HISTORY OF MODERN AFRICA
SAMENVATTING
Noémie Meggane Van Geersom
SCHAKELPROGRAMMA GENDER EN DIVERSITEIT
2022 - 2023
,Intro
What is “Africa”?
• Africa = metonym for Sub-Saharan, “Black”
• Distinction between Africa as a continent / idea
Mudimbe: idea of Africa
Africa = opposite of Europe
Embodiment of otherness + savagery
Literary production since 19th C. = colonial library which was the medium between
outsiders (EU) – Africans
• “Africa” proceeds knowledge of Africa
Greek-Roman civilization “Libya” = southern shore of Mediterranean
“Africa” = Roman province after the conquest of Carthage → conquered in 7th C by Arabs
→ Ifriqiya
contacts between North & Sub-Saharan communities through spread of Islam → also
slavery bcs non-believers of Islam → Bilad-Al-Sudan = West-African Jews
15th C: Portuguese mariners circumnavigation SO “Africa” becomes land mass
Why “Modern” Africa?
• Modernity = polysemic / complex & Eurocentric (French Revolution, Enlightenment)
• Classic periodization
o Pre-colonial (… - 1885)
o Colonial (1885 – 1960)
o Post-colonial (1960 - …)
BUT this completely ties African History to colonization SO overlooks historical Agency of
Africans + continuities in African History
• Modern Africa in this course = Sub-Saharan- Africa from 19th – 20th C
o Difficult bcs only academic field from 1950s bcs of decolonization
↓
1970s: more Marxist / socio-economic views
↓
1990s: more bottom-up research on colonization so bigger focus on colonized
instead of colonizer
Sources of African History
• Written documents
o 5th C A.D.: Ethiopian Coptic Church in Ge’ez bibles / royal chronicles / landholding
documents
o 8th C: travelogues of Arab merchants + travellers
o 15th C: European seamen / residents of coastal outposts
o 16th C:
▪ Kongo Christianization SO more documents
▪ Histories from converted muslim Africans in Arabic
e.g.: Kilwa & Timbuktu chronicles
1
, o 19th C:
▪ EXPLOSION of written sources due to colonization (= colonial library) →
mostly for & by Europeans But “fragments” of African voices (petitions,
testimonies)
▪ Literacy also increases by missionaries (religious literature, grammars,
dictionaries) + African converts (e.g.: Samuel Johnson (1897): History of the
Yoruba)
ALSO increase in written production by African middle class
e.g.: diairies, journals, pamphlets
BUT literacy not the same everywhere
e.g. high literacy in Senegal & Nigeria but low in Congo
• Oral tradition
o Interviews = historical data
▪ Oral traditions = tales, distant history of generations
▪ Oral history = first-hand memories within life-span of interviewee
e.g.: Luba epic history by Bambudye secret society through narration
Lukasa (= memory board)
➔ historians question accuracy / historical relevance SO oral tradition = insights
in culture’s taste / vision of historical change BUT not facts
PRO CONTRA
➔ Collect / study past of marginalized ppl ➔ Distortion of past by confusion /
➔ Information from source without reinterpretation / mediation through
mediation of archive translation
➔ Trust necessary
➔ Nostalgia → rose-colored past as
critique of present
SO oral history gives info on values / cultures / everyday issues of past societies / past-
present relations
e.g.: play by Likasi’s theatre group Mufwankolo about greedy husband that hides his income
