Writing the New Nation in a West African Borderland by Skinner, Kate; Yayoh, Wilson;

Ablɔɖe Safui (the Key to Freedom) by Holiday Komedja

Series: Fontes Historiae Africanae; 16;

Publisher's listprice GBP 70.00
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31 605 Ft (30 100 Ft + 5% VAT)

31 605 Ft

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Product details:

Publisher The British Academy
Date of Publication 28 November 2019

ISBN 9780197266526
Binding Hardback
No. of pages352 pages
Size 255x196x10 mm
Weight 850 g
Language English
Illustrations 96 images

Short description:

This volume focuses on the translations of a single African language newspaper Ablɔɖe ('the Key to Freedom'). It follows the story of decolonisation and the history of the Ghana-Togo borderlands, demonstrating that engagement with specific African-language texts is indispensable to the study of Africa and Africans in global history.

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Long description:

This book rethinks the history of decolonisation and new nationhood in the Ghana-Togo borderlands, and speaks to an increasingly urgent debate on the production of knowledge about Africa. It does this through the close reading, translation and analysis of a unique primary source - a newspaper entitled Ablɔɖe Safui(meaning 'the Key to Freedom').

Ablɔɖe Safui was initiated and sustained by a shoemaker named Holiday V. K. Komedja, and written almost entirely in his mother-tongue, Eʋe. Whilst many studies of nationalism have highlighted the importance of anti-colonial newspapers, this volume is unique - in its intensive focus on a single African-language newspaper, in providing translations of entire issues, and in following the story of decolonisation into the era of new nationhood. The manner in which Komedja recounted and explained political events challenges existing scholarly accounts of the rise and fall of Togo's first independent government, and of ethnic nationalisms and local loyalties within new nation-states.

In re-reading the history of the Ghana-Togo borderlands through the pages of Ablɔɖe Safui, this volume demonstrates that intensive inter-disciplinary engagement with specific African-language texts is indispensable to the meaningful study of Africa and Africans in global history.