Gold Coast historians and their pursuit of the Gold Coast pasts, 1882-1917 : an investigation into responses to British 'cultural imperialism' by intellectuals of the Christianised, commercial communities of the townships of the southern Gold Coast during the years of British imperial conquest and early occupation, 1874-1919

Jenkins, Raymond George (1985). Gold Coast historians and their pursuit of the Gold Coast pasts, 1882-1917 : an investigation into responses to British 'cultural imperialism' by intellectuals of the Christianised, commercial communities of the townships of the southern Gold Coast during the years of British imperial conquest and early occupation, 1874-1919. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to try and explain why southern Gold Coast intellectuals began to write systematically and consistently, in English, about particular aspects of the Gold Coast past, during the years of British imperial conquest and early control, between 1882 and 1917. The first three chapters explore existing limitations and lacunae in Ghanaian historiography and in studies of 'cultural imperialism', and recommend alternative conceptual and methodological strategies, appropriate to a vigorous analysis of the historical literature produced by members of culturally heterogeneous communities, during a period of crisis and change. In the next five chapters these alternative strategies provide the basis for an investigation into the conditions, which facilitated the proliferation of published history, and, for a detailed textual analysis of the extant publications of seven Gold Coast historians. The conclusion suggests that this first, prolific phase in the development of local Gold Coast historiography may only be understood when perceived in the context of the history of an emergent Gold Coast Euro-African Society and isolates strategies and themes, which merit further research. As the biographical and family history of the intellectuals concerned remains virtually unexplored and since much of early Gold Coast Euro-African history was published in the local press and is not readily accessible to historians, four appendices are included to help redress these omissions and to facilitate the presentation of this study.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):