African Testimony Reported in European Travel Literature: What Did Paul Soleillet and Camille Piétri Hear and Why Does No One Recount It Now?

1991 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 143-158
Author(s):  
John H. Hanson
Keyword(s):  
Travel Literature ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Textual Criticism ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Oral Narratives ◽  
Source Criticism ◽  
The Past ◽  
Principal Value ◽  
Special Category ◽  
Written Sources

European visitors to Africa frequently report versions of oral narratives in their travel accounts from the precolonial era. Beatrix Heintze cautions against the uncritical use of these narratives, arguing that they are a “special category of source to which one must apply not only all the criteria for the analysis of oral traditions, but also the sort of source criticism specific to written sources.” Her call for textual criticism is appropriate, but her recommendations regarding the oral aspects of the information raise several issues: what criteria should be adopted for the analysis of oral narratives and what insights into the past do these materials provide? Heintze assumes that oral narratives present “concrete historical data” with “literal” meanings which become “more abstract over the course of time.” She sees the principal value of European-mediated accounts as providing access to the factual statements and initial metaphors from which emerged the more abstract historical clichés expressed by informants in contemporary Africa.

Oral Tradition and Sierra Leone History

1985 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 65-72
Author(s):  
C. Magbaily Fyle
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Oral Histories ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The West ◽  
The Past ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Human Problem ◽  
Written Sources

This paper attempts to examine specific problems encountered with the collection and interpretation of oral traditions in Sierra Leone and ways in which these were approached. I will suggest with examples that problems facing oral traditions are not always peculiar to them, as the researcher with written sources faces some similar problems.Much has been said about methodology in collecting oral tradition for it to warrant much discussion here. One point that has been, brought out, however, is that methods which work well for one situation might prove disastrous or unproductive in another. It is thus necessary to bring out specific examples of situations encountered so as to improve our knowledge of the possible variety of approaches that could be used, while emphasizing that the researcher, as a detective, should have enough room for initiative.For the past eight years, I have been collecting oral histories from among the Yalunka (Dialonke) and Koranko of Upper Guinea, both southern Mande peoples, and the Limba and Temne, grouped under the ‘West Atlantic.’ Extensive exploration into written sources has indicated that similar problems arise in both cases. In both situations, the human problem was evident. For the oral traditionist this problem is more alive as he is dealing first hand with human beings. A number of factors therefore, like his appearance, approach to his informants, his ability to ‘identify’ with the society in question, may affect the information he receives. These could provide reasons for distortion which are not necessarily present with written sources.

scholarly journals The Remo Denomination. An Inquíry into the Ethnohistory of the Ucayali Basin

1970 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 61-103
Author(s):  
Łukasz Krokoszyński
Keyword(s):  
Historical Data ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Short Description ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Social Organizations ◽  
The Past ◽  
Historical Accounts

The arttile was originally published without an abstract. Short description written by Michał Gilewski The article is dedicated to the uses of the term Remo on the Ucayali. Its goal is to present all historical data available. It includes historical accounts of the groups called the Remos, oral traditions of groups connected with Remos and informations of social organizations of related Panoan groups. Author suggests that “comparing data on the past presented by contemporary Panoan groups and their conceptions of identity, the author hopes to indicate a possibility of another view on the native social reality”.

Oral Traditions

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chip Colwell
Keyword(s):  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Oral Narratives ◽  
Oral Histories ◽  
Southwest Archaeology ◽  
The Past ◽  
Ways Of Thinking ◽  
Native Literature ◽  
Descendant Communities

Never before have oral narratives been more important in Southwest archaeology than they are today. Spoken histories—variously known as oral traditions, oral histories, Native literature, and verbal arts—play key roles in fostering a dialogue between descendant communities and archaeologists, affording broader anthropological understandings of Native cultures and their heritage, and providing novel and more informed understandings of the past. Ultimately, oral traditions are a cultural act of memory, often enveloped in metaphor but grounded in real historic events, personalities, and processes. Oral tradition and archaeology are, at base, not irreconcilably different, but rather two complementary ways of thinking and talking about the past.

The History of the Baga in Early Written Sources

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 381-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.E.H. Hair
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Past History ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Language Group ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Written Sources

The extent of secure knowledge of the past of the groups of people known in scholarly literature as Baga is inconsiderable. This is in part because of the limited European interest in past times in the Baga homeland (on the coast of the post-colonial state of Guinée), and also in part because of limited scholarly investigations in recent times (the post-colonial state did not help by for long exiling or barring from access non-Marxist scholars).Ethnographic and linguistic investigations have been undertaken only since the mid-nineteenth century and still amount to very little, with even less in print. Archeological investigations have yet to begin, apart from the brave attempt of Fred Lamp to date certain artefacts stylistically. As a result, in the 1990s the connotation and exact range of application of the term “Baga” remain unclear and the precise linguistic relationship of “the Baga language” with those neighboring languages that appear to form a language group is known only in outline. What this means that it is impossible to sum up the earlier history of the Baga briefly. The reader who continues and bravely tackles the listing and discussion of sources that follows will, however, be able to assess how much of the history can be securely reconstructed.It is understandable that the desire to construct a history for the Baga has latterly turned on the interpretation of oral traditions. Such traditions now preferred by the Baga—or at least by certain sections, strata, or individuals—are patently of great interest to the anthropologist inasmuch as they depict what the present-day Baga, or some of them, wish to see as their past history and thus throw light on contemporary ideology and popular mindsets.

