Colonial Africa saw an explosion of writing and printing, produced and circulated not only by highly educated and visible elites, but also by wage laborers, clerks, village headmasters, traders, and other obscure aspirants to elite status. The ability to read and write was considered essential for educated persons, and Africans from all walks of life strove to participate in the new literary culture. Karin Barber and an international group of Africanist scholars have uncovered a trove of personal diaries, letters, obituaries, pamphlets, and booklets stored away in tin-trunks, suitcases, and cabinets that reveal individuals involved in the new occupation of the colonial era-putting pen to paper. Africa's Hidden Histories taps into rare primary sources and considers the profusion of literary culture, the propensity to collect and archive text, and the significance attached to reading as a form of self-improvement. As it explores the innovative, intense, and sociable interest in reading and writing, this book opens new avenues for understanding a rich and hidden history of Africa's creative expression.

A private and personal look into the world of everyday Africans as they put pen to paper

About the Author

Karin Barber is Professor of African Cultural Anthropology at the University of Birmingham. She is author of The Generation of Plays (IUP, 2000), which won the Herskovits Award, and editor of Readings in African Popular Culture (IUP, 1997).

Reviews

"... the authors - remarkably - have made a long and tortuous story short and simple without smothering the complexities. Their grasp of the various intellectual themes is impressive, so is their even-handedness. The book should be prized among African Studies collections." -Walter Gam Nkwi, University of Buea, Cameroon, African Affairs, Feb. 3, 2009

"Comprising an insightful introduction and fifteen richly textured essays, Africa's Hidden Histories is an important contribution to standing research on a range of topics in twentieth-century African studies. Literary scholars, educationists, and social, political, and intellectual historians will draw particular benefit and pleasure from the unhurried, penetrating studies-incorporating an abundance of engrossing illustrations and photographs-that mark the volume's status as a major archival and theoretical project." -African Studies Review

"This is on many levels an exceptionally engaging book.... Africa's everyday writers can have no better introduction to the scholarly world than Karin Barber's exciting book. This is a volume that should command wide readership." -Derek R. Peterson, Selwyn College, University Cambridge, Jrnl Royal Anthropological Inst JRAI , Vol. 14. 3 Sept. 2008

Book Information
ISBN 9780253218438
Author Karin Barber
Format Paperback
Page Count 464
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press
Weight(grams) 658g