ID:
506408
Duration (hours):
40
CFU:
6
SSD:
STORIA E ISTITUZIONI DELL'AFRICA
Year:
2025
Overview
Date/time interval
Primo Semestre (29/09/2025 - 12/12/2025)
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The course explores the history of West and Atlantic Africa from approximately 1000 AD to the present. Special attention is paid to issues of society, politics, and institutions in pre-colonial, colonial, and independent states. The goal is to provide a solid historical foundation for understanding contemporary Africa.
Course Prerequisites
The course and exam assume at least a general knowledge of African history. Students lacking this knowledge should carefully read one of the following volumes (to be assessed during the exam):
G. Calchi Novati e P. Valsecchi, Africa: la storia ritrovata. Dalle prime formazioni politiche alle indipendenze nazionali, Carocci, Roma 2016 (nuova edizione ampliata)
J. Iliffe, 1995. Africans. The History of a Continent, Cambridge Un. Press, Cambridge 1995. Disponibile anche in versione italiana: Popoli dell’Africa. Storia di un continente, Bruno Mondadori, Milano 2010.
G. Calchi Novati e P. Valsecchi, Africa: la storia ritrovata. Dalle prime formazioni politiche alle indipendenze nazionali, Carocci, Roma 2016 (nuova edizione ampliata)
J. Iliffe, 1995. Africans. The History of a Continent, Cambridge Un. Press, Cambridge 1995. Disponibile anche in versione italiana: Popoli dell’Africa. Storia di un continente, Bruno Mondadori, Milano 2010.
Teaching Methods
Lectures with exercises on sources in class. The course includes two seminar sessions.
Assessment Methods
Oral exam
Texts
Background reading
Giampaolo Calchi Novati, Pierluigi Valsecchi, Africa: la storia ritrovata. Dalle prime forme politiche agli Stati nazionali. Nuova edizione, Roma, Carocci, 2016.
J. Iliffe, 1995, Africans: The History of a Continent, Cambridge, Cambridge Univeristy Press, 1995, disponibile anche in versione italiana: Popoli dell’Africa. Storia di un continente, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2010.
Main reading
Toyin Falola, A History of West Africa, London, Routledge, 2023.
Monographic - a path between A, B, C, D, E*
A. Oral history and African historiography:
Egharevba, Jacob U., Short History of Benin, Benin City, 1960 [1934].
Bradbury, R.E., ‘Chronological Problems in the Study of Benin History’, Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 1, 4, 1959, 263-287.
Usuanlele, Uyilawa, Toyin Falola, ‘The Scholarship of Jacob Egharevba of Benin’, History in Africa, 21, 1994, 303-318
Usuanlele, Uyilawa, Toyin Falola, ‘A Comparison of Jacob Egharevba's “Ekhere Vb Itan Edo” and the Four Editions of Its English Translation, “A Short History of Benin”, History in Africa, 25, 1998, 361-386.
B. Archaeology and urban history:
Connah, Graham, ‘New Light on the Benin City Walls’, Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 3, 4, 1967, 593-609.
Connah, Graham, African Civilizations: An Archaeological Perpsective, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2016, solo 185-220.
Chouin, Gérard, ‘The “Big Bang” Theory Reconsidered: Framing Early Ghanaian History’, Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, 14, 2012, 13-40.
Chouin, Gérard, ‘Fossés, enceintes et peste noire en Afrique de l’Ouest forestière (500-1500ad). Réflexions sous canopée’, Afrique: Archaeologie & Arts, 9, 2013, 43-66.
von Hellermann, Pauline, ‘Was Benin a Forest Kingdom? Attempting to Reconstrut Landscapes in Southern Nigeria’, in Phili Allsworth-Jones, ed., West African Archaeology. New Developments, New Perspectives, Oxford, Archaeopress, 2010, 93-102.
C. The Benin bronzes and decolonisation:
Hicks, Dan, The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution, London, Pluto Press, 2020.
D. Art history: ivories and bronze from the kingdom of Benin
Kaplan, Flora Edouwaye S., ‘Images of the Queen Mother in Benin Court Art’, African Arts, 26, 3, 1993, 54-63, 86-88
Kaplan, Flora Edouwaye S., ‘Iyoba. The Queen Mother of Benin. Images and Ambiguity in Gender and Sex Roles in Court Art’, in Flora Edouwaye S. Kaplan, ed., Queens, Queen Mothers, Priestesses, and Power: Case Studies in African Gender, New York, The New York Academy of Sciences, 1997, 73-102
Blackmun, Barbara Winston, ‘Reading a Royal Altar Tusk’, in The Art of Power The Power of Art: Studies in Benin Iconography, Paula Ben-Amos, Arnold Rubin, eds., Los Angeles CA, Museum of Cultural History, 1983, 59-70 +
Blackmun, Barbara Winston, ‘Who Commissioned the Queen Mother Tusks? A Problem in the Chronology of Benin Ivories’, African Arts, 24, 2, 1991, 54-65, 90-91; +
Plankensteiner, Barbara, ‘Benin: Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria’, African Arts, 40, 4, 2007, 74-87.
