ENDOGENOUS

KNOWLEDGE
RESEARCH TRAILS
edited by
Paulin HOUNTONDJI
Endogenou.s Knowl<dg<: Res,arch 'Jrails

First published in 1997 by CODESRlA

Copyright© CODESRlA

CODESRIA is lhe Coundl for the Development of Soei.ai Science Research

in Africa, headquartered in Senegal. lt is an independent organisation
w hose principal objcctives are facilitating rescarch, promoting
research-based publishing and creating multíple fora geared towards lhe
exchange of views and information among African scholars. lts
correspondence address is:
B.P. 3304, Dakar, Senegal.

ISBN 2-86973-040-0 (Soft Cover)

2-86978-041-9 (Hard Cover)
GN645
.ES46
1997
Translated by Ayi Kwcsi Armah
Cover designed by Ousmane Ndiaye Oago
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Ford Foundation, the Canergie Corporation, the European Union, the
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activities.
Contents
Notes 011 Aulhors .. .. • . . • .. • .. .. .. • .. • . . .. .. .. Vil
lntroduction ....... ' •.... ' .• ' .•.. ' . ' ... ' 1
Paulin J. Hountondji

l'art 1- Endogenous Technologies

1.Methodological lssues in lhe Study of
'Traditional' Techniquesand Know-How .......•...... 43
Goudjinou P Metinhoue

2. 'Traditional' lr<>n Melallurgy in WestAfrica ......•...... 63

Al exis B A Adande
3. 'Rain-m akers': Mylh and Knowledge in Tr aditional Atrnospheric
Management T<...:h niques ..........•...........• 83
Gbnoukpo Bodhou Dah-Lokonon

Part li - Conceptual Structures

-l.Traditional NumberSystemsand ModernArithmclic ..'17
Toussaint Yaovi Tt.hitchi

5. Fa Ritual: A Stochastíc Process: Understanding lhe

Geumantic Cu lts of Coastal Benú, ................. 147
Victor Houndonougbo
6. Epislemological Reflections on Hausa Zoological Names . 169
J O Penei
 Part III • Medicine and Phannacology
7. Fruits, &'eds and Misccllaneous lng,e<ticnts Uscd in th c
Phannaceutical Praclice oi Benin .•...•....••...••. 191
Simone de Soi,za

8. Traditional Modcls of Mental Heallh and lllncss in Benin .... 217

Gualbert Ahyi

9. Foreign Olljects in Human Bodies: A Surgeon's Reporl ...•.. 247

Henry-Valre T Kiniffo

10. Links Belween Ps-ychosomatic Medicine and Sorcery ...... 265

Clemenl T Ad jido
Part IV - Forms of Transmission
11.Graphic Represcntation al Systcmsin Prt'Colonial Africa .... 281
Albert Bienvenu Akoha

12. Writingand Oral Tradition in the Transrnission

of Knowledge ... .. . . ...... . . . . •.. . .. • . •. . . 309
François C Dossou
Bibliography .............•..•.•..•.••••.•... 341
Vl/1

Bienvenu Ncoha; PhD holder in Alrkan lini:uislks on lhe fon•gbt

(University oi Paris 11I, 1980 and 1991). Severa! arlicles and works in
Afrícan la.nguages, piclograms and olhE>.r non alphabetkal types oi
writing. Lecturcs at lhe Nati-Onal Univcr,,ity of ll<.'f\Ín, and serves as
Director oi lhe Benin Centre for Foreign Languages (CEBELAE).
François Comlan Dos•ou: PhD holder and aulhor of many artidcs in
philosophy and history of scien<:es. Former Dean of lhe Faculty of ArL� ai
lhe Natioru>J University of Benin.
Victor Houndonougbo: Doctorate degr<,,e in number analysis, and
aulhor oi severa! artkles in algebra and stat.istics. l..eclures algebra at lhe
Nalional Unlversity of Benin. And since1967 Director of lhe integraled
twrhcrs' training coll"íl<'OÍ Parakou.
Paulin J. Hountondjl: Alumnus of Eco/e Normmc Supérieurc de Paris, and
Agrégé in Philosophy. PhD'Thesis on Husserl and has widely published
in scholarly journals induding Dioguene, Pré$C110< A/ricai11e, les Cal,iers
pl1ilosoplúques afri<ai,,. (Lubumbashi), Thouglrt and Practicc (Nairobi),
Quest (Lusal<a), Ge11cue-Afriquc, la &tme sb1égalaise de philosopl,ie, etc.
Aulhor oí Sur ln "pl1ilososplüe afrfrai11c": critique de l'ctlmophilcsopllic,
translated into English, Serbo-Croat and Gem>an. Taughl at lhe
University of llésançon (France), at Lovanium University in Kinshasa, at
lhe National University of Zaire, Lubumbashi Campus. Since 1972
lccturcs al tl,c National UnJver.,ity of Benln.
Henry-Valêre Kiníffo: Agrégé in surgery (1970), and Senior lccturer al
lhe Univcrsity of Tours. Hc cu.rrenlly teaches at lhe National Univcrsily
of Benin and served as Dean of Faculty of Heallh Sdences from 1961 to
1967. Sccretary General fron, 1988 to 1992 of lhe African and Malagasy
Cou.ncil for HighPr Education (CAMES) in Ouagadougou (Burl<ina Faso).
Associal<? memb<>.r of lhe Fr�'llch Academy of Surgery, and of lhe
lnlemational Acad�my oí FrancophoneScientists; WHO oxp<:rt (Geneva
and Braz:a,vilJc). Hc is aulhor of severa! arlides in speciali2ed medical
joumals indudlng/n Revue françnise de n�uroJog;e, le ]ot4rtml de c/1irurgie,la
Revuedu pratidtu, lt /oumal decl,,'mrgie plnstiqueet reccmstructive, le Bu.llttin
dcl'fFAN.
 IX

