The power of the pen in African history; composing, editing and manipulating history for political legitimation: comparing Ethiopia's Kebrä Nägäst and Songhai's Tārīkh al-fattāsh.
The power of the pen in African history; composing, editing and manipulating history for political legitimation: comparing Ethiopia's Kebrä Nägäst and Songhai's Tārīkh al-fattāsh.
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Until recently, Africa was considered by many as a land without writing, where all information about the past was transmitted orally and griots sung praises of ancient kings, and that when a griot dies, “its like a library was burned down". But the discovery, translation and study of the voluminous collections of manuscripts from across the continent has rendered obsolete this inacurate and fanciful description of the African past; from Senegal to Ethiopia, from Sudan to Angola, African scribes, rulers, scholars and elites were actively engaged in the production of written information, creating sophisticated works of science, theology, history, geography and philosophy. The discursive traditions of these african writers weren't restricted to the elite as its often misconceived but was widely spread to the masses to whom these writings were read out orally in public gatherings such that even those who weren't literate were "literacy aware", its within this vibrant intellectual milieu that literacy became an indispensable tool for legitimizing political authority in pre-colonial Africa.
The power of the pen in African history; composing, editing and manipulating history for political legitimation: comparing Ethiopia's Kebrä Nägäst and Songhai's Tārīkh al-fattāsh.
The power of the pen in African history…
The power of the pen in African history; composing, editing and manipulating history for political legitimation: comparing Ethiopia's Kebrä Nägäst and Songhai's Tārīkh al-fattāsh.
Until recently, Africa was considered by many as a land without writing, where all information about the past was transmitted orally and griots sung praises of ancient kings, and that when a griot dies, “its like a library was burned down". But the discovery, translation and study of the voluminous collections of manuscripts from across the continent has rendered obsolete this inacurate and fanciful description of the African past; from Senegal to Ethiopia, from Sudan to Angola, African scribes, rulers, scholars and elites were actively engaged in the production of written information, creating sophisticated works of science, theology, history, geography and philosophy. The discursive traditions of these african writers weren't restricted to the elite as its often misconceived but was widely spread to the masses to whom these writings were read out orally in public gatherings such that even those who weren't literate were "literacy aware", its within this vibrant intellectual milieu that literacy became an indispensable tool for legitimizing political authority in pre-colonial Africa.