20世纪七八十年代尼日利亚的史学危机及反思

The Crisis in Modern Nigerian Historiography in the 1970s-1980s and Its Response

尼日利亚是当代非洲史学最早的诞生地之一,以伊巴丹学派为代表的民族主义史学曾享誉非洲内外。然而,从20世纪70年代中期开始,尼日利亚史学出现了史学组织、历史学专业招生与史学的社会价值等方面的危机。民族主义史学家从历史理论、研究方法与研究主题等方面反思本次危机,认为这是民族主义史学自身研究内容与方法上的缺陷和政府实施忽视人文社科系列政策综合作用的结果。在反思的基础上,他们提出了应对危机的举措:改变过去经验主义的做法,注重发挥史学的社会功能;提倡重今薄古,加强对当代史的研究;超越政治史,将史学研究扩大到族群关系史、经济史、国际关系等与非洲当代问题密切相关的研究主题,并主张改进史学研究方法。

Nigeria occupies a vital place in the history of modern African historiography._This country is not only known as one of the earliest birthplaces for contemporary African history,the Ibadan History contributions to the development and expansion of modern African history are beyond doubt.Nevertheless,since the middle of 1970s,Nigerian historiography has undergone a grave crisis in the organizations of history,the enrollment of history majors,and the disbelief in the social value of history.In reflecting on history theory,research methods and research themes,Nigerian nationalist historians attempt to theorize this crisis.,They argue that the crisis is a result of combined forces including defects of nationalism historiography in its themes and methodology,and government's policies that neglect the importance of humanities and social sciences.Historians respond to this crisis in a way to change the practice of empiricism in the past and to pay more attention to the social function of historiography.They strengthen the study of contemporary history,expand the themes of studying the history to ethnic relations,economic history,international history,and other research topics closely related to contemporary African affairs,improve the research methods.