 
Published: May 2006

In December 1932 J. B. Danquah identified five stages or “ages” in the coastal political history, or the “national history,” of the Gold Coast. This paper may be described as a temporary departure from a preoccupation with “Ages” two, three, and four (1867-1930) and a tentative entry into the study of the fifth: Danquah's post-1930 “Age of Enlightenment.” What follows therefore is more of a shift in time than of space and focus—the area and arena of coastal politics in the colonial Gold Coast. If a new age did dawn in the 1930s, then for an influential core of today's Ghanaianist historians, it would seem that the turning point occurred in 1935. In that year the radical response of I.T.A. Wallace-Johnson and Nnambi Azikiwe (“Zik”) to the Ethiopian crisis galvanized those forces that presaged the later emergence of Kwame Nkrumah, one of history's winners. In sharp contrast, J.B. Danquah, one of history's losers, represented the continuity of past conservatism during—and after—the 1930s.A bold attempt to confirm or contradict the 1935 “discontinuity thesis” is beyond the scope of this progress report on an act of trespass into the 1930s. The modest outcome of the latter is a snapshot of Accra-based politics. It tries to bring into focus several elements: the texture, style, and ‘reach’ of urban-based politics and politicians; the place of the study and teaching of history in anticolonial nationalist thought; and the extent to which rhetoric served as a mask for the pursuit of group or personal grievance and ambition. In short, this paper re-examines an old theme—the relationship between past history and present politics, albeit within the confines of a British colonial state.
Mythe, Politique et Histoire: Le Mythe De Mande Katawa Chez Les “Luluwa” Du Kasayi
Authors: Ngalamulume Kalala 
Published: May 2006

En Novembre 1985, à l'occasion de la finale de la Coupe du Zaire des clubs champions opposant Tshinkunku de Kananga à Bilima de Kinshasa, la “UNE” de la rubrique sportive du quotidien de Kinshasa Salongo décrivait ainsi la mobilisation des habitants de Kananga:L'hallali de guerre résonna: toutes les vieilles sorcières des BakwaKatawa et Bena Mutombo accoururent “nues” à l'appel du grand chefKalamba pour immoler Bilima.Ce reportage, qui passa presqu'inaperçu, avait pourtant un caractère hautement symbolique puisqu'il traduisait une réalité devenue banale: la division de fait du groupe ethnique “Luluwa,” qui avait cent ans d'existence, en deux groupes distincts, les Bakwa Katawa et les Bena Mutombo.Ce constat nous poussa à en savoir davantage sur les origines du groupe ethnique usager du Ciluba appelé “Luluwa,” sur les influences que le groupe a subies, la stabilisation de sa dénomination, le moment privilègié de la création de ce groupe, et enfin la dynamique de sa scission en deux groupes presque antagonistes. Notre hypothèse de travail est que l'administration coloniale n'a pas créé de toutes pièces un groupe ethnique ex nihilo; elle a mis en place un cadre et des institutions qui ont permis l'élargissement de l'identité ethnique existante à un ensemble plus grand. Il en est résulté un “centre“ et une “périphérie.” Le centre comprend les descendants de Mande Katawa (Bena Kapuku, Bena Mande, Bena Mukadi, et Bena Mukangala), les descendants de Ntiite Maloba, et ceux de Muena Mushilu; ces clans entourent en quelque sorte la ville de Kananga. La “périphérie” comprend tous les clans qui ont en commun l'éloignement géographique de la ville de Kananga, et done un accès un peu tardif à la modernité.
“Proprietor of Natal:” Henry Francis Fynn and the Mythography of Shaka
Authors: Wylie Dan 
Published: May 2006

If ever South Africa could boast of a Robinson Crusoe of her own, as affable, shrewd, politically sagacious, courageous and large-hearted as Defoe's, here is one to life… “Mr Fynn”[Fynn is] a greater ass and Don Quixote than one could possibly conceive.The fictional referents in these diametrically opposed judgments of Henry Francis Fynn (1806-61) alert us to the “constructed” nature of the reputation of this most famous of Shakan eyewitnesses. Although Nathaniel Isaacs' Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa (1836) first introduced Shaka and his Zulu people to the British reading public, and had easily the profoundest influence on popular conceptions, Fynn was the more widely acknowledged “expert” on the Zulu. Having pursued an extraordinarily tortuous, violent, and well-documented career through forty formative years of South African frontier history, he left a body of writings which belatedly attained authoritative status in Shakan historiography. Since 1950, Fynn's so-called “Diary” has become the paramount, and until recently largely unquestioned, source on Shaka's famous reign (ca. 1815-1828). As recent political power struggles centered on the “Shaka Day” celebrations in Zululand have amply demonstrated, there is no more appropriate juncture at which to reassess the sources of this semi-mythologized Zulu leader's reputation.
Relocating Labor: Sources from the Nineteenth Century
Authors: Rockel Stephen 
Published: May 2006