Pierre Goudjinou Metinhoue: Wrole a �hD U1t'Sis on !,e regnrd de,

/'Afriq,,, et les nfricai11s aux XV cl XVf siécles (Univcrsily of
c11ropé,11s sur
Paris 1-Sorbonne), and olher publicahons on U,e history of material
lechniques, namely pouery. Heauof Lhe Departmelll of History, Nalional
Univcrsily of Bcnin from 1� lo 1987 in Cotonou.
J ean-Oominlque Penei: Memberof lhe elhnolinguístíts research leamof
the African Studic>s Unil, Univcrsily of Paris. Taughl for scV<'ral ycars ai
lhe UnivE'isity of Bangui and al lhe University of Niamey, Deparlment
of Philosophy. Currently tcachinr, psychop<,'<lagogy in Djibouli, he has
widely wrilten 011 Plhnos<iences, epistemoJoro- and the philosophy of
scienc:es, indudingAntl,o/og;e de Ja Poésit <-'ftrtmjicaiue, anJ a work in lwo
w,lumes on thE' liter.iture of Niger, Rén<011/rt.
Simone Gu.iges, épouse de Souza: Doct.or ln nalurdl sciences,
post-doctorate work in Botany (Paris 19'79). Aulhor of Flore du Bénín in
lhree volumes, Lafamillt de Somaª" 8t11i11-Togo (Cotonou 1992). Aulhor
of arlidcs in bolany in several spcda]jscJ joum,tls, also 5(,uor krturcr ai
lhe NationaJ Universi1y of Benin, and since 1993 Jectures at lhe
Aix-Marseille Univer.,ity (France) .
Toussaint Yaovi Tchitchi: Oocloral ThesL� on ln systématique de /'ajagbe
(Univcrsily of Paris 111-Sorbonne nouvelle, 198-1) and severa! articlesand
studies on African linr,uistics. Teachesal the Nalional Universily of Benin
,md proceeds with his works «l lhe Nalional Centre for A pplieu
Linguistks (CENALA).
Introduction:
Recentring Africa
Paulin J. Hountondji

The LogJc of Exlroversion

The fact bears repcating: in the fields of science and technology, ThW
Worfd counlries, especially lhose in Black Africa, are tied hand and fool
to lhenpronstringsof thc WesL1 Of lhe degm,of lhis dépCndc'nOO we arc
sometimes only ha;,Jly aware. African rcsearchcrs, as longas they narrow
lheir vision to take in only individual performance and carecrs, see lilUe
wmng wilh lhe present situalion. Some see nothing wrong ai ali. The
most criticai may deplore shortages of funds, eqwpment and olher
mate.ria) resou=. But thcy might not see lhis Jack of resourccs, takcn in
isolation, as necessarily catastrophic. lt could be súnply symptomalic of
lhe foct that scicncc in Africo is in ils teelhing period, that comparod lo
lhe scienlific establishments of lhe great industrial centres it is a
latecomer, and lhatgiven túne, lhe continenl mighlnaturalJy make up its
handicap, as thc urge lo sc:icntific exccllcncc takcs hold in Aírica,
nurtured by our exisling institutions, wilhin lhe frame¼'Orkof intellectual
prod.uction relationships as lhey c'Xist today.
A closcr look revoos that lhis sanguine scenario is much too sim pie.
We need to look beyond merely quantitalivecomparisons. We need 10 go
beyond appraisals of lhe work of isolated individual sdenlists, beyond
assessmcnls of lhe output of particular research teams. We need lo look
farther lhan evaluations of lhe competilive acumen of unique,
outslanding rescarch OC'lltresand scientific Jaboratorics, probing unW we
l\it lhe root of lhe problem. Where, ror instance, doos ali lhe cquipmcnl
used for resc,,,rch come from? How are research topics sclcctcJ? 0n whal
social nccds or other praclical requirements are lhey based, directly or
inditecUy? l"/herc on earlh are lhese nc'eds fell? Who in re.1.lily are lhe
intcnded beneficiaries of lhis re5earch? Where will its findings end up?
2 E11dog,11011s K11ow/edgc: Rese,trc/1 Trai/s

