Africa's Hidden Histories Everyday Literacy and Making the Self [Paperback]

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 eraputting pen to paper. Africas 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 Africas creative expression.

Comprising an insightful introduction and fifteen richly textured essays, Africas Hidden Histories is an important contribution to standing research on a range of topics in twentiethcentury African studies. Literary scholars, educationists, and social, political, and intellectual historians will draw particular benefit and pleasure from the unhurried, penetrating studiesincorporating an abundance of engrossing illustrations and photographsthat mark the volumes status as a major archival and theoretical project.. . . 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.Feb. 3, 2009

Karin Barber is Professor of African Cultural Anthropology at the Ul37