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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Kingship in Elmina before 1869: A Study in 'Feedback' and the Traditional Idealization of the Past
Author:Henige, David P.ISNI
Year:1974
Periodical:Cahiers d'études africaines
Volume:14
Issue:55
Pages:499-520
Language:English
Geographic term:Ghana
Subjects:history
Elmina polity
monarchy
History and Exploration
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
External link:https://doi.org/10.3406/cea.1974.2634
Abstract:Traditional accounts of the remote past tend to simplify and idealize the evolution of the society they describe. Whole epochs are personified by a single archetypal figure and the existence of political strife is minimized or ignored. Many of the details in these accounts are not inherent to the tradition but are products of the age of literacy. This 'feedback' from external printed sources reflects both a dearth of knowledge of the remoter past and a propensity to overvalue the printed word. With regard to the origin, growth and role of kingship in Elmina (Ghana) the two varieties of sources (archivalia covering traditional politics from the middle of the 17th century to the present, and as a supplement to these data the voluminous materials for Elmina politics in the 20th century) present different pictures providing a rare opportunity to the study of both the nature of the kingship in early Elmina and the development of traditions concerning it. This paper, a study in source analysis, focuses on the office of omanhen and its role before 1869. Notes, tables, French summary.
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