Where and how are lhe data produced dLspatched, ston.'<I, capitali7_.ed?
How do lhey gel traru;lat1,-d into praclical applications? What co01plex
ties link our rcsearch es�1blishments lo industry in particular and lhe
business world in gen<.>ral? ln addres�ing lhe.e questions, we shaU ne<?d
at evcry step to ask l>\lhat is lhe purpose of lhis research? Who benefits
fmm it? How does il fit into lhe socicty pnxlucing il? And to what cxtenl
is lhis society able to lake charge of lts findings?
Oncc we appmach lhe issuefmm thisslandpoin� il becomesclcar lhat
lhe differonce belwcen scientific work in Africa and in th" industrialm,d
melropoles is not on1y quantitativc but aJso quaJitativt� not o,erely a
mattcr nf d"ll""" or of levcls of devclopmen� but also a question of
fundamental altitudes and operatíonaJ modes. For here, research is an
activily oric:nlcd outwards, focuscd on lhe externai world, ordcrcd by
and subordinate to externa! nceds. ILS focus is not inward. lts primary
purpose is no� as it should be, lo address issues raised, direcUy or
indir<.-cUy, by African socicty itscJJ.2
Ultimately, then, lhe Third World is scientifically dependent in lhe
same way as il is economically dcpendent. Situated in lhe context of ilS
historical origins, this idealional depcndcnce is one more manifcslation
of lhe steady inlegralion of Lhe Third World into lhe world-wide process
of intellcctual pmduction managed and controlled by lhe Norlhcm
countries.3
As everybody knows, in colonial days, conquered territories served
a$ oconornic rese:rvoin; írom whkh metropoHtan fucLOrics drc\\' U,e
rcsources lhey needed. What is less well known is lhe íact lhat lhe
(,,conom.ic linknge had a sdcnlific counlcrpat"t;, and that mctropolitan
scientific eslablishments aJso tapped raw materiais from lhe colonies. For
colonjes wcre no less Lhan immensc slrove o( new information, gal.hercd
as raw data for traru;mi�sion to metropolitan laboratorie.s and research
centres, lhe only e.stablishmrots anpowered and t"quipped to process
lhcm, interpret them, spin lhem out inlo hypolhc,ses and Lheoric,;, before
integraling thcm i.nto lhe ordered, comprehensive system of sdentifically
l'(,"Cognised and acknowledged data.
ln other words, a standard foature of cconomic activity in colonial
tcrritories was the praclicaJ absence oi industry. An equally standard
íeatu.re of scientific aclivily was a howling abscnce of theon..'-tical work.
 [ntroduçliou 3

Just as therc wcrc no colonial foclorics, lhcro wcre no colonial laboratories

or lhink tanks. Now gcn<!rally speal<ing, advances in ali branches of
knowlcdge, whelhcr lhcy bclong lo the natural scicnres, the social
scien<es or thc humanilies, necessarily begin in laboratories, broadly
delinecl as venues for U,e syslernalic procc"Ssing of inlcllectual and
scicntific knowledge.•
Colonies, the powcrs thal be supposed, rould have no earlhly use for
piares specially equipped and oulfilted for conceptual work. Quality
Jibraries would be out of place lhere. As for lhe technical apparalus
nc'Ccssary for scientific experimentalion - lhe transformation of crude
dal.l into lcslcd knowledgc - il was too complicated for lhe colonics.
Meanwhile nietropolitan laboratoric'S fctch�'<I precious new information
from lhecolonies, exploiling priceless opportunilie.s to enrirh their stores
oi knowledgc, lo advance lheir research work, to riso to encydopaedic,
universal hcights in their quesl for knowledge, and to enhancc lheir
pmctical mastcry ovcr Lhe human envimnmenl
A parl from provid.ing raw matcria.ls, colonics also serve<! as oullets
for industrial and other pmducts from lhe metropolitan rou.ntrics. That
much is welJ known. But here again a parallel foct has esc.iped nolice:
colonies also served as ouUets for Ule output of metropolitan sdmtific
research establishments. ln lhe colonial past hawkers in Dahomean
markcts sold Palmqlivc soap madc in Franre from Dahomoon paln, oil;
they still do today.• Simila.rly, in colonial times, teacher,; in DaJ,omean
schools used lcXlbooks on tropical geography (or even on lhe geography
of Dahomcy) produced in Francc using information gathered in
Dahomcy or in othcr tropical cou_ntries, and proces.sed in lhe workshops
of U,c Frcnd, Nalional Cartogmphic lnstilute in Paris. Dahon,ey is now
BL>nin, but geoeraphy teacher,; still use textbook.s and aUases made in
Frruicc lo tcath studcnts aboul lhcir own country.
AnoUmr ospecl of U,e sarne process was and is lhe in,portation of
rolling stock. car,; and various types of equipment and machinery. lhe
product of lhe technolog;caJ applicalion and in<.lusLTial useof koowledgc
acwmu.lated in U,e metropolita.n rountries. Colonies specializ.ed in lhe
conswnption oi scientific knowledge and products, in much u,e same
way lhal lhcy sp<.'Cialiu.>d in lhe conswnption of finished industrial
goods. ln both cases lhe con,modilies were imported. The local
population, while pcrfccUy awa.re lhal lhcy carne f rom abroad, kncw litUe
4 E11doge11ou., l<Jt0<vlcdJl": Re.earclr Trníls

