Convenor(s)
Regourd Anne / Université de Copenhague
Lydon Ghislaine / UCLA
Given Egypt’s pioneering role as the earliest world civilization to have made use of writing paper for keeping records and administrating public and private transactions, it is interesting to reflect upon the place of writing paper in African history. Four participants discuss the issue. Gh. Lydon (UCLA) provides an overview of the history of papermaking from an Afro-centric perspective. She reviews both the production of writing paper and its uses, from an economic history angle, paying attention to the transformative effect of the spread of the use of paperwork in the commercial and legal history of Muslim societies. Based on a careful study of paper production/codicology, and drawing on the ex. of the paper trade in Eastern Africa and across the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, A. Regourd (U. Copenhagen) discusses how the study of paper can contribute methodologically to a better understanding of the history of trade routes, and local histories. Focusing on manuscript culture in pre-modern Eastern Madagascar, Philippe Beaujard (CNRS) examines the access to and utilization of paper among arabized scribes for transliterating the Malagasy language. Finally, Mohamedou Ould Meyine (U. Nouakchott) relies on a rich oral repertoire of Saharan poetry to inform about the relationship between the act of memorization and that of writing to propose that the unavailability of writing paper among the literate Saharan nomads was a contributing factor in the development of a mnemonic society.
Lire le papier dans l’histoire africain
Posé le rôle pionnier de l’Egypte dans le recours au papier pour la production de documents administratifs et les transactions privées, il est intéressant de voir la place de ce média dans l’histoire africaine. Quatre participants discutent la question. Gh. Lydon (UCLA) donne une histoire de la fabrication du papier afro-centrée. Elle examine la production de papier pour l’écrit et ses usages, du point de vue de l’histoire économique, et met l’accent sur l’impact de l’utilisation du papier sur le commerce et la fabrication de documents légaux. Appuyant son étude sur une base statistique, tirant des données sur le commerce du papier dans la Corne de l’Afrique, et de la mer Rouge à l’océan Indien, A. Regourd (U. Copenhague) met en évidence la manière dont l’étude des papiers des manuscrits contribue méthodologiquement à une meilleure connaissance des routes du papier, et à l’histoire locale. Partant du cas de la culture manuscrite de l’Est de Madagascar, Philippe Beaujard (CNRS) examine l’accès au papier et son utilisation par les scribes arabisés pour translittérer le malais. Mohamedou Ould Meyine (U. Nouakchott) s’appuie sur un riche ensemble oral de poésies sahariennes pour dévoiler la culture manuscrite du Sahara de l’Ouest. Il se penche sur la relation entre l’acte de mémoriser et celui d’écrire pour montrer que l’absence de papier parmi les nomades lettrés du Sahara explique partiellement le développement d’une société de mémoire.
Lydon Ghislaine / University of California (UCLA)
Commercial and Legal History of Muslim Sub-Saharan Africa from a Paper Economy perspective
This talk provides an overview of the history of papermaking from an Afro-centric perspective. It reviews both the production of writing paper and its various uses, from an economic history angle, paying particular attention to the transformative effect of the spread of the use of paperwork in the commercial and legal history of Muslim societies
Regourd Anne / CNRS, Paris; ERC “Islam in the Horn of Africa”, Copenhagen
Reading between the lines: seeing trade through papers
Based on a careful study of paper production and codicology, and drawing on the example of the paper trade in Eastern Africa and across the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, the talk discusses how the study of paper can contribute, from a methodological standpoint, to a better understanding of the history of trade routes, as well as that of local histories.
Dewière Rémi / Institut des mondes africains (IMAf), Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne
Travelling papers: the diplomatic uses of paper in central Sahel (15th-19th c.)
In the Islamic world, the study of paper has been mainly devoted to the manuscript culture (Humbert, 2002). However, the uses of paper were also rooted in administrative practices (Dekkiche, 2011). In particular, diplomatic actors had an important use of paper in the whole Dār al-Islām. Some chancelleries developped a highly developped system of norms regarding the production of diplomatic letters, like the Mamluks of Egypt. In this process, paper was involved in the creation and the carreer of the diplomatic documents (Morelle, 2009). The origin of the paper, its size and the page layout were chosen according to the recipient of the letter. It also ensured its authenticity and expressed the sultan’s power.
The aim of this paper is to shed a light on these practices on the southern shores of the Sahara. During the long history of the Borno Sultanate, in present-day Nigeria, the sources show some strong evidences that the paper was commonly used for interregional and regional diplomacy. From the al-Qalqašandī letter (1391) to the Shehu’s letters (XIXth c.), the diplomatic letters were travelling papers, imported from the northern shores of the Sahara, shaped to embody the Sultan’s power (Reinfandt, forthcoming) and sent backwards to foreign courts in Njimi, Fez, Tripoli, Istanbul or Cairo. Therefore, I propose to look after the uses of paper in the diplomatic practices of the Borno sultanate from the end of the middle ages up to the colonial period in Central Sahel.
Beaujard Philippe / CNRS, Paris
The Arabic-Malagasy manuscripts of Southeast Madagascar
Muslims who arrived at the end of the 15th century on the East coast of Madagascar brought with them books written in Arabic, the script being adapted to the Malagasy language. The possession and the knowledge of these books, of magic contents, founded the power of the aristocracy in the Antemoro kingdom. The contents reflect a Muslim inheritance, but also South Asian and Southeast Asian influences. Moreover, most of the sorabe show a synthesis of a « Muslim » and of a Malagasy knowledge.
Meyine Mohamedou Mohameden / Université de Nouakchott
Corpus maure : Littératures orales et écrites en milieu nomade
Cette communication s’appuie sur un riche ensemble oral de poésies sahariennes pour dévoiler la culture manuscrite du Sahara de l’Ouest. Il se penche sur la relation entre l’acte de mémoriser et celui d’écrire pour montrer que l’absence de papier parmi les nomades lettrés du Sahara explique partiellement le développement d’une société de mémoire.