Description
Book SynopsisThis rich collection of biographies of African men and women adds a crucial human dimension to our understanding of African history since 1800. The last two centuries have been a time of enormous change on the continent, and these life stories show how people survived by resisting European conquest and colonial rule, by collaborating with colonial powers, or by finding a middle way to live their lives through tumultuous times. Bringing the story to the present, the book traces the era of independence since the 1960s through challenges to the rule of African dictators, struggles for the rights of women and mothers, the exploitation of youth and child soldiers, and economic booms and busts. By recounting the lives of real, identifiable people from societies across Africa south of the Sahara and from African communities in Europe, this unique book underscores the importance and power of individual agency in understanding the recent African past, a vital complement to analyses of broader, impersonal social and economic factors. Contributions by: Agnès Adjamagbo, Maryan Muuse Boqor, Dennis D. Cordell, José C. Curto, Mamadou Diouf, Andreas Eckert, Laura Fair, Tovin Falola, Doug Henry, Lidwien Kapteijns, Issiaka Mandé, Cora Ann Presley, Carolyn F. Sargent, Pamela Scully, Ibrahim Sundiata, and Marcia Wright.
Trade ReviewThis remarkable book traces the experiences of significant actors who—without pretensions to heroism—changed society; women and men who took charge of destiny rather than submitting to it. These are stories that obliterate Afropessimism. Confronting the forces of transition, negotiating the constraints of gender, religion, and race; these individuals promoted a larger cause. Their histories illustrate resilience and the infinite capital of human creativity necessary to make their lives. The Human Tradition in Modern Africa is a great lesson in humanity, an inexhaustible resource for those who teach, and an inspiration for young scholars! -- Bogumil Jewsiewicki, Université Laval, Quebec City
This collection of biographies and its masterful introduction reveals a fresh view on Africa's past. History grasped through biography becomes more concrete, more real, more contingent, hence richer and more satisfying to the imagination. It is undoubtedly the perfect complement to any text on modern African history. -- Jan Vansina, University of Wisconsin-Madison
These life stories of everyday African men and women splendidly humanize and gender the complexity of modern African history. Fully participating in the making of their era, these people were living actors in the large-scale history of their continent. -- Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch, Université Paris Diderot–Paris 7
Table of ContentsIntroduction: People and History in Modern Africa Dennis D. Cordell Part I: Encounters: Two Worlds and New Worlds, 1800–1850 Chapter 1: José Manuel and Nbena in Benguela in the Late 1810s: Encounters with Enslavement José C. Curto Chapter 2: Efusetan Aniwura of Ibadan (1820s–1874): A Woman Who Rose to the Rank of a Chief but Whom Male Rivals Destroyed Toyin Falola Chapter 3: Moka of Bioko (late 1820s–1899): The Chief Who United a Central African Island Ibrahim Sundiata Part II: Fashioning African Identities in the Era of European Conquest, 1850–1910 Chapter 4: Hamet Gora Diop (1846–1910): Merchant and Notable from Saint-Louis in Senegal Mamadou Diouf Chapter 5: Samuel Johnson (1846–1901) and The History of the Yorubas: Christianity and a New Intelligentsia in West Africa Toyin Falola Chapter 6: Stories of Cape Slavery and Emancipation in the Nineteenth Century Pamela Scully Chapter 7: Mama Adolphina Unda (c. 1880–1931): The Salvation of a Dynastic Family and the Foundation of Fipa Catholicism, 1898–1914 Marcia Wright Part III: The Contradictions of Colonialism, 1910–1960: Exploitation and New Rights Chapter 8: Colonial Administrator Adolphe A. M. Taillebourg (1874–1934): Strict Interpreter of the Law or Humanitarian? Issiaka Mandé Chapter 9: Louis Brody (1892–1951) of Cameroon and Mohammed Bayume Hussein (1904–1944) of Former German East Africa: Variety Show Performers and the Black Community in Germany between the Wars Andreas Eckert Chapter 10: Siti binti Saad (c. 1885–1950): “Giving Voice to the Voiceless,” Swahili Music, and the Global Recording Industry in the 1920s and 1930s Laura Fair Chapter 11: Maryan Muuse Boqor (b. 1938) and the Women Who Inspired Her: Memories of a Mogadishu Childhood Lidwien Kapteijns and Maryan Muuse Boqor Part IV: Globalization, Family Strategies, and New Threats in the Era of Independence, 1960–2012 Chapter 12: Wambui Waiyaki Otieno Mbugua (b. 1928): Gender Politics in Kenya from the Mau Mau Rebellion to the Pro-Democracy Movement Cora Ann Presley Chapter 13: Tina (b. 1942) of Côte d’Ivoire: Success in the Masculine World of Plantation Managers Agnès Adjamagbo Chapter 14: Samba Sylla (b. 1948), Doulo Fofanna (b. 1948 or 1949), and Djénébou Traore (b. 1972): The Colonies Come to France Dennis D. Cordell and Carolyn F. Sargent Chapter 15: Foday (b. ca. 1974) Meets the Rebels in 1991: Diamonds Are Not a Boy’s Best Friend Doug Henry
