African Intellectual History Research Papers (original) (raw)

Drawing on private papers and interviews conducted between 2009 and 2015, this article analyses the Swahili lyrics (mashairi) of three of the twelve songs or sung poems composed between the mid-2000s and 2015 by Mzee Waziri Omari Nyange (born 1936), a Muslim man of peasant origins who was once a solo guitarist with the renowned Cuban Marimba Jazz Band, a craftsperson and a herbalist. He is still active as a healer, promoter of Tanzanian culture and composer of didactic lyrics accompanied by tunes for guitar music (muziki wa dansi). Two of the three unrecorded and typewritten compositions presented here are on HIV/AIDS; one is on witchcraft. Lyrics largely conform to longstanding Swahili/
Islamic moral principles and converge with the government’s ideology. But they also at times depart from them and present innovative views. Notwithstanding their restricted audience or lack thereof, these compositions serve to illustrate that Mzee Nyange’s concerns with individual and national well-being are intertwined. By showing some of the ways in which one outstanding individual of humble social level has been keenly participating in the process of guiding the community in hidden ways, this article claims that Mzee Nyange’s life history and artistic production can shed light on the everyday process of self-making and nation-building in Tanzania.

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- Tanzanian Studies, East African history, African Intellectual History, Tanzanian History
- by Etienne Smith and +1
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- History of Education, African History, History of West Africa, French colonialism

My aim in this chapter is to historicise a specific reading of Africana philosophy in terms of cultural repudiation to imposed historical memories and episteme. I use the term “Africana” in broad generality, for an inclusive representation of intellec- tual traditions emerging from Africa and the African Diaspora. From the per- spective of intellectual history, “Africana” is used here to signify a cross fertili- sation of knowledge-experiences between Africa and the African Diaspora, and how these experiences mirror each other.

""Gäbre-Heywät Baykädañ (1886-1919) grew up at a Swedish mission in Eritrea and studied in Germany and Austria before he was recruited as an interpreter for a German diplomatic mission to Addis Ababa. He soon became an important figure in Menelik's entourage. After Menelik's death and the 1916 coup, he was first appointed controller of the railways and later collector of customs in Dérre Dawa, where he died. Most experts have portrayed Gäbre-Heywät as a European-educated intellectual who, fascinated with European civilization, took a harsh stance vis-à-vis the condition of his own country. This paper argues that his ideas were much more than a simple mimicry of European modernity and offered an original perspective on the challenges that Ethiopia was facing as part of its incorporation into the capitalist world economy. He struggled to see his country turn modern, while maintaining its cultural and political independence: his ultimate goal was Ethiopia's 'sovereign modernity'. The paper therefore rejects the notion that Gäbre-Heywät was Eurocentric. His thought was very much the product of a new
world view that characterized intellectual production in Menelik's Ethiopia. Notes, ref., sum. in French and Italian. [ASC Leiden abstract]""

- by Matteo Salvadore
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- Intellectual History, African History, Ethiopian History, Ethiopian Japanizers

My response to a book forum on "The African Novel of Ideas."

- by Jeanne-Marie Jackson
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- African Studies, World Literatures, African Philosophy, Postcolonial Studies
- by Celucien Joseph
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- African Studies, African Literatures, African Intellectual History

In a speech on connected histories and their relevance to Africa, Shamil Jeppie stresses the importance of islands in the reconfiguration of continental history. When Captain C. H. Stigand describes the little group of islands known as the Lamu Archipelago in northern Kenya, he argues how, historically speaking, this is the most interesting part of the British Protectorate.
Commonly referred to us as the centre of Swahili culture and literature in the 18th and 19th century, the islands of Lamu and Pate have seen the flourishing of important centres of literary and knowledge production. The first scriptoria which came into being on the island of Pate in the town of Siu, developed a fine craftsmanship in book production and manuscript copying; the dialects of Kiamu, and Kipate became also the literary languages par excellence, the pure genuine dialects of the coast for recording war poems and wedding songs verbally, but also to exchange trade letters. Nowadays, we keep witnesses of these written as well as oral traditions which are still alive and can be recalled by heart. Who does still perform and re-enact the songs and dialogue poetry of the local bards of the past and why? Based on interviews conducted in situ in 2018, this paper investigates to what extent the coastal identity and the cultural and historical tradition of the archipelago does still resonate among the community, and how it can contribute to a re-writing of Indian Ocean African intellectual history that is both diverse and deeply rooted in African historical realities.

This paper offers an overview on Aḥmad Tijāni’s (1737-1815) biography and doctrine. He was the founder of ṭarīqa Tijāniyya and one of the maximum exponents in contemporary neo-Sufism. Author without work and know about indirect references, shaykh Tijāni was involved in Islamic renewal movement (tajdīd) as alternative to Ottoman influence. Also, he promoted a regeneration of sharī‘a though gnosis in a millenarianist context. Our paper analyzes the context, the biography, his representations and principal doctrines of shaykh Aḥmad Tijāni, inquiring into hagiographic-doctrinal works like Jawāhir al-ma‘āni or Kāshif al-ḥijāb, offering a global panorama in Spanish about the figure of this important Moroccan Sufi shaykh || Este trabajo profundiza en la biografía y la doctrina de shaykh Aḥmad Tijāni (1737-1815). Fundador de la ṭarīqa Tijāniyya y uno de los máximos exponentes del neo sufismo contemporáneo. Autor sin obra directa y conocido solo a través de referencias indirectas, shaykh Tijāni se sumó al movimiento renovador del islam (tajdīd) como alternativa a la influencia otomana. Además, impulsó una renovación de la sharī‘a a través de la gnosis en un contexto milenarista. El artículo analiza el contexto, la biografía, su representación y las principales doctrinas de Aḥmad Tijāni, indagando en diferentes obras hagiográficas-doctrinales como Jawāhir al-ma‘āni o Kāshif al-ḥijāb, ofreciendo un panorama global en castellano de la figura de este importante sufí marroquí.

- by Antonio de Diego Gonzalez
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- Religion, History, Islamic Law, Philosophy Of Religion

A counter-history tracing the importance of Islam in the African-American conciousness

Launching Africa into prosperity: a compelling solution-directed study of African culture, assets, underdevelopment, poverty and potential by a native born African scientist. A deep analysis of the real causes of African poverty and the solutions to launch Africa prosperity with an insider’s review of deeply held beliefs and practices that bar progress. After a review on Africa development, the author demonstrates the importance of human resources in the process of launching Africa. Educational and religious problems are identified. The main roots of Africa underdevelopment are analyzed and discussed: brain drain of educated, creative and innovative citizens; regional and tribal wars; lack of a relevant educational system; common African cultural thought conditioning and the mentality that blocks progress; management of natural resources and how other countries are poaching Africa’s resources; witchcraft and aberrant spiritualism as a deterrent to progress; political and administrative corruption; characteristics of leaders Africa needs; impact of uniting African nations; procreation issues; African intoxication with all things Western that are not in its best interest.

- by Bright Gyamfi
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- African Diaspora Studies, African History, Pan Africanism, Economic Development
- by Ethan R. Sanders
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- African History, Pan Africanism, Public Memory, Political Imagination

Leiden Islam Blog (2020). “Knowledge is Richness beyond Wealth” (Elimu ni utajiri kuliko mali) An investigation into the private library of Mahmoud Mau inspires new research on Islamic intellectual history and the Swahili poetic... more

- by Annachiara Raia
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- Book History, Islamic Studies, Swahili Coast, African Intellectual History
- by Raphael Njoku
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- Gender Studies, Comparative Politics, Development Studies, Women's Studies