L'empire des Bacwezi. La construction d'un imaginaire géopolitique - article ; n°6 ; vol.40, pg 1335-1377

Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations - Année 1985 - Volume 40 - Numéro 6 - Pages 1335-1377
The Empire of the Bacwezi : the Construction of an Imaginary Geopolitics
According to contemporary historiography the kingdoms of the great lakes of East Africa are to be derived from the former empire of the Kitara governed by the Bacwezi dynasty. A careful rereading of the written oral and archeological sources enables this interpretation to be called into question. The legendary cycle of the Bacwezi, kept up notably by the initiation cult of the Kunbandwa which was common to all the cultures of the region, gave rise to the ethnic and racial hypotheses of the first European explorers and was utilized by local ruling groups who felt themselves victims of the political transformations of the 19th century (particularly in the former State of the Bunyoro). The archeological proofs equally appear as questionable extrapolations. The history of this empire is that of the construction of an imaginary political space within an African culture.
43 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.