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toubab1020
12306 Posts |
 Posted - 23 Feb 2008 : 14:27:19
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Hi I copied this from the Senegambia news site,what do you think about this statement?
"Any contemporary African history without references to written texts, such as scholarly documents, news publications and political archives; is like an academic paper without relevant citations. Treat all such historical diatribes as trash, nonsense and stupid!"
______ senegambianews.com |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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tamsier
United Kingdom
556 Posts |
Posted - 23 Feb 2008 : 17:02:30
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dangerous and irresponsible. on face value, they are right, absolutely right - i wouldn't disagree. however, when you delve deeper, you realise how wrong this statement can be.
without a doubt this statement was printed to ridicul the geweels/jalis. if that assumption is wrong, i appologise and take it back. but if i am right, i ask two questions: who is/are the writers and what is/are their motif[s].
oral history has been the basis most of africa had received its ancient history - passed down throught the ages for generations beyond memory. to say that the history handed down to us is wrong because it is in the oral form is an insult not just to the geweels/jalis, but to our ancestors.
toubab, i will now prove to you how this 'opinion' is wrong. but first, remember, it is only an opion, even what i am saying is an opinion and at the end of the day, it is up to you to decide what is right.
it is an interesting subject you raise, because i have proved to my satisfaction the authenticity of most geweels/jalis. the reason i proved it was perhaps a selfish one on my part, many years ago - i wanted to trace the genealogy of my family and learn more about the history of our people. i was quite determined that, if the jalis/geweels are giving false information, then there is little point in continuing the research because it would not be objectinve an as a genealogist and historian fanatatic, authentecity and objectivity was crucial. the first place i started was the geweels/jalis. i recorded everything and asked different geweels/jalis from different parts of senegambia - and when i say senegambia i mean going to both the gambia and senegal. i still have the recordings in my family's archive. what i was trying to prove here was commonality in their stories - this was to ascertain objectivity regardless of tribe or background. guess what toubab, i got that commonality i was looking for, from people who have never ever even cross each others paths. however, i was not satisfied with that. good that the stories substantiated each other, but that was not enough. my next step was to turn to the history books, ancient manuscripts as well as medievel scripts and the history books written about my family and our people. of course i have studied history at school and learned loads from from my family -, as a genealogy enthusiast, cross refercing is what we do best - something i have learned from my genealogy course. although i was qualified, i didn't take that path professionally nor register with the society of genealogiest, it was only to prepare me for this project. i had to go to portugal [the first europeans to set foot in senegambia if what they say is true] - to have a look at the old entries of the visitors, this means diaries, baptism records - because one of my ancestors did indeed went to portugal in the middle ages - if any record of his visit/baptism in lisbon survived, i wanted to see it. indeed there was, there was record of his visit in the country. it was so important that - a paper of that time read - 'a ***** ****** in portugal'. i will not give the name of my ancestor for reasons you can understand. though, i dont think it would be difficult to work out for anyone versed in our history who this person was. not only that, but the day of his arrival, the day of his baptism [in the old style - genealogist would know what i am talking about] and the date of his departure from portugal were recorded. although the geweels/jalis, couldn't tell me the date he was baptised in portugal - which is understandable since they weren't there, they did gave me an estimated date he left his father's land and estimated date of arrival back to his father's land. guess what toubab, they all tally with the official sources. remember, these geweels/jalis are illeterates, they cannot read or write, the estimated date [e.i years] they gave me - they referred back to an incident that happened at that, passed down to them by their parents, working backwards, they did a rough calculation how many years has passed since then - and the answer, i recorded. i have to go to the middle east to see the old works of arab scholars, as well as to north africa - i compared and contrasted and they all validated what the geweels/jalis telling me. it was then that i began writing my family's genealogy which was started more than thirty years ago by my uncle - who is an 'academic historian' and well known one.
toubab, this statement is dangerous, because it destroys the importance of orality. anyone who just based an opion on oral history alone and are not interested in other sources especially when other sources are available would be digging their own grave. however, to say oral history does not have a place in the historical arena is dangerous and a loss to human history. through out the world, and i am not just talking about africa here, before people can write, they passed their history orally. even in genealogy, as any professional genealogiest [european or otherwise] would tell you, your starting point should be your family, asking elderly relatives, listening to their stories, then move on to the official records. toubab! what these stories can tell you in most cases, the history books will never be able to tell you. and this has been proven. even at the battle of kirina when sundiata keita defeated sumanguru konteh, which later paved the way for islam in the imperial court of mali, many arab scholars only focused on the islam bit, they did not mention the battle of kirina which paved the way for islam when the mandinka noble clans first gathered at 'sibije' [if my spelling or pronounsation of sibiji is wrong, i request my mandinka friends to correct me] to ensure that, mali, and only mali, will succeed the then fallen ancient ghanian empire. again, it is the jalis/geweels that feel out the blanks.
as i stated before, oral history is the ancient form. the written one is new. just because the old system of african history was oral does not mean that the ancient africans lack the ability to express taught in the written form. the inner parts of the continent were then isolated geographically. even in europe, they couldn't read or write until it was brought to them by others. and when it was first introduced in europe, only the nobles, all males, were taught how to do it. even right up to the 16th and 17th centuries, as well as the 18th to a lesser extend. the same argument holds within the african diaspora and most parts of the world. africa's first contribution to the world is the birth place of humanity itself. although the ancient africans [not mentioning egypt] did not have a stardard form of writing, there were ancient secret societies - all men from noble families and priests who in deed had secret codes of communicating. they did not teach it to the masses because it was secret learned only by those initiated into the societly brotherhood. these written codes only they could understand some of which exist to today. one of the most ancient of them is the dogon secret society of mali - long before the birth of julius cizar of rome. they were so advance they even knew about the cosmos and had their own system [segu]. only them and the ancient egyptian knew - according to 'recorded history' had knew about certain parts of the lunar cycle. that was important because it was important because it enabled the ancient egyptians to based their calenda on that. this calender would later be adopted and modified by julius cicar - which gives the julius calendar, all other calenders resinated from that that we all use today. if you or anyone one else wants to no more about the dogons and their anciet cosmos system, i will provide it.
peace |
Tamsier
Serere heritage. Serere religion. Serere to the end.
Roog a fa ha. |
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toubab1020
12306 Posts |
Posted - 23 Feb 2008 : 17:27:36
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| Well said, and thanks,personally, I thought that the quote was unkind and in bad taste,Africans are very ancient peoples who have relied since time began on oral history,it is true to say that it can be corrupted in the constant telling and therefore if there is documentary proof then so much the better,I understand that you are VERY interested in history and that it was unkind of me to post that quotation,however your "rebuttle" was more that satisfactory. |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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tamsier
United Kingdom
556 Posts |
Posted - 23 Feb 2008 : 17:34:07
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no problem. i am glad you posted it, because it encourages discussion and adresses issues. so thanks for posting.
peace |
Tamsier
Serere heritage. Serere religion. Serere to the end.
Roog a fa ha. |
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