EPITAFIES OF THE RELATIVES OF HADJI IBRAHIM AL-URADI AS A SOURCE ON THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE SCIENTIST AND ON THE HISTORY OF GIDATL

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 13-21
Author(s):  
Sh M Khapizov ◽  
M G Shekhmagomedov
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
Medieval History ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
The Past ◽  
Arabic Script ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Culture ◽  
The Look ◽  
Cultural Monuments ◽  
Written Sources

The article is devoted to the study of inscriptions on the gravestones of Haji Ibrahim al-Uradi, his father, brothers and other relatives. The information revealed during the translation of these inscriptions allows one to date important events from the history of Highland Dagestan. Also we can reconsider the look at some important events from the past of Hidatl. Epitaphs are interesting in and of themselves, as historical and cultural monuments that needed to be studied and attributed. Research of epigraphy data monuments clarifies periodization medieval epitaphs mountain Dagestan using record templates and features of the Arabic script. We see the study of medieval epigraphy as one of the important tasks of contemporary Caucasian studies facing Dagestani researchers. Given the relatively weak illumination of the picture of events of that period in historical sources, comprehensive work in this direction can fill gaps in our knowledge of the medieval history of Dagestan. In addition, these epigraphs are of great importance for researchers of onomastics, linguistics, the history of culture and religion of Dagestan. The authors managed to clarify the date of death of Ibrahim-Haji al-Uradi, as well as his two sons. These data, the attraction of written sources and legends allowed the reconstruction of the events of the second half of the 18th century. For example, because of the epidemic of plague and the death of most of the population of Hidatl, this society noticeably weakened and could no longer maintain its influence on Akhvakh. The attraction of memorable records allowed us to specify the dates of the Ibrahim-Haji pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, as well as the route through which he traveled to these cities.

COMBINING ORAL TRADITIONS AND BAYESIAN CHRONOLOGICAL MODELING TO UNDERSTAND VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT IN THE GULF OF PAPUA (PAPUA NEW GUINEA)

Radiocarbon ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Chris Urwin ◽  
Quan Hua ◽  
Henry Arifeae
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Spatial History ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Gulf Of Papua ◽  
The Village

ABSTRACT When European colonists arrived in the late 19th century, large villages dotted the coastline of the Gulf of Papua (southern Papua New Guinea). These central places sustained long-distance exchange and decade-spanning ceremonial cycles. Besides ethnohistoric records, little is known of the villages’ antiquity, spatiality, or development. Here we combine oral traditional and 14C chronological evidence to investigate the spatial history of two ancestral village sites in Orokolo Bay: Popo and Mirimua Mapoe. A Bayesian model composed of 35 14C assays from seven excavations, alongside the oral traditional accounts, demonstrates that people lived at Popo from 765–575 cal BP until 220–40 cal BP, at which time they moved southwards to Mirimua Mapoe. The village of Popo spanned ca. 34 ha and was composed of various estates, each occupied by a different tribe. Through time, the inhabitants of Popo transformed (e.g., expanded, contracted, and shifted) the village to manage social and ceremonial priorities, long-distance exchange opportunities and changing marine environments. Ours is a crucial case study of how oral traditional ways of understanding the past interrelate with the information generated by Bayesian 14C analyses. We conclude by reflecting on the limitations, strengths, and uncertainties inherent to these forms of chronological knowledge.

scholarly journals Seeing Children in Prehistory: A View from Bronze Age Ireland

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Mark Haughton
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
The Past ◽  
Written Sources

Despite growing strength in recent decades, an archaeology of childhood has often been overlooked by those studying prehistory. This is concerning because communities are enlivened by their children, and conversations with and about children often provide a critical arena for the discussion of aspects of societies which prehistorians are comfortable addressing, such as social structure, identity and personhood. Through an exploration of childhood as expressed in the Earlier Bronze Age burials from Ireland, this article demonstrates that neither written sources, artistic depictions nor toys are necessary to speak of children in the past. Indeed, an approach which tacks between scales reveals subtle trends in the treatment of children which speak to wider shared concerns and allows a reflection on the role of children in prehistory.

scholarly journals Genealogy’s Assumptions about Written Records and Originality

Genealogy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Stephen B. Hatton
Keyword(s):  
Political Power ◽  
Social Perspectives ◽  
The Past ◽  
Loss And Damage ◽  
Critical Interpretation ◽  
Written Sources ◽  
Bureaucratic Organizations

This article probes characteristics of writing relevant to assumptions genealogical practitioners make about written sources they use as evidence. Those infrequently examined assumptions include the assumption that writing represents past reality, that truth univocally denotes correspondence between writing’s discourse and an event or act that occurred in the past, and that writing is transparent in its reference and, therefore, not in need of critical interpretation relating to such things as reflecting political power and cultural and social perspectives. Many genealogical records are produced by bureaucratic organizations that follow practices and processes related to writing that are not aligned with the uncritical use of those records by genealogists. There is a gap between writing and what it signifies. Writing is unstable, and its evolving material technologies make it susceptible to loss and damage. The article also overviews some potential issues with assuming that the originality of records implies greater reliability.

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