Liptako Speaks : : History from Oral Tradition in Africa / / Paul Irwin.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton Legacy Lib. eBook Package 1980-1999
• VerfasserIn: Irwin, Paul,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2014]; ©1981
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Edition: Course Book
• Language: English
• Series: Princeton Legacy Library ; 715
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (248 p.)

Although historians today turn increasingly to oral tradition as a source of data on the history of non-literate peoples, Paul Irwin cautions them against uncritical use of such evidence. In an attempt to determine how much historians can learn about the past from oral traditions, he studies those of Liptako, now a part of Upper Volta hut in the nineteenth century an emirate in one of West Africa's great imperial systems.Originally published in 1981.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Maps, Figures, and Tables -- Acknowledgments -- List of Abbreviations -- A Note on Transcription -- Introduction -- Chapter 1. The Characters -- Chapter 2. Transmitting Memory Down Through the Generations -- Chapter 3. A World of Lineages -- Chapter 4. Reckoning Time's Passing -- Chapter 5. The Jihad -- Chapter 6. The Style of Politics -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index