This volume brings together indigenous interpretations and subterranean dialogues that encapsulate the interlocking dimensions of postcoloniality, African historiography, African feminist epistemologies and the African conception of the historical archive. The essays in the volume engage with local and global histories providing a shared intellectual space and creating new ideas which will meet diverse audiences. Topics include current debates in African historiography that promises to radically transform contemporary understandings of the subject. Through the interdisciplinary engagements of the contributors, this volume broadens the frontiers of historical imagination. Toyin Falola’s historical scholarship and his memoirs become the center of this volume for various reasons. Falola’s scholarship is characterized by multiple modes of historical investigation, which offers complexities to the conventional models of “Afrocentric” histories. This volume reflects on key aspects of Falola’s scholarship. The book is an inclusive re-appropriation of history making processes with every chapter constituting the efforts of new scholars attempting to redefine the field. Each chapter in this book is a distinct historiographical essay, which explores multiple perspectives on the diverse historiographical issues.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: African Historiography, Vernacular Epistemology, and the Making of the Historical Archive – Mobolanle Sotunsa and Abikal Borah Part I: Critiques of Postcolonial African Historiography Modern African Historiography: Toyin Falola and the Others – Charles Thomas, The University of Texas at Austin. In Defence of the Pluriverse: A Critical Appreciation of Toyin Falola’s Scholarship – Abikal Borah, The University of Texas at Austin. African ‘Historians, Are Archaeologists Your Siblings?’: Evaluating Toyin Falola’s Contribution to the Archaeology of Africa and the African Diaspora, Benjamin Nutor, The University of Texas at Austin. “Ritual Archives” and OERs: Digital Humanities, Pedagogy, and African Studies, Danielle Sanchez, Muhlenberg College. Part II: Gender, Sexuality, and African Historiography Toyin Falola and the Pathologies and Pathways for African Feminist Scholarship – Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso, Babcock University. Beyond the Proscription of History and the Futility of ‘Feminist Talk’: Merging the Scholarship of Narrative Politics and Cinematic Frames in Gendered Escavations of the African Past – Peyi Soyinka-Airewele, Ithaca College. Africa and African Women in Conversation – Nemeta Blyden, The George Washington University. The Politics of Polygyny and Subjectivity in Toyin Falola’s A Mouth Sweeter than Salt – Mobolanle Ebunoluwa Sotunsa, Babcock University. Toyin Falola’s Scholarship on African Women and Gender: Conceptualizations at the Intersection of African and Feminist Epistemologies - Bridget Teboh, The University of Massachusetts. Dynamics of Female Gender Survival Strategies in Contemporary African Novels – Eziwanyi Adam, Babcock University. Part III: Vernacular Epistemologies and the African Archive The Archivist as Muse: Toyin Falola’s Experimentation with History in a Mouth Sweeter than Salt - Ademola Dasylva, University of Ibadan The Ancestral Memory and Invisible World of Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela - Ndlovu, Sifiso Mxolisi, University of South Africa. Twin Rivers of African Cultural Heritage: Reading Falola’s A Mouth Sweeter than Salt – Aisha M Umar and Francis Miracle, Federal University, Nigeria. An Analysis of Narrative Language Use in Toyin Falola’s Memoir, A Mouth Sweeter than Salt - Joshua Agbo, Anglia Ruskin University. ‘Women are the Salt of the Earth’: A Folkoric and Feminist Re-Reading of A Mouth Sweeter than Salt – Bridget Anthonia Yakubu, National Open University of Nigeria. History of Development in Africa: An Exploration into the Works of Toyin Falola – Tinuade Adekunbi Ojo, Educor Hodings Johannesburg Area, South Africa