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Two East African toponyms: a case study in intercultural transmission of knowledge

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Tolmacheva M.

Studies in African Languages and Cultures

2014

issue 48

67-81

Toponyms of the East African coast present a recorded illustration of the multicultural environment of the Indian Ocean in its western part. A number of historical locations have been identified on the basis of modern or archaeological evidence corresponding to place names found in the written sources ranging from Antiquity to the contemporary era. From the Horn of Africa to the Swahili coast to Mozambique, the East African coast has been marked by a certain geographical stability of urban centres and port locations. Some of the modern cities still carry the names first recorded in the 10th century C.E., while some medieval toponyms may be correlated to locations first listed in ancient Greek sources. The present paper will examine two examples from the extensive toponymical record for the East African coast. The major cultural traditions related to the place names and their recorded history in the written sources of the past centuries are generally known. Medieval Arabic sources provide the bulk of written information about the region in the pre-Portuguese era. The paper acknowledges some differences between the evidence of academic Islamic geography and the information provided by Arab travellers and navigators. The sources reveal a degree of stability in the inventory of the recorded place names despite the historical changes on the coast. Analysis reveals a complex picture of historical and language-based patterns of knowledge transmission in the trans-cultural oceanic environment.

The Year of Africa remembered: horizons of change in African studies 50 years after the Year of Africa

100%

Tolmacheva M.

Studies in African Languages and Cultures

2013

issue 47

7-30

The year 2010 marked the passage of 50 years since the Year of Africa in 1960. For the world, and especially for Africans, 2010 became the year of soccer, the year of the Cup. Africanists taking a look back at the 50 years of African Studies can take heart in the healthy dynamics of African Studies in the United States, but in the year when African Studies Association discusses the theme of African Diaspora, in the year of massive budget cuts resulting in elimination of whole departments of foreign languages in the United States, they cannot be altogether happy with the state of academic African studies. The retrospective may be pleasantly nostalgic, but the vibrancy of today’s African studies has come from unanticipated sources and the movement has not been linear or carefully programmed. The wave of independence that rose across Africa since the late 1950s created a worldwide anticipation of great things to follow the wonderful start. The closely related development of African studies as an academic field ensued. Among the factors unanticipated by the experts of the day was the impact of the Cold War on the postcolonial development of African studies in the United States, in Europe, and in the Soviet Union. The author is a participant in the field of African historical studies both in the United States and in Russia. These two perspectives and selected stops along the way will guide a personalized discussion of the crucial events and significant trends in African studies as observed from the Soviet and American academic circles.

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Two East African toponyms: a case study in intercultural transmission of knowledge

The Year of Africa remembered: horizons of change in African studies 50 years after the Year of Africa