from wife and ends up dropping months income in toilet → a way to discuss gender roles
• Material culture
o Artefacts inform on cosmogonies + social structures
o Tools & instruments inform on everyday practice
e.g.: Pende carved chief seat (1930s)
→ Pende ppl enslaved for palm oil labour + heavily taxed
Chief was chosen by Belgian administration → enforced colonial domination SO carvings
on chair show forced labour, associate chiefs with symbols of theft / corruption
• Immaterial heritage
o Music → songs = snapshot of space + time bcs styles/themes/popularity inform
about specific culture
e.g.: Indépendance Cha-Cha (OK Jazz, 1960)
→ Rumba (= Afro-Cuban music), first pan-African hit
→ reflection of African modernity shaped by cosmopolitan cities + outside
influences
2
, PART ONE: POWER
1.1: “Houses to Empires”
Gold Trade in the Sahel
• Cross-Saharan exchanges = economic + cultural BUT not cultural overhaul of Sahelian
societies
• From 1st C: trade West-African gold – Saharan salt
• From 8th C: ↗ Sahelian gold bcs golden dinar = currency of Islamic Caliphate
• Before 8th C: Sahel = divided in kingdoms & chiefdoms (Sahara-area)
→ later: empires
➔ States in empire stayed autonomous BUT paid tribute & recognized emperor
➔ Might of Sahelian empires = military + control of trade routes (gold)
➔ Never directly controlled gold mines :/
The Empire of Mali
• Early 14th C: Mali founded by hunter-king Sunjata & Mande speakers
➔ Mali rulers ↗ power by controlling key nodes of Sahelian & Saharan trade routes
(eg: Timbuktu)
• Golden Age: reign of Mansa Musa (1313-1337)
➔ Religious co-existence
o Muslim: court + elites, culture / administrative forms
o Non-Muslim: commoners, military organization
• th
Early 15 C: ↘ Mali bcs no control trade routes
↓ Competition with Songhai Empire + overproduction of gold
Economic crisis with inflation in Mali
Kingdoms of the Gold Coast
1443: exchanges with Portugal in West-Africa
1471: agreement between Portugal – “Gold Kings”
15th C: globalization
Mid 17th C: trade focused on gold, NOT slaves
• benefitted local rulers & had to be peaceful bcs
o they had army forces
o gold mines were inaccessible for European traders
SO had to work with local rulers
Gold Coast
• divided in small Kingdoms till mid 17th C
• gold exchanged for copper / cloth / cassava / …
• autonomy of political organizations
↔ South American colonies
3
SAMENVATTING
Noémie Meggane Van Geersom
SCHAKELPROGRAMMA GENDER EN DIVERSITEIT
2022 - 2023
,Intro
What is “Africa”?
• Africa = metonym for Sub-Saharan, “Black”
• Distinction between Africa as a continent / idea
Mudimbe: idea of Africa
Africa = opposite of Europe
Embodiment of otherness + savagery
Literary production since 19th C. = colonial library which was the medium between
outsiders (EU) – Africans
• “Africa” proceeds knowledge of Africa
Greek-Roman civilization “Libya” = southern shore of Mediterranean
“Africa” = Roman province after the conquest of Carthage → conquered in 7th C by Arabs
→ Ifriqiya
contacts between North & Sub-Saharan communities through spread of Islam → also
slavery bcs non-believers of Islam → Bilad-Al-Sudan = West-African Jews
15th C: Portuguese mariners circumnavigation SO “Africa” becomes land mass
Why “Modern” Africa?