E. The kingdom of Benin and the Europeans
Ryder, Alan Frederick Charles, Benin and the Europeans, 1485-1897, London, Longmans, 1969, escluse appendici.
Ryder, Alan Frederick Charles, ‘The Benin Missions’, Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 2, 2, 1961, 231-259.
Obinyan, Thomas Uwadiale, ‘The Annexation of Benin’, Journal of Black Studies, 19, 1, 1988, 29-40.
Osadolor, Osarhieme Benson, Leo Enahoro Otoide, ‘The Benin Kingdom in British Imperial Historiography’, History in Africa, 35, 2008, 401-418
* Choose a monographic path and communicate the choice in a short in-person or online meeting
non-attending
Falola, Toyin, and Matthew M. Heaton, A History of Nigeria, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Giampaolo Calchi Novati, Pierluigi Valsecchi, Africa: la storia ritrovata. Dalle prime forme politiche agli Stati nazionali. Nuova edizione, Roma, Carocci, 2016.
J. Iliffe, 1995, Africans: The History of a Continent, Cambridge, Cambridge Univeristy Press, 1995, disponibile anche in versione italiana: Popoli dell’Africa. Storia di un continente, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2010.
Main reading
Toyin Falola, A History of West Africa, London, Routledge, 2023.
Monographic - a path between A, B, C, D, E*
A. Oral history and African historiography:
Egharevba, Jacob U., Short History of Benin, Benin City, 1960 [1934].
Bradbury, R.E., ‘Chronological Problems in the Study of Benin History’, Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 1, 4, 1959, 263-287.
Usuanlele, Uyilawa, Toyin Falola, ‘The Scholarship of Jacob Egharevba of Benin’, History in Africa, 21, 1994, 303-318
Usuanlele, Uyilawa, Toyin Falola, ‘A Comparison of Jacob Egharevba's “Ekhere Vb Itan Edo” and the Four Editions of Its English Translation, “A Short History of Benin”, History in Africa, 25, 1998, 361-386.
B. Archaeology and urban history:
Connah, Graham, ‘New Light on the Benin City Walls’, Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 3, 4, 1967, 593-609.
Connah, Graham, African Civilizations: An Archaeological Perpsective, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2016, solo 185-220.
Chouin, Gérard, ‘The “Big Bang” Theory Reconsidered: Framing Early Ghanaian History’, Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, 14, 2012, 13-40.
Chouin, Gérard, ‘Fossés, enceintes et peste noire en Afrique de l’Ouest forestière (500-1500ad). Réflexions sous canopée’, Afrique: Archaeologie & Arts, 9, 2013, 43-66.
von Hellermann, Pauline, ‘Was Benin a Forest Kingdom? Attempting to Reconstrut Landscapes in Southern Nigeria’, in Phili Allsworth-Jones, ed., West African Archaeology. New Developments, New Perspectives, Oxford, Archaeopress, 2010, 93-102.
C. The Benin bronzes and decolonisation:
Hicks, Dan, The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution, London, Pluto Press, 2020.
D. Art history: ivories and bronze from the kingdom of Benin
Kaplan, Flora Edouwaye S., ‘Images of the Queen Mother in Benin Court Art’, African Arts, 26, 3, 1993, 54-63, 86-88
Kaplan, Flora Edouwaye S., ‘Iyoba. The Queen Mother of Benin. Images and Ambiguity in Gender and Sex Roles in Court Art’, in Flora Edouwaye S. Kaplan, ed., Queens, Queen Mothers, Priestesses, and Power: Case Studies in African Gender, New York, The New York Academy of Sciences, 1997, 73-102
Blackmun, Barbara Winston, ‘Reading a Royal Altar Tusk’, in The Art of Power The Power of Art: Studies in Benin Iconography, Paula Ben-Amos, Arnold Rubin, eds., Los Angeles CA, Museum of Cultural History, 1983, 59-70 +
Blackmun, Barbara Winston, ‘Who Commissioned the Queen Mother Tusks? A Problem in the Chronology of Benin Ivories’, African Arts, 24, 2, 1991, 54-65, 90-91; +
Plankensteiner, Barbara, ‘Benin: Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria’, African Arts, 40, 4, 2007, 74-87.
E. The kingdom of Benin and the Europeans
Ryder, Alan Frederick Charles, Benin and the Europeans, 1485-1897, London, Longmans, 1969, escluse appendici.
