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Elusive History: Fractured Archives, Politicized Orality, and Sensing the Postcolonial Past

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 May 2015

Moses E. Ochonu
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Abstract

Inspired by my experiences in archives and research fields in Northern Nigeria, this essay analyzes four overlapping phenomena: archival fragmentation, the politicization of data and research transactions, the proliferation of memoirs and other texts of self-representation, and the question of sensing the African past beyond the recognized oral, written, and ethnographic corpus. At once familiar and novel, these trends present both problems and possibilities for historians of postcolonial Africa, and need to be negotiated carefully. I propose, in preliminary terms, that a complementary methodology of what I call sensing is not only possible but necessary if we want to fully capture the pace and flavor of postcolonial African experiences.

Résumé

A partir de recherches d’archives et de terrain dans le Nord du Nigéria, cet essai analyse quatre phénomènes imbriqués: la fragmentation des archives, la politisation des sources, la prolifération des mémoires et autres textes autobiographiques, et, finalement, la difficulté à “ressentir” le passé africain par-delà des données orales, écrites et ethnographiques. À la fois familières et inédites, ces tendances sont autant de nouvelles contraintes que de possibilités originales pour les historiens de l’Afrique postcoloniale. Elles doivent être exploitées avec précaution. La méthode complémentaire du “ressenti” que je définis provisoirement ici est non seulement possible mais nécessaire à une pleine capture du rythme et de la saveur des expériences de l’Afrique postcoloniale.

Type
Writing the History of Africa after 1960
Information
History in Africa , Volume 42 , June 2015 , pp. 287 - 298
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2015 

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