abou t thc placcs where they were produced, or how they wcre
manufoctured. LlLUe wonder, lhm, lhal lheysaw U,cm as surreal artefacts
lx,'Yond lhcir undcrstanding, magically dumpcd into thcir daily tives.
li wouJd be worthwhile to make a dctailed study oí lhe resulting
cuHure oí scientific con,-wnerism i n lhe peripheral countries, lO measure
itssco_pcand lo makcstatistical ass<?SSroents of 1hcd_iscrepancy oc-twoen
lhe volume of imported infonnalion and lhe more or less embiyonic
output of lhe local scientific csláblishmenL Such a ,tudy could provide
precise indications of the degree o( scientiíic and lcchnological
dependence in various countries, or in va.rious SêC'lors wilhin lhe sarne
country. lt wouJd be equally enlightening to analyze the nature and
rei ative importance of raw data export:ed from the colonies to lhe resean:h
centres of lhe metropolitan counlries, and lo compare this Oow of
unprocessed intellectual resources with lhe Oow of raw material
resoun:es exportt,--d from thcse some countrics lo lhe faclories of lhe
metropolilán countries. That done, lhe next step would be to esláblish a
set of handy cvaluativc criteria for dislinguishing b<.1wecn lhe Mo
rategoriesoí'primaiy resoun:es'. Thiswould bea complicaled lllsk. After
ali, even industrial raw materials are son-etimes given a preliminaiy
'scicnlific' &<>ini;-ovcr before lhey undergo actual processing in lhe
faclories.
l.asúy, from a hislorícal a.od cpisK'll10logical vicwpoin� it would be
intriguing lo aSS<JSs lhe debt Europeanscienceow,-,; to lhe 1hird World,
lhe nature and scope of knowledge resulting from lhe lheorctical
proccssing oí lhe voh1minous quantitics oí frosh data extmctcd íron,
lhere, lhe real function of lhe row disciplines based on lhal koowledge
(tropical gcography, lropical ar,ricu lture, African sociology,
anthropology, etc.), and the shifts and shake-outs caused in old
disciplines by lhcse new discovcrics.
lhe problcms louched on here are complex and wc cannot here
presume to solve lhem. Whal we intend is to note, as a slllrlmg mov,,, lhe
practkal parallelism lx.>tween U1e comptementaiy roles oí colonial and
metropolilán economics, on lhe one hand, and thc complemcnta,y
functions of colonial and metropolilán scíence and scholarship, on lhe
other. 1.n both cases lhe analogy of extraclion is apt. ln lhe firsl instance,
lhere is lhe extraction of material resources from colonial mines and
plantalions al lhe pcriphery to supply metropolilan foclorics. ln lhe
 lntroductiou 5

scx,ond, lhcre is lhe tjphoning of information from lhe Third World lo

feed melropolilan uniVE>.rsities and research centres.
Apl lhough il is, lheanalogy is no doubl imperfecl. For one lhing, lhe
exporl of information doc'S not in ilself make lhe sourcc counlry any
poorer. 'lhe export of gold, i,wy, palm oil or groundnuts cerláinly does.
StiU, given our central focus, lhis difference isof minor importance. As a
matter of facl, whal is involved here i.s much more significanl than this
SL'COndary difference. Beyond lhe aplness of lhe analogy, lhere is also lhe
focl lhat two forms ofextrnction-nmlerial anel intellectual-which are
in a more profound sense not discrete realities but two sides of thesame
coin. l11e name of lhat coin is accwnúlalion on a worlJ scale.
For scientific activity can bc COn<'éptualized as a specúic mode o(
cconomic activity. lt is one mori> productive activity, and lhe facl lhal lhe
arlefacts produc(.>d are inlelleclual concepls inslead o f material
commodities does nolhing to invalidate lhe poin� ll was altogether
natural, given such a perspective, for lhe physical, geographical
.:uuwxaLK>nof tlle Third Worldand its intcgralion into theworld<'. apitalisl
system lhrough lhe slave trade and colonialism to !lº hand in hand wiU,
its inteUectual annexation and inlegrntion. ll was dllogether logic.o.l for
lhe pillage of material resources to go arm in arm wilh i_ntellectual and
scienlific exploitalion, lhe exlortion of esoleric and olher useful
i,úormation, and lhe purloininl,I of Mlistic lT('O>'U.re to stuff mclropaLilún
museums. 6
Bul let uswamagainstanoosy nústake. WeshaU haveinissed ourain,
complélely j( ali we achieve wiU1 Uús lústorical nole were to sweU lhe
ílood of fodle. bdly-aching rhetoric lhat has becon"' such a fixture of
inlelleclual discourse in Afrka, lhal copious rhetori<' wlúch enables us lo
biame olhers for ali our ailments. Yeslerday, thr blam...bcarers were
imperi.alism, rolonialism and nco-colonialism. Today they are cal.led lhe
World Bank and lhe lnlcrnational Monetwy Fund. Tomorrow, no doubl,
the same devi.! wiU sporl new ,,ames. For our part, we lhink lhe point is
not so much lo cast bl<1me as to unde.r.;L.tnd lhe nuxhanism involvcd, and
lhcn lo share our understanding. lhe mecharusms are operalive to this
day and lhey wiU conlínue into U"te fulure shrouded in oúsl unless we
takepains lo elucidate U,em wilhin a historical persp<,'Ctive. Wc hold lhal
U'tere is no such thing as innale underdevelopmenL Underdevelopment
is always theoulcome of hislorical processes. likewise, scientific aclivity
6 Eudoge.uous Kuowledge; Re.S<ardi Trails

