| The Pygmies Were Our Compass: Bantu and Batwa in the History of West Central Africa, Early Times to C. 1900 C.E. Contributor(s): Klieman, Kairn A. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0325071047 ISBN-13: 9780325071046 Publisher: Greenwood OUR PRICE: $69.30 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: December 2003 Annotation: Covering more than 2,000 years this important region's history, this book is a groundbreaking contribution to the knowledge of pre-colonial Africa. It is the first historical work to reconstruct a Batwa or "Pygmy" past, thereby questioning Western epistemologies that have long portrayed the Batwa as a quintessential people without history. Clearly written, jargon-free, immensely ambitious, provocative, and daring, this book will forever change the way Africanists approach their scholarship. Klieman issues a stinging reminder that the logic of race and social evolutionism prevalent in many scholarly and popular treatments of Africa is by no means dead. Her book stands as a powerful corrective to assumptions-even subconscious ones-about "backward" societies and smug beliefs about the criteria for defining what is considered civilized and what is not. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Language Arts & Disciplines | Linguistics - Historical & Comparative - History | Africa - Central - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - General |
| Dewey: 967.004 |
| LCCN: 2003044984 |
| Series: Social History of Africa |
| Physical Information: 1.07" H x 6.42" W x 9.56" (1.31 lbs) 288 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - African - Cultural Region - Central Africa |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Covering more than 2,000 years this important region's history, this book is a groundbreaking contribution to the knowledge of pre-colonial Africa. Covering more than 2,000 years this important region's history, this book is a groundbreaking contribution to the knowledge of pre-colonial Africa. It is the first historical work to reconstruct a Batwa or Pygmy past, thereby questioning Western epistemologies that have long portrayed the Batwa as a quintessential people without history. |