论肯尼思·翁伍卡·迪凯在非洲史研究中的贡献

On Kenneth Onwuka Dike’s Contributions to the Study of African History

肯尼思·翁伍卡·迪凯是非洲著名历史学家。他对非洲史学的贡献主要集中在三个方面。第一,凭借对口述史料的创新运用以及对非洲本土居民历史主体作用的重视,他开创了非洲民族主义史学,有力反击了西方学界“非洲没有历史”的偏见。第二,通过在伊巴丹大学历史系以及尼日利亚历史学会卓有成效的领导工作,迪凯极大地促进了非洲第一批本土历史学家的培养,并开创了伊巴丹历史学派。第三,迪凯在尼日利亚地区史研究中提出很多重要学术观点,主要涉及尼日尔三角洲地区居民的来源、本土社会的政治形态、与西方的奴隶贸易以及西方传教士的活动等问题。同时,迪凯还在保护尼日利亚地方史料上作出重大贡献。总体而言,迪凯的研究有着鲜明时代性,同时其学术立场中立,极为注重对非洲史学人才的培养工作。

Kenneth Onwuka Dike is a prominent historian of Africa. His contributions to African historiography are mainly focused on three aspects. First,by virtue of the innovative use of oral historical materials and the emphasis on historical subjectivity of native African residents,he established national historiography of Africa,which forcefully countered the long-existing prejudice on Western academic circles of “Africa has no history”. Second,through his effective leadership of the History Department in the University of Ibadan and the Historical Society of Nigeria,Dike contributed greatly to the training of Africa’s first generation of indigenous historians and the founding of the Ibadan School of History. Third,he also proposed many significant academic points of view in the history of Nigeria,primarily concerning the origin of the people in the Niger Delta,the politics of indigenous societies,the slave trade with the West,and the activities of Western missionaries. At the same time,he also made a significant contribution to the preservation of Nigeria’s local historical materials. On the whole,Dike’s work is the product of his times. While he remains neutral in his scholarly position,he paid great attention to the cultivation of future African historians.