Historiography of Czech and Slovak Studies on Africa

Abstract

This article focuses on the historiography of African studies in the Czech and Slovak (former Czechoslovak) Republics from the earliest contacts with Africa, via the writings of missionaries, adventurers, and intellectuals, and right up to the scientific study of African history, societies, culture, and languages by academic researchers after the Second World War. Special attention is paid to the constitution of African studies as a scientific discipline in the mid-20th century – first in the domain of linguistic research and later in the domain of historical and ethnographic research – through the work of members of the Oriental Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and the Department of Asian and African Studies in the Faculty of Arts at Charles University. After mentioning obstacles that researchers in African studies had to surmount during the communist era (1948–89), and in particular during the era of normalization (1970–89), the authors outline the development of African studies after the Velvet Revolution. Finally, they present the publication activities of both the “old” and “new” generations of researchers on Africa up to the present day.