in Third World oountries, admittedly obeys lhe s<>n1e historical rules, and
is in separably linked to economic life. Still, it is aJso ltist.orically lrue lhal
human bcings invariably bcar some responsibility for whal happens to
them. Often, lhe accuser's rhetoric ,nerely camouílages an inadequate
respon.c;c, a subtle acquiescence in mediocrity.
Wh.it we nced to do is to observe reality wilh clear sightand analyze
it wilh dear logic, whilc staying det.ached from lhe fashionable rhetoric
of the day, the we,are-Lhe-world verbiage which, not conlent to
acknowledge inlegration intó lhe world market as a fact o( ,-urrent life,
prescnls iL as lhe only saJulary pau, open to lhe Third World. We keep
our dist.mce, equally, from Ih<! lazy, perennially whining romanticism of
the lell. For in ou.ropinion, what wena'<l todo issimply have lhe c.ourage
to face realily wilh opcneyos, a mininu1mof prtjudiceand prcconceived
ideas, and a íirm deter01ination to understand.
Wehave byallmeansleft behind lheheydayoíthecolonial pact, when
cconomic li!e inour cow,tries was totally devoid of industry. By lhe sarne
token, sdentific aclivity in our countries is no longe, markcd by an
absolute Jack of lheoretical fadlilies und endeavour. ln countries thal
were fonncrly çolonics, lhcre are now factories, universities, researrh
laborntories and instilules. Some are admirably equippcd. The problem
rcma.ins, however, thal thc incroo.sc of factories has not resulted in an}'
eenuine developn,ent. ln lhe best cases it has merely led to 'growlh
without devclopment1 to use Samir Amin's cogent phrase. Thc
,

installaliún of vchicle assembly planl� and similar industrial uniL� has

done nolhing to change old extroverted economic pattems. ln lhe mnin,
neo-colonial industry is tied to Lhe needsoí peripheral bourgwisies.Such
11a"1s are, fu11damci1tully, no differenL from thosc of 111etropolitan
bourg;.'Oisies. The vocation oí neo-colonial indust,y is to turnout luxury
consumer items for privileged minorities. ll does not care abt:>ut
produci.ng consun,cr goods for lhe masses. lt is lhercfore incapablc o(
serving lhe social advancement of the maíority of lhe population. Yet that
service is lhe core process oí real dcvelopment.
Mutntis mutattdis, lhe muJtiplicatio-n of íadlities for intellcctual and
scienlific production in the pcripheral countrics {univcrsiti.es, research
centres, libraries, etc.) has so for n,ainly served to facilit>lll lhe export of
iníormalion. lt has thus intensified data outflow, accclcrated lhe
revclation of esotcric lore, pushed 'trndilional' knowledge to lhe fringes
 lntrod11ctio11 7