It is generally recognized that during the period from ca. 1450 to 1900, when commercial relations between sub-Saharan Africa and the outside world were extended and strengthened, a wide range of systems and institutions for mobilizing labor were in use in different regions. I speak here of those operating beyond the primary locus of household and lineage. Such means of labor production and control ranged from chattel slavery to pawnship, corvées, various kinds of patronclient relations, bride service, cooperative labor, and also, in more and more contexts over time, wage labor. Slavery, of course, has received the attention of many scholars, as have some of the other categories. However the study of wage labor in precolonial times is still in its infancy.For those wishing to pursue research on precolonial wage labor in Africa the lack of documentary sources has proved to be a significant barrier. The nature of proletarianized or semi-proletarianized wage labor in colonial societies or societies closely tied into the capitalist system usually demands of researchers that they look to sources of an official or institutional nature. For example, one can think of the records of companies, trade unions, benefit societies, colonial governments, courts, commissions of inquiry, and so on. But for precolonial Africa these types of documentary sources usually do not exist. This has led many scholars to say that the concept of wage labor is itself not useful when contemplating African labor systems before the onset of colonization. They point to the lack of a cash currency, continuing ties to the land, the temporary nature of much work, the absence of a bourgeoisie, apparent lack of worker consciousness, and so on. But there are other difficulties less related to such theoretical conceptions and generalizations about the supposed non-existence of wage labor which have severely taxed the most resolute historian, and help explain the dearth of written sources.
Archival Research in Antananarivo, Madagascar: The National Archives
Authors: Kaufmann Jeffrey C. 
Published: May 2006

The Malagasy proverb “You can't catch a locust if your armpit is not close to the ground” (Ny valala tsy azo raha tsy andrian'elika) perhaps characterizes archival research in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. There are at least eight research facilities with archival materials in town: the National Archives (Foiben'ny Arisivam-Pirenena Malagasy); the Academie Malgache; CIDST (Centre d'Information et de Documentation Scientifique et Technique); the National Library (Tranomboky-Pirenena); the University Library; and three church archives (American Lutheran, Norwegian Lutheran, and Catholic). In this paper I give some background information on the collections in the National Archives, outline how to use the facilities, provide an annotated bibliography of the finding aids there, and give some tips for one's stay in Antananarivo.Madagascar's National Archives inherited many documents from the monarchical period. At the beginning of the colonial administration, the French deposited royal documents at the Queen's Palace (Rova) in Antananarivo. During their occupation they added documents from the territorial and central administrations. The whole collection was transferred to French headquarters before the Malagasy direction of Civil Affairs was created. On 1 March 1958 the Service des Archives de Madagascar was instituted. From then on, the archives have been under the jurisdiction of the head of government.The National Archives are remarkable for their materials on the following topics: the history of the Malagasy people; their customs and practices; and their way of thinking that distinguishes them from the majority of other people. Moreover, the National Archives have collections that do not exist in other libraries, such as the Academie Malagasy and CIDST.
The J. S. M. Matsebula Collection at the University of Swaziland
Authors: Woodson Dorothy C. 
Published: May 2006

On 24 November 1989 the Library at the University of Swaziland in Kwaluseni formally received a large portion of the papers and manuscripts of the eminent Swazi writer, historian, statesman, and current chief executive of the Swaziland National Trust, J. S. M. Matsebula. The deposit of these papers has formed the nucleus of a small, but interesting and rapidly expanding, Swaziana Collection and this contribution, it is hoped, will inspire other prominent Swazis and scholars of Swaziland similarly to deposit their materials. The preeminent anthropologist, Hilda Kuper, has recently offered her large and valuable collection of manuscripts and field notes to the University of Swaziland, and the elder statesman, J. J. Nquku, founder of the Swaziland Progressive Party (among other accomplishments), is preparing his personal papers for the Collection as well. Additionally, it has just been learned that the Swaziland Oral History Project materials will be transferred to the University of Swaziland from the University of the Witwatersrand.James Shadrack Mkhulunyelwa Matsebula was born in 1918, outside Mbabane, the capital of Swaziland, into a family which has traditionally played a significant role in ritual Swazi royal life. The King's first wife is chosen from the Matsebulas and is known as laMatsebula. He was educated in Swaziland and South Africa and has written on a wide variety of topics in several genres and languages.
Masking Sunjata: A Hermeneutical Critique
Authors: Jansen Jan 
Published: May 2006

