Routledge Companion to Postcolonial African Historiography

The Routledge Companion to Postcolonial African Historiography explores history's fortunes in Modern Africa south of the Sahara, from the discipline's Golden Age as a handmaiden in struggles against colonialism, to difficult decades when its survival has been threatened by capricious political and economic conditions, and the uncertain present where the continent’s historians struggle to justify their value to frequently sceptical publics.

In exploring the discipline’s practical role in past struggles for African emancipation the volume speaks directly to these challenging but changing circumstances. The chapters feature contributions from leading experts on historiographical traditions of different regions of the continent. They collectively demonstrate how the process of instrumentalizing the past to advance lay struggles has influenced the choices historians have made regarding sources, methodology, interpretation, audiences, and platforms. This practical application has strongly shaped the diverse forms that African historiography has assumed, as reflected in this book. The themes discussed offer a platform for inserting Africa into comparative studies of global historiographical traditions, whilst also contributing to contemporary debates on decolonization.

In offering accessible insights from leading historians, this is an essential handbook for students and scholars of African history and historiography, as well as all those interested in postcolonial studies.

Thula Simpson is presently affiliated to the Department of Historical and Heritage Studies at the University of Pretoria and is an editor of the Journal of African History. His research specializations include the history of the African National Congress’s armed struggle, modern South African history, and African historians and historiography. His publications on these topics include Umkhonto we Sizwe: The ANC’s Armed Struggle (2016), History of South Africa: From 1902 to the Present (2021), and the edited ANC and the Liberation Struggle in South Africa: Essential Writings (2017), and History Beyond Apartheid: New Approaches in South African Historiography. His contributions to this book are based on research supported by the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Immanuel R. Harisch is currently a Post-Doctoral researcher in a project on Zambian-Yugoslav relations at the University of Vienna, Austria. His thesis on African trade unions during the Cold War has been awarded the Walter Markov Price for Global History and the Young Scholars’ Award 2024 of the German African Studies Association. He has studied, worked and researched in Tanzania and Zambia and has published edited volumes and articles on African socialisms, East-South relations and historical knowledge production. Since 2021 he has been the managing editor of the fully open access journal Stichproben. Vienna Journal of African Studies.