of rcspeclability,andmhallC\.--d lhc slow but inexornble integration of Lhe

entirc proto-sdentííi< and scienliíic legacy of Lhe Soulh, along wilh any
olher usclul information, inlo a process of inlellectual produclion on a
world scale managed and controlled by lhe Norlh. ln plain words, lhe
scienlific fadlilies of lhe Third World, like vehicle assembly plants, also
operate in lhe mam-.er of iff1p<>tl-substitution slructu.res.Th<-y do nolhin3
lo end lhe outward orientation of Third World counlries. lnstcad, lhcy
rcinforce it, deepening U,c dcpendcnce of U,c pcriphcry on Lhe centre.
Let us lookal selectcd índices of lhis exlrovcrsion:
1. ln our counlries, scicntific work dcpends large1y on lhe use oí
apparatus imported from lhe centre. We ha,-e never produced a
mictoscopc, lo say noU,ing of lhe íncrcasingly sophist.katcd
equipment necded for lcading-ednc rcscarch today. Thus wc see lhe
firsl link in lhe intelJectual chain - lhe manufacturc o( research
apparatus, U,c production of lhe mcans of SCi<'lltÍÍic production -slip
lhrough our fing(!J'S from lhe word go.7
2. Our intcllL'Ctual work L� lo a largc cxtcnl dcpendent on joumals,
librnrics, archivcs, publishing houscs and oUlCr •upport facilili<..,,; in
lhe Norlh. ln a more general sense, it is dependent on structures
Jcsigned for lhe sloragc, preservation and disseminntion of research
findings. These are lhe facilities where lhe memory of humanity is
physically slored. Most are concentrated in lhe Norlh. Adnúttedly,
over lhe last few dccadcs, rounlrics in lhe South havc madc
tremcndous progress. Credit must bc givcn to lhosc who havc worl«.->d
to crcatc univcrsity rumal.s, scholarly journals "nd various olher
publications, along wilh increasingly busin ess-like publishing houscs.
Still, lhesc advances are far from adequale to reverse old cxtrovert ed
lrcnds. Witncss lhe fact lhat scholarly publications in Lhe Soulh stílJ
have lheir mosl numcrous and reliable readership in lhe Norlh. There
is no point bcwailing lhe foct. ll nc-.'Cls lo bc observt'<i, analyzcd, and
understood.
3. Here we rome to Lhe issue of lhooretica.l cxlTOvcrsiori, stricUy dcfined.
What it mcan.s is tlml lhe work of (>ur scholars and inlcllcctuals is
always much bettcr known and read in lhe North lhan in the Soulh.
Now this could be ronsidered a purely extemal realily. What makes
the situation worse is lhal our own intcllcctuals invariably intc.maliz.c
8 EudogeuoU5 Knowlcdg c: Rt:$4:ard, Trail$

it, SJºin& so for as lo modify lhe contenl and e-ven lhe orientation of
lheir work, choosingre;earch topics and design modcls in aocordance
wilh cxllmal norms. ln this way, Third World resmn::hers tcnd to let
Lhemselves be guided in thcir scholarly work by Europcan
cxp<.'<'lations and (Onccms, sincc thcir rcadcrship is to ali intents
Europoon.
4. One.-onsequenceof lhis lheoretical extroversion is that research in lhe
pcriphcral countries is most oftt�n focuscd on th� im,mediatf•
cnvi.ronmenl. Tied lo lhe local scene, il is tmpped ln particularistic
dctails, w-..,blc and wirunbilious lo bre.>k lhrough lo lhe levei of
uniwrsals. AI firsl glance, il might appear odd lhat we present lhis
local roeus as an índex of inlelloctual exlroversion. Alter ali, il would
scem inslt>ad to indirnlc lhe indcpcndcnrcor r(>S(Jarchcrs in theSouth
f rom lhe main topies of research in lhe Norlh. ln oU,er words, il would
s<e<m to sii,'Tlify lhal rcst'archers in lhe South are more inh>restcd in
addreising issues of d irect COTlSL"<juesices to lheir own socielies. The
lrulh is s.,dder. For whcn wc look al U1c general swé-ep of inlelloctual
and ocimlific hislory, we see thal spocialisl territorial disciplines are
so many more Europ,,-.m producls, and lhal al lheir inception they
w,•re taikm.'<1 lO thesatisfaction of Europc's pract.-al and thoorelical
necds. African Studies, for inslance, in ali ils professional .u1d
id�'Ological ramificalions, lruth lo lei� bclongs lo lhe- roslcr of
Europe.tn invenlions. African researchers, tontenl to say wilhin lhe
con finés of lhál Jisciplinc by that lokcn acccpl thc role, of
well-educated informanls scrving Europcan scicntisls and
inlclk-rtuals in ,-utx>llcm posilions. ll is pcrkclly lcgitimale for
Soulhem rese.irch<"rs lo íocus primaríly on lh<'ir own SQC'Í<•ties. Bul
whl'n lh.:il {ocus bt.-'Comes c::rudcly exclusive, it may lead resrorchcrs
into f"'1rsonw pilfalls. For lhm lhc,y may bc<:om<, ot.:<,s.sed wilh
inmK'<liatc re.tl.ities, afraid to Wke wing and Oy inlo challenging
intelloctual re.:ilms. Then U1ey hocomc intcUcctually ingrown, .tnd lhus
miss an indispensable phase in lhe well-rounded int�lleclual ilinerary:
lhe lndcpcndent c-r<'ation of thüorctical modcls, thc making of
,oo,prehcnsive conceptual designs which !ater racilitale lhe accurale
undcrs1anding of pmticular dctails as such.8
5. Scicntifit� extroversion may also origin.-1lc (rom more down•lO�?Qrlh
considerations, and have a more practical ímpacL ll IS quite possible
 lntrodticlion 9

