Anthropology in Africa: what future for the historian?
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Date
2002
Authors
Murunga, G. R.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
The relationship between anthropology and history has been differentiated by the notion of change.
Also, the history of anthropology lends itself to specific people as its object of study- people without
history. Its construction as a discipline was imbued from the start with historically - determined white
racism. This racism capitalized on the fact that Africa was little known as a historical entity and so the
continent was consigned into the realm of a historical anthropology. For long, this form of colonial
anthropology has been dominant. One of the main objectives of anthropology in Africa, as distinct
from African anthropology, has been to rethink the role of the discipline in Africa and for Africans. A
new field of study called historical anthropology has developedfrom this endeavour. This paper raises
the central question of whether anthropology and history in Africa have resolved their contradictions
in relation to disciplinary peculiarities and methodology. It argues that the notion of change and that
of historical explanation define and refine the historians' approach and differentiates historians from
anthropologists. It posits that historical anthropology as constructed in some western academies fails
to resolve the tension emanating from the differences between the two disciplines. This is in so far as
the notion of change is used and also the advantage the historian employs in the methodological
approach of historical explanation. It is concluded that the feasibility of a historical anthropology is
only tenable if the contradictions between the two disciplines are negotiated and resolved. Whatever
vested interests African anthropologists might have in their discipline, after 25 years of hibernation
they have been overtaken by events both in Africa and in the North. The deconstruction of anthropology
has more or less been done for them by the Northerners and naturally from their point of view.
Description
Research article
Keywords
Citation
Chemchemi Vol. 2, No.1 2002