Among the rich legacy of African oral traditions, the Sunjata epic is still one of the most complex phenonema, because it undoubtedly goes back to the times of Ibn Battuta, because of the limited variety between the available text editions, and because of its present-day popularity in sub-Saharan West Africa among people of all kinds of social background. In scholarly discussion, the epic has challenged many academics since Delafosse used the Sunjata epic as evidence for his reconstruction of the Mali empire as a thirteenth-century vast centralized polity. Although his views have been criticized since then, they have become part of history lessons at primary schools in Mali, the Gambia, Senegal, and Guinea. All these countries belong to the so-called “Mande,” an area inhabited by various ethnic groups that have close similarities in language, oral tradition, and social organization.In the last decade History in Africa has given room to discuss the Sunjata epic, in particular in order to explore how data from the epic can be used as historical sources, and as what history for whom. Articles by David Conrad, Tim Geysbeek, Stephan Bühnen, Stephen Bulman, Kathryn Green, George Brooks, Ralph Austen, and myself come my mind. All these authors have treated the Sunjata epic as a text. This seems to be a logical and inevitable choice for the historian.However, this approach implies a choice that limits the range of interpretations which can be made about the Sunjata traditions as a source for African history.
Effects of grazing, competition, disturbance and fire on species composition and diversity in grassland communities
Authors: Belsky A. Joy 
Published: May 2006

Abstract.The effects of grazing, physical disturbance, interspecific competition, and fire on populations of individual species and on the structure and diversity of grassland communities were investigated in short‐, mid‐, and tall‐grasslands in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. The treatments included deep and shallow artificial disturbances, early dry‐season burning, and removal of dominant grass species from 2m2plots located inside and outside of large‐mammal‐proof exclosures. Species‐cover data were collected for five years and analyzed by analysis of variance and diversity indices.In all three communities, protection from grazing and physical disturbance had greater impacts on species cover and diversity than removal of dominant species or fire. More species were significantly affected (positively and negatively) by disturbance and protection from grazing (50 ‐ 100%) than by species removals and fire (< 41%). In most cases, the cover of tall, perennial species increased following protection from grazing while the cover of annual and short, perennial species decreased. Over the five years of the study, vegetatively reproducing species benefited more than sexually reproducing species from protection from grazing, and tall rhizomatous species benefited more than tall stoloniferous species.Disturbance caused annual and short perennial species to increase and tall perennials to decrease in cover. Following species removals, tall species were either unaffected or they increased in cover while some short species increased and others decreased in cover. Species diversity in two of the three communities decreased when the communities were protected from grazing but increased when disturbed, when dominant species were removed, and when burned.
Latitudinal pattern of mountain vegetation zonation in southern and eastern Asia
Authors: Ohsawa Masahiko 
Published: May 2006

AbstractA new scheme of altitudinal and latitudinal vegetation zonation is proposed for eastern Asia. The latitudinal patterns of mountain vegetation zonation show a clear boundary at ca. 20°–30° N. For the tropical mountains south of 20° N, the altitudinal series includes tropical lowland, tropical lower montane, and tropical upper montane zones. For the temperate mountains north of 30° N, the series includes temperate lowland, temperate lower montane, and temperate upper montane zones. The mountains located between 20° and 30° N show a transitional zonation pattern; the lower two zones are comparable to the lower two of the tropical zonation (tropical lowland and tropical lower montane), and the upper two zones are comparable to those of the temperate zonation (temperate lower montane and temperate upper montane). The tropical upper montane zone is not found north of 20°–30° N, while the tropical lower montane zone reaches down to sea level and constitutes the temperate lowland zone. Thus the zonation between 20° and 30° N includes tropical lowland, tropical lower montane/temperate lowland, temperate lower montane, and temperate upper montane zones.The latitudinal series of lowland rain forests follows the scheme of climatic division into tropical, subtropical/warm‐temperate, cool‐temperate and cold‐temperate, with a shift of the respective life forms, evergreen, evergreen notophyllous, deciduous, and evergreen needle‐leaved. The tropical lower montane forest can be correlated to the horizontal subtropical/ warm‐temperate zone. The temperate altitudinal and latitudinal zonations above 30° N are correlated and show an inclined parallel pattern from high altitudes in the south to low altitudes down to sea level in the north.