to Hnd situations in whkh choiccs of n?S(,-..'arch focus are not just

ind irecUy condilioned by lhe concems of a Europoon readcrship, but
are direéUy impoS<'<I, wilh no ifs, buts or nuances, by lhe impcrotivcs
of a frankly <30Clrovcrled economy. Nolso long ago, <1grononúc research
in Africa was a glaring case in poinL For lhe work done by most
agronomic resParch instit-utes was principally conc,•mcd with
improving lhe cultivation of such cxporl crops as oi! palm, coffec,
cocoa, groundnuls nnd cotlon. Thes<! were lhe crops lhat went Lo ft"->d
lhe factorles of the Norlh, or lhe (ew 'imporl-su�lilution' íoctories
scaltered hcre and lhcrc in lhe Soulh. Food crops, lhe staples of lhe
vasl majority, on lhe other hand, were given short shrlít. Some
progress has been made since then, bul still U1e basic tremi is lhesame,
and agronomic research is still overwhelmingly gmred lo lhe lTading
economy.
6. From lhis perspeclive, lhe much-discusscd brain draín lhal lakt-.s
Soulhcm intclkctuuls on a Nmlhward trip n:•vt•al,; • nov�J aspccL lt is
an exl�tcnlial expression oí lhe seneral exlroversion of o,u economic
llíc, and a sp,.,çificexprcssion oí l.heexlroversion of our inlellectual liíe.
lt would be senseless to twal it as if it were some unique problem. li
is, instead, lhe visible lip oí a giganlk iceberg. Our task is nol lo treal
it as an cvil in itsclf but to examine il carcfully, lo undcrstand it, and
lhen lo íind ways of lifting il outright, lí we can. TI1e facl is lhal L.hose
who pack up and takc off for lhe Norlh are nol U,c only African
inlelloctuals caughl i.n lhe fever of t>xtroversion. TI,ose who remain al
home suífer from lhe same dismse, if only indireclly. For lhe lrulh is
lhal all Third World inlcllcctuals, whalcvcr lhcir disciplines ad
speciali7.alions, are drivcn ín onc way or lhe olhcr by lhe pol<'nl
impclus of inlemational scicnliJic cndcavour as orgnn.L7-A,-,,J today,
lowards lhe cmlre of thesystem. A few ·setUe' oul lhere in lhe Norlh.
OU1crs shu1tlcc1emally belweencentre andperiphery. Theremainder,
unable lo makP lhe rassagc, su.rvivc as besl lhey can on lhe pcriphery,
waging si,yphean balUes against cyrúcism aml despair while kéeping
a sharp cyc oul for opcrúngs lhrough which lhcy too núght wrigglc
ínto Norlhw;ird brain drain. Meanwhile, il is from lhe Norl.h L.hal mosl
oilheir rescarcl, inslrumenl.s, lmdilions, publi<:alions, olélhodological
techniques and lhronc-timl models, wilh alJ the attendanl valucs and
idiosyntra..'iic'!s, come.9
10 Eudogenous Kuowledge; Rcseard, Trails

'7. The.re is a mioor fom, of lhe brain drain that has so far drawn liuJe
notice. This is lhe intellectual tourist circu.il link.ing Norlh and South.
ln lhe normal carccr of Third World rescm-ch<>rs, lhe outward trip has
bccome an indispensable componenl. Third World researchers
invariably have lo mnke lhe physical lrip lo lhe great industrial
mctropoles. Some go l<1 take advanced courses near lhe end of lheir
acadenúc: training. Some golo levemge lheir ongoing resea.rch careers
beyond ceili"l}" already reached back home. The point is nol to
detemtlne wheU,er such lrips are fun. lvlany obviously find lhem
delightful,especially as U,ey embark on newcarccrs. Others find them
wei.rdly repetillve, and lhere are lhose who find lhem parllcularly
unsetlling. Bul considcr,1tionsof personal enjoymenl or bcwildermenl
are beside lhe poin� because lhey leave lhe kernel of lhe problem
untouchcd. 11,al kemel is Uu,l such inlelkctual lourisl lrips havc
become struclurally necessary, because there are real Iife constrainls
maklng U,em inevitable, and all inlellectual pursuils in lhe Third
World n<>w bear lhe slamp of thesc constrainls,
Ourobservations here are not meant to gainsay lhe tremendoussdentific
profilafforded by such trips. But whal we wish to roeus on is lhe fact lhat
lhose lTips remain, under currcnt circumstanccs, the sinc qua non
condition for such a profit. ll would lhus be absurd, for instance, under
such circumstances, alJ othcr lhin!J$ bcing cqual, for anyonc lo scck
lhrough various coerdve means to ha)l u,e Norlh-Soulh scientific
'tourism' insofar •• il is dcmonslraled Uu,t stricUy sproking, il is no
tourism at ali. Toe real i.,ssueis allo{.-elher di(íerenl. What we have to do
is lo ,,,.,ke profound changes in exisllng relalions goveming scienlific
produclive work. What we have to do is to promote lhe growth, in
countties now on lhe periphery of lhe world system, of a process of
inner-direcled scientific productivity and creativity.
ll might be objocted lhateven at lhe cenlre of U,e world system loday,
researchers <annot stay pul, lhat lhey have to be mobile on pain of
heading towards a slow dt\1lh. lt might further be painted oul lhal evcn
wiUiin lhe centre lhere is a core, lhe aooolutc hub that is lhe Uniled States
oí Amcrica, thc country thal incrcasingly attracts tl\e cream of
intemational-calibre researchers to lhe delrimento( Norlhem Europe and
Japnn. To this lhere "'° ready rebuttal thutthescientifictouri>·m th<m does
not have lhe sarne meaning. The Oow of researchers from one Norlhem
 11

