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 Periodical article |
 Leiden University catalogue |
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| Title: | Voices from within and Without: Sources, Methods, and Problematics in the Recovery of the Agrarian History of the Igbo |
| Author: | Korieh, Chima J. |
| Year: | 2006 |
| Periodical: | History in Africa |
| Volume: | 33 |
| Pages: | 231-253 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Nigeria |
| Subjects: | Igbo historiography oral traditions historical sources Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment History and Exploration |
| External link: | http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/history_in_africa/v033/33.1korieh.pdf |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a critical perspective on the use of oral and archival sources for the study of the agricultural history of rural Africa. In particular, the author examines the collection and use of various sources for the study of Igbo agricultural history in 20th-century Nigeria. He suggests that oral sources offer an important opportunity in the writing of an inclusive history of agricultural change - a history that for the most part has been created by rural peasants. The use of colonial documents as a prism to examine changes in local societies requires a critical analysis of the circumstances under which the reports were produced. The author further outlines his own experiences in the field since 1996, when he studied widowhood in Igbo villages in Imo state. He suggests important ways of situating the researcher not only in the analysis of evidence, but most importantly, in the context of the fieldwork environment. Discussing the 'insider/outsider' discourse, he addresses the question of whether there can be 'insider' informed ethnography. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract] |
