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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The Use of Court Records as Sources for African History: Some Examples from Bujumbura, Burundi |
Author: | Dickerman, Carol W. |
Year: | 1984 |
Periodical: | History in Africa |
Volume: | 11 |
Pages: | 69-81 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Burundi |
Subjects: | judgments historical sources Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) History and Exploration |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/3171628 |
Abstract: | To counter the all-too-real deficiencies of colonial documents, historians have laid increasing emphasis on oral accounts, produced by Africans themselves. Both colonial documents and oral accounts present methodological difficulties. This paper advocates the use of African court records, which are at once contemporary and yet created by Africans themselves. The African court records have largely remained ignored by historians. The author discusses the court records in two tribunals in Bujumbura, Burundi. Sections: 1) description of the city's African community and the courts; 2) discussion of the court proceedings and the reliability and use of the records; 3) summary of some of the data the documents have yielded. Notes. |