History

In this chapter, I discuss the conceptualizations of Africa in the field of History, an academic discipline which many scholars have defined as the study of past events, people, and societies. It is the exploration of the past through the examination of written and non-written sources, artifacts, and other forms of evidence. The goal of history is to understand the past and to explain how and why things happened the way they did. The concept of History has evolved, with different approaches and perspectives. Traditional approaches to History focused on political and military events, while more recent approaches have expanded to include social, cultural, and economic aspects. Accordingly, the major research question probed in the chapter is the following: What conceptualizations have been offered about Africa in the academic discipline of History? The basic answer to this question is that many conceptualizations have been tendered concerning what Africa is in the field of History which range from the positive to the negative; sadly, the latter are more prevalent. Nevertheless, it is beyond the scope of this chapter to deal with all of these conceptualizations. Therefore, the following three major conceptualizations are examined: (1) African perspective of its history, (2) European view of Africa, and (3) Africa in the eyes of Arabs.