Introduction

In order to understand the history of Africa, it is necessary to begin with examining the prejudices which it had to bear for a long time and the sources which contributed to its writing. This block thus intends to show that the writing of this history is recent and has often used foreign written sources and attempts, as far as possible, to use oral traditions and to privilege some complementary sources, such as anthropology, archaeology and linguistics.

What is in this block?

There are 4 sections in this block:

Section 1: Does Africa have a history?

Section 2: Written sources

Section 3: Oral traditions

Section 4: Complementary sources

Estimated study time

We think that you will need 7 or 8 hours to do all the activities of this block.

Learning objectives

By the end of this block, you should be able to:

• enumerate the major prejudices which African history has been subject to
• name written sources which have largely contributed to the writing of the African history
• show how oral traditions are used
• discuss the main sources complementary to the history of Africa

How will I assess my learning in this block?

This block contains 4 activities. They are designed to help you to evaluate your progress in the study of the contents of the block.

After having studied each section of this module, do the activities, which are proposed to you.

Compare your answers with those, which are suggested at the end of the block.

If you encountered difficulties, please review the section.

If difficulties persist, it is absolutely necessary to ask for assistance from a colleague or your tutor in the centre.