By Lee Cassanelli
Studies: Reflections on Somalia’s Fragmented Intellectual Heritage
This article is a preliminary and exploratory examination of three distinct
traditions of intellectual production in Somalia: the Western secular
tradition, the Islamic religious tradition, and the indigenous Somali
poetic tradition. Historians who seek to reconstruct Somalia’s past
have found valuable knowledge in the products of each of these traditions,
and analysts of contemporary Somalia have argued that Somalis
must draw on the wisdom and experience of all three if they hope to
escape from their current national crisis. Unfortunately, most scholars
of Somali Studies (myself included) draw their assumptions, pursue
evidence, and conduct their research from within only one, or at most
two, of these intellectual traditions. As a consequence, our understanding
of Somalia has been limited by the fragmentation of knowledge as
it is produced, transmitted, and received by successive generations of
Somali Studies students and scholars.
This partition of knowledge and understanding can be seen very
clearly in the discordant narratives of history and identity that have
surfaced during the past two decades of civil war in the Horn of Africa.
Yet it has been operative, I would argue, for much longer in both academic
and popular intellectual circles. It therefore seems worthwhile
to examine the character of each of these three distinct knowledge
systems and the historical circumstances that kept them separated, or
partitioned, over the course of the past century. We can then reflect on
the consequences for understanding contemporary Somalia.
Full Text (PDF)
Source: http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu
Studies: Reflections on Somalia’s Fragmented Intellectual Heritage
This article is a preliminary and exploratory examination of three distinct
traditions of intellectual production in Somalia: the Western secular
tradition, the Islamic religious tradition, and the indigenous Somali
poetic tradition. Historians who seek to reconstruct Somalia’s past
have found valuable knowledge in the products of each of these traditions,
and analysts of contemporary Somalia have argued that Somalis
must draw on the wisdom and experience of all three if they hope to
escape from their current national crisis. Unfortunately, most scholars
of Somali Studies (myself included) draw their assumptions, pursue
evidence, and conduct their research from within only one, or at most
two, of these intellectual traditions. As a consequence, our understanding
of Somalia has been limited by the fragmentation of knowledge as
it is produced, transmitted, and received by successive generations of
Somali Studies students and scholars.
This partition of knowledge and understanding can be seen very
clearly in the discordant narratives of history and identity that have
surfaced during the past two decades of civil war in the Horn of Africa.
Yet it has been operative, I would argue, for much longer in both academic
and popular intellectual circles. It therefore seems worthwhile
to examine the character of each of these three distinct knowledge
systems and the historical circumstances that kept them separated, or
partitioned, over the course of the past century. We can then reflect on
the consequences for understanding contemporary Somalia.
Full Text (PDF)
Source: http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu
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