country to lhe othcr is not lhe rcsult of any internai imbalance in lhe
process of scientific rcscarch as conducted ln second-rank capitalist
countrics. Each of lhose countrics has a viablc, autonomous ai,d
inner-dircctcd scientific tradition. lf push came to shove, they could
survive indcpendently as intellectual centres. So when Europe-dn
scicntists and resE0rchers travei to lhe United Stntes or, in lhe case of
selected disciplínes, to Japan as a matterof cou=, lhey look fora Jeading
cdgc, an extra quality. Comparcd to thc objt-ctivcs béhind thé
South-North intellectual exodus, those molivalint1 lhe Norlh-Norlh
proccss have more to do with Juxwy lhan wilh vital n<.�'<ls.
8. Therc would be a need lo consider, for lhe sakc of lhoroughness,
anolher form of scientific 'tourism', i.e. lhe Norlh/Soulh movement,
whereby a researcher froman industrialized country goes to a country
on U,c periphcry and wh.ich ncver has lhe samc fuJ,c_·lionas lhe reverse
itinerãry. Europcar, or American scicntists goto Za.ireor lhcSahara in
scruch not of knowlcdge bul only of n,alcrials lhal lead to knowlcdgc
and, if n<.'Cd be, lo a testing ground for their findings. They do nol go
scarching for paradigms or mcU1odological and thcoretical models;
rather, lhey i:,,o hunting for information and new facls lhat are likcly
10 eruich lheir paradigms on the one hand, just as on lhe other hand,
thcy prcler distanl territorics whcre wilh lhe lcast possiblc ill-clfocts
on lheir own enviroM1ents. they can conduct nuclear lests or olher
1ypcs of expcrimcnts tllal are dangerous in various degrees.
Wholc laycrs of contcmporary knowlcdgc have emerge'<! fron1 such
scientific invc,,;tmcnl in lhe Soulh by lhe:, Norlh which brought forth new
fields such as social and c,dtural anthropology and various sp<.-ciaJiS(.'<i
subjocls within previous ficlds of inlclk-ctual cndc-avour. As a rcsult,
knowledge thusaçquired on Africa and lhe Third Wodd cscapescntircly
from Africa and lhe lllird World allogelllcr, only lo bc ploughcd
systt•matically back loward Europe, repalrialed, capitaliwd and
accumulaled at lhe centre of tl,c syslctn. There is no extroversion,
lherefore, in the North / South movcmcn� bul a mero tactical delour in
thcscrvicc of a reinforced self-suffíciency and technological know-how.
9. Scicnlific cxtroversion manifesls itself also lhrough u,e use of Westem
lanr,uoi:,oes alonc sccn as scicnlifically sound languagcs, and lhe
obligation for lhe researcher from lhe Third World to accept to put on
lhe slraighl jackci of those forcign langullgcs in ortlcr lo havc acccss
12 f,rdoge110U$ Kuotuledge: Rtunrd, Trails

to knowloogc and, more so, to reproduceand exlend such knowled11c,

Undoubtedly one musl guard against exaggerating inconveniences
resulting from such a situation, or aga.inst falling inlo lhe excessos of
a lini,ruislic romanticism whereby every Janguage, in llself and by
itsclf, appears as lhe expression of a given world view, and a molher
tongue, therefore is lhe on� one medium thal can express each and
everybody' s true identily.1 Certainly ll,ere is a nee:I to bring language
back to its role as an instrument and to allow for thc modem demands
for broad conununication, ín a world where no one can any longer, on
pain of suffocation,, withdrawentirely wilhin him or herself. Onc must
just as well acknowledge L1,e abnormal nature of lhe actual a�smenl
that is utade now�days in some Third World count ries, and
partkularly ín Africa, regardmg local languages and imported
languoges, thedcfacto marginalization of lhe forme, for lhe exclusive
bcn<.'fit of the laller, their down-grading to second-class lan&U•&es, '"
worsestill, 'dialecls' or 'patois', only good enough to expresseveryday
lif<' platitudes. LasUy lhere is a nc(,>d to consider lhe lack of a daring
proj<.'Ct aimed at eradicatíng ílli teracy on a large scale and using lhose
languag,,s as vohicles for teaching and ms,:an:h at the highest levcl, for
purpose; of true dernocratwttion of knowledge. 11
So, f rom yesterday till today, lhe san,e scientific dependence has kept on
showing itself in new shapes lha t are however aJwàys easy to recognize.
So, in all spheres of human activity, scienlific,economic oroUlerwiSE>. lhat
same logit of exiroversion