Oral history and the retrieval of the distant past: on the use of legendary chronicles as sources of historical information

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Book chapter

Title:	Oral history and the retrieval of the distant past: on the use of legendary chronicles as sources of historical information
Author:	Schoffeleers, J. Matthew
Book title:	Theoretical explorations in African religion
Year:	1985
Pages:	164-188
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Malawi
Subjects:	African religions cults Nyanja oral history
Abstract:	This paper is concerned with the Mang'anja people of South Malawi. First the author provides an outline of the relevant period of history stretching from a hypothetical base-line in the fourteenth century to the first decades of the seventeenth century. Next the various versions of the Mbona legend, which purport to describe the foundation of an earth cult whose patronal deity is called Mbona, are introduced and it is shown how and to what extent they seem to reflect history. In the third part the cosmological aspects are dicussed, asking if they represent different world views and what factors may have given rise to this differentation. In the last part certain aspects of Heusch's arguments are critized: first the view that pre-colonial Africa was static and second the idea that chiefs formed the hub of the African universe. - Map, notes, ref., schemes.