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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The author as sankofa-bird: history in African books for children and young people
Author:Martini, J.
Year:1987
Periodical:Matatu: Journal for African Culture and Society
Volume:1
Issue:1
Pages:35-52
Language:English
Geographic terms:Ghana
Nigeria
Subjects:youth literature
history
Abstract:History as a subject for children has a long tradition in African societies. In traditional culture history was an integral part of these societies. Under colonial rule the unity of story and history was destroyed, as happened much earlier in the development of Western bourgeois societies. There are as yet only a few historical novels or stories. History in modern African societies so far encompasses the biographies of 'great men and women', whose aim it is to awaken a national historical consciousness. There is almost no reflection of the fact that there are dominant as well as suppressed versions of history. In the children's books by Chinua Achebe (Nigeria) and Meshack Asare (Ghana), however, attempts can be traced to counter one-dimensional interpretations of history and to further a dialectical approach to history. Ref., sum. also in German and French.
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