Les Afriques dans le Monde Archives

The historical writings of Djiguiba Camara (Guinea)

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Dr Elara Bertho, of the French National Centre for Scientific Research, and Dr Marie Rodet, at SOAS University of London, have rediscovered, studied, edited, and annotated the historical work of Djiguiba Camara (c. 1885-1963), a writer and historian from Upper Guinea. Camara’s fascinating local history, “Essai d’histoire locale”, was used without direct acknowledgement by French historian Yves Person more than […]

When Narratives Collide: The Fundamentals of Islamic Fundamentalism

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The destruction of heritage sites by the IS has been religiously grounded in Jihadist Salafism.

Heritage is a group’s claim to a legacy. There are, however, different ways of reading history in the process. The Western notion of World Heritage finds value in a culturally diverse past, which is already fulfilled by the present. Conversely, Islamic fundamentalism seeks to bring about conformity to its founding age, condemning any deviance from this particular foundation. Baudouin Dupret, […]