Go to AfricaBib home

Go to AfricaBib home AfricaBib Go to database home

bibliographic database
Line
Previous page New search

The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here

Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The State of Kenyan Historiography: Its Genesis, Evolution and Future Challenges
Author:Okuro, Samwel Ong'wenISNI
Year:2007
Periodical:Lagos Historical Review
Volume:7
Pages:73-93
Language:English
Geographic term:Kenya
Subjects:historiography
History and Exploration
Abstract:This paper examines Kenyan historiography from the first works presenting geographic knowledge on the East African coast up to the end of the 20th century. With the establishment of colonialism, most of the historical writings on Kenya shifted from East African coastal history to European activities in Kenya, although, during the early colonial period, the writings were more anthropoligical than historical. With the attainment of independence, there was a corresponding move towards historical independence and a need to re-examine Kenya's whole history. The bedrock of this new historiography was a methodological revolution: the critical and scientific use of oral evidence for historical reconstruction and the tapping of the disciplines of archaeology and historical linguistics. The banner for this tradition came to be carried by the so-labelled nationalist historians, both academics and politicians. In addition to cultural and social history, another favourite theme of this period was African resistance as well as its opposite, African oppression, leading to African nationalism. The Mau Mau rebellion received particular attention. Also, Marxist perspectives of dependency and underdevelopment emerged. The 1980s witnessed a tremendous expansion in the writing of Kenyan history, but, towards the end of this period, historiography in Kenya also faced several challenges, which seemed to emanate from the theoretical and methodological differences that pitted the 'old' generation of Kenyan historians against the new one. Notes, ref., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract]
Views