Ryder, Alan Frederick Charles, ‘The Benin Missions’, Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 2, 2, 1961, 231-259.
Obinyan, Thomas Uwadiale, ‘The Annexation of Benin’, Journal of Black Studies, 19, 1, 1988, 29-40.
Osadolor, Osarhieme Benson, Leo Enahoro Otoide, ‘The Benin Kingdom in British Imperial Historiography’, History in Africa, 35, 2008, 401-418
* Choose a monographic path and communicate the choice in a short in-person or online meeting
non-attending
Falola, Toyin, and Matthew M. Heaton, A History of Nigeria, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Contents
The course is divided into a general section and a special section, each lasting 20 hours.
The general section will illustrate crucial issues regarding the history and society of West and Atlantic Africa, considering fundamental issues related to political institutions, social dynamics (slavery and dependence, urbanism), relations with the outside world (the transatlantic slave trade), the nineteenth-century transition to "licit trade," colonial occupation, and the state form developed in the context of colonialism, decolonization, and independence. The course will consistently draw on case studies from specific countries or regions of West and Atlantic Africa.
This year's special section will focus on the Kingdom of Benin in present-day Nigeria. Beginning and concluding with the contemporary question of the restitution of the Benin Bronzes, the course will discuss in depth the history of this important West African kingdom from its origins to its destruction by the British Empire in 1897. The course will include aspects of African historiography, archaeology, art history, and contemporary politics.
Lesson Plan
General Component. West and Atlantic Africa
1. Introduction. West Africa Today and Its History
2. Environment and Landscape
3. The First Human Societies and Crossing the Sea of Sand
4. Medieval Empires: Ghana, Mali, Songhai
5. City-states and Kingdoms from the Guinea Coast to Lake Chad
6. Atlantic Trade and the Slave Trade
7. Reforms and Domination of Niger and Senegal
8. Anti-Slavery, Free Trade, and Colonization
9. World Wars and Decolonization
10. Crisis and Growth
Monographic Component. The Kingdom of Benin, c. 1100-1897
11. Sources and Methods
12. How Does a Society Develop in the Forest? The Big Bang and Other Theories
13. The Crisis of the Fourteenth Century
14. Oba Ewuare the Great
15. The Structure of the Kingdom of Benin
16. Relationships with the Europeans
17. Stagnation and Colonial Conquest
18. Research Project: Class Exercise
19. Research Project: Class Discussion
20. Conclusion. In Museums Around the World
* The choice of monographic exam path must be made following an in-person or online interview by the last lesson of the course.
The general section will illustrate crucial issues regarding the history and society of West and Atlantic Africa, considering fundamental issues related to political institutions, social dynamics (slavery and dependence, urbanism), relations with the outside world (the transatlantic slave trade), the nineteenth-century transition to "licit trade," colonial occupation, and the state form developed in the context of colonialism, decolonization, and independence. The course will consistently draw on case studies from specific countries or regions of West and Atlantic Africa.
This year's special section will focus on the Kingdom of Benin in present-day Nigeria. Beginning and concluding with the contemporary question of the restitution of the Benin Bronzes, the course will discuss in depth the history of this important West African kingdom from its origins to its destruction by the British Empire in 1897. The course will include aspects of African historiography, archaeology, art history, and contemporary politics.
Lesson Plan
General Component. West and Atlantic Africa
1. Introduction. West Africa Today and Its History
2. Environment and Landscape
3. The First Human Societies and Crossing the Sea of Sand
4. Medieval Empires: Ghana, Mali, Songhai
5. City-states and Kingdoms from the Guinea Coast to Lake Chad
6. Atlantic Trade and the Slave Trade
7. Reforms and Domination of Niger and Senegal
8. Anti-Slavery, Free Trade, and Colonization
9. World Wars and Decolonization
10. Crisis and Growth
Monographic Component. The Kingdom of Benin, c. 1100-1897
11. Sources and Methods
12. How Does a Society Develop in the Forest? The Big Bang and Other Theories
13. The Crisis of the Fourteenth Century
14. Oba Ewuare the Great
15. The Structure of the Kingdom of Benin
16. Relationships with the Europeans
17. Stagnation and Colonial Conquest
18. Research Project: Class Exercise
19. Research Project: Class Discussion
20. Conclusion. In Museums Around the World
* The choice of monographic exam path must be made following an in-person or online interview by the last lesson of the course.
Course Language
Italian
More information
The monographic portion of the exam program must be agreed upon during a brief meeting, which can be held in person or remotely after prior email contact. This applies to both attending and non-attending students.
Degrees
Degrees
AFRICAN AND ASIAN STUDIES
Master’s Degree
2 years
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