Introduction: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genealogical Imagination
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Published:January 2015
2015. "Introduction: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genealogical Imagination", Unreasonable Histories: Nativism, Multiracial Lives, and the Genealogical Imagination in British Africa, Christopher J. Lee
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This chapter lays out the histories under examination. In doing so, it also introduces the notion of “unreasonable histories.” These subaltern histories are unreasonable from the standpoint of evidence (through fragmented archives), politics (by supporting, rather than resisting, colonial states), and in terms of subjects for African history, given that multiracial people defy discrete racial categories. The chapter argues that colonial nativism—which focused state concern on black African communities—has transformed into a postcolonial nativism, with black communities addressed by scholars to the exclusion of other minority communities. This continuity has created “invisible” histories, a problem that needs to be critically addressed. Finally, this chapter explains structure of the book—a genealogical history, in the mode of Foucault—as a means of engaging with these issues.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
National Archives of Malawi (NAM), Zomba
National Archives of the United Kingdom (NAUK), London
National Archives of Zambia (NAZAM), Lusaka
National Archives of Zimbabwe (NAZ), Harare
A note on interviews: I met and conversed with a number of people in my research. The list below indicates only formal conversations I had. I stayed with Graham and Annia Stewart in Harare twice, for example, and we had numerous discussions during those periods. I have cited in the text interviews that I have quoted from directly or that were particularly pertinent to the point being made.
Ann and Jessica Ascroft, November 9, 1999, Blantyre, Malawi
Sam Bhima, December 12, 1999, Blantyre, Malawi
Effie Buelle, December 16, 1999, Blantyre, Malawi
Dinah Coombes, November 8, 1999, Zomba, and November 11, 1999, Zomba, Malawi
Yusuf Ismael, October 17 and December 16, 1999, Blantyre, Malawi
Robert Jamieson, October 17, 1999, Blantyre, Malawi, and November 15, 1999, Lilongwe, Malawi
Robert Jamieson and family, October 16, 1999, Blantyre, Malawi
Doris Joubert, December 16, 1999, Blantyre, Malawi
Florence Mudaliar, December 12, 1999, Blantyre, Malawi
Tambi Mudaliar, December 12, 1999, Blantyre, Malawi
Eunice Mussa, October 4, 1999, Zomba, Malawi
Brian Raftopoulos, July 14, 2004, Harare, Zimbabwe
Ishmael Sabadiya, December 15, 1999, Blantyre, Malawi
Graham and Annia Stewart, July 2004, and March and April 2006, Harare, Zimbabwe
David White, December 17, 1999, Blantyre, Malawi
African Eagle (Northern Rhodesia)
Central African Post (Northern Rhodesia)
Northern News (Northern Rhodesia)
Nyasaland Times (Nyasaland)
Rhodesian Tribune (Southern Rhodesia)