• Modernity = polysemic / complex & Eurocentric (French Revolution, Enlightenment)
• Classic periodization
o Pre-colonial (… - 1885)
o Colonial (1885 – 1960)
o Post-colonial (1960 - …)
BUT this completely ties African History to colonization SO overlooks historical Agency of
Africans + continuities in African History
• Modern Africa in this course = Sub-Saharan- Africa from 19th – 20th C
o Difficult bcs only academic field from 1950s bcs of decolonization
↓
1970s: more Marxist / socio-economic views
↓
1990s: more bottom-up research on colonization so bigger focus on colonized
instead of colonizer
Sources of African History
• Written documents
o 5th C A.D.: Ethiopian Coptic Church in Ge’ez bibles / royal chronicles / landholding
documents
o 8th C: travelogues of Arab merchants + travellers
o 15th C: European seamen / residents of coastal outposts
o 16th C:
▪ Kongo Christianization SO more documents
▪ Histories from converted muslim Africans in Arabic
e.g.: Kilwa & Timbuktu chronicles
1
, o 19th C:
▪ EXPLOSION of written sources due to colonization (= colonial library) →
mostly for & by Europeans But “fragments” of African voices (petitions,
testimonies)
▪ Literacy also increases by missionaries (religious literature, grammars,
dictionaries) + African converts (e.g.: Samuel Johnson (1897): History of the
Yoruba)
ALSO increase in written production by African middle class
e.g.: diairies, journals, pamphlets
BUT literacy not the same everywhere
e.g. high literacy in Senegal & Nigeria but low in Congo
• Oral tradition
o Interviews = historical data
▪ Oral traditions = tales, distant history of generations
▪ Oral history = first-hand memories within life-span of interviewee
e.g.: Luba epic history by Bambudye secret society through narration
Lukasa (= memory board)
➔ historians question accuracy / historical relevance SO oral tradition = insights
in culture’s taste / vision of historical change BUT not facts
PRO CONTRA
➔ Collect / study past of marginalized ppl ➔ Distortion of past by confusion /
➔ Information from source without reinterpretation / mediation through
mediation of archive translation
➔ Trust necessary
➔ Nostalgia → rose-colored past as
critique of present
SO oral history gives info on values / cultures / everyday issues of past societies / past-
present relations
e.g.: play by Likasi’s theatre group Mufwankolo about greedy husband that hides his income
from wife and ends up dropping months income in toilet → a way to discuss gender roles
• Material culture
o Artefacts inform on cosmogonies + social structures
o Tools & instruments inform on everyday practice
e.g.: Pende carved chief seat (1930s)
→ Pende ppl enslaved for palm oil labour + heavily taxed
Chief was chosen by Belgian administration → enforced colonial domination SO carvings
on chair show forced labour, associate chiefs with symbols of theft / corruption
• Immaterial heritage
o Music → songs = snapshot of space + time bcs styles/themes/popularity inform
about specific culture
e.g.: Indépendance Cha-Cha (OK Jazz, 1960)
→ Rumba (= Afro-Cuban music), first pan-African hit
→ reflection of African modernity shaped by cosmopolitan cities + outside
influences
2
, PART ONE: POWER
1.1: “Houses to Empires”
Gold Trade in the Sahel
• Cross-Saharan exchanges = economic + cultural BUT not cultural overhaul of Sahelian
societies
• From 1st C: trade West-African gold – Saharan salt
• From 8th C: ↗ Sahelian gold bcs golden dinar = currency of Islamic Caliphate
• Before 8th C: Sahel = divided in kingdoms & chiefdoms (Sahara-area)
→ later: empires
➔ States in empire stayed autonomous BUT paid tribute & recognized emperor
➔ Might of Sahelian empires = military + control of trade routes (gold)
➔ Never directly controlled gold mines :/
The Empire of Mali
• Early 14th C: Mali founded by hunter-king Sunjata & Mande speakers
➔ Mali rulers ↗ power by controlling key nodes of Sahelian & Saharan trade routes
(eg: Timbuktu)
• Golden Age: reign of Mansa Musa (1313-1337)
➔ Religious co-existence
o Muslim: court + elites, culture / administrative forms
o Non-Muslim: commoners, military organization
• th
Early 15 C: ↘ Mali bcs no control trade routes
↓ Competition with Songhai Empire + overproduction of gold
Economic crisis with inflation in Mali
Kingdoms of the Gold Coast
1443: exchanges with Portugal in West-Africa
1471: agreement between Portugal – “Gold Kings”
15th C: globalization
Mid 17th C: trade focused on gold, NOT slaves
• benefitted local rulers & had to be peaceful bcs
o they had army forces
o gold mines were inaccessible for European traders
SO had to work with local rulers
Gold Coast
• divided in small Kingdoms till mid 17th C
• gold exchanged for copper / cloth / cassava / …
• autonomy of political organizations
↔ South American colonies
3
