Search

ABSTRACT Among most historians of Africa, and others in the humanities concerned with Africa, it has been almost axiomatic that writing and reading arrived in Africa and spread with the coming of European colonialism, especially through the agency of Christian missionaries. Although missionaries did indeed establish schools and introduce various kinds of literacy, there is a much longer history of the book in various parts of the continent. This essay looks at some of the recent work that focuses on the use of the Arabic script in Africa. Although the field of 'Islam in Africa' has framed this work, it is necessary to see the uses of this literacy within the frame of the history of the book and related fields. The works discussed are rich in content and analysis and provide the opening for new initiatives on the content of the literacy and the methods of teaching and reading, but also the materiality of the book and the formation of the archive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the film "Black and White Color," starring Jacques Spiesser and Jean Carmet, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud.

What has passed for historical "knowledge" about precolonial Africa and the diaspora has for centuries been "dubbed" through the lens of foreign observers. The main research findings have been shaped by the concerns of external financial backers, be they the Portuguese crown and Missionary orders in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries or the colonial governments of the twentieth century. This pattern has continued into the twenty-first century. Structural Adjustment Programmes made it almost impossible for African institutions to focus on precolonial knowledge paradigms, and the process of knowledge production in this field was captured by the Global North. As the works considered in this review show, this pattern began to change with the growth of African Studies in Brazil. This review article considers the impact of these works, the different lens which they offer for precolonial Africa, and the consequences this may have for current debates on decolonizing the curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews plays "Song of the Lusitanian Bogey" and "Kongi's Harvest," directed by Michael A. Schultz and starring Arthur French, David Downing, and Julius Harris, performed in Georgia.

The article reviews a diorama exhibition held at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, California in 1951.

The article reviews the book "Public Opinion, Democracy, and Market Reform in Africa," by Michael Bratton, Robert Britt Mattes and E. Gyimah-Boadi.

Reviews the book "HIV and AIDS in Africa: Beyond Epidemiology," edited by Ezekiel Kalipeni, Susan Craddock, Joseph R. Oppong and Jayati Ghosh.

The article reviews the book "The Man Who Presumed," by Byron Farwell.

Reviews the book "Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town," by Paul Theroux.

The article reviews the film "The Roots of Heaven," starring Juliette Greco, Errol Flynn and Trevor Howard.

Reviews the book "Contemporary Africa: Development, Culture and the State," by Morag Bell.

This article presents a review of the book "Research, Reference Service, and Resources for the Study of Africa," edited by Deborah M. LaFond and Gretchen Walsh.