Department of Linguistics, African and Asian Studies

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Browsing Department of Linguistics, African and Asian Studies by Author "Banwo, Adetoro Olaniyi & Obasa, Joshua Ifeoluwa"

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    Historical Narratives of Encyclopedia on Africa: The Chinese Chronicles
    (LASU Journal of African Studies (OPANBATA), A Publication of African Languages, Literature & Communication Arts, Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos State, 2023-12-25) Banwo, Adetoro Olaniyi & Obasa, Joshua Ifeoluwa
    Chinese race and identity construction among Africans have been greatly influenced and shaped by government records since the dynastic era. The central aim of this research work is to examine how the encyclopaedias of the dynastic court of China have documented, influenced, and remained a primary source of data about Africa. Data for this research work were obtained through the historical descriptive method, and content analysis was used in the investigation of this work. Certain factors, such as Sino-African relations, encyclopaedias, gazettes, historical narratives, personal diaries, and perceptions, were adopted in this research work. It adopts Robert Darnton’s Communication Circuit of the book as its theoretical framework. He argues that encyclopaedias were widely influenced by a lot of external factors and created to enlighten, educate, and shape public opinion. This research work identifies that encyclopaedias serve as powerful primary sources of history that can influence the decisions of modern scholars without any form of prejudice. Primary sources in research hold reliable data; however, modern scholars often fall prey to the dogmatism of over-relying on such data from history. This overreliance reinforces existing data, especially with respect to a particular race or group, which might lack objectivity and clarity. Likewise, the verification of historical documents weakens the ability to authenticate the sources of information transferred on a national level. Nevertheless, this research concludes that these documents offer greater insights into the records and details of Chinese-African contacts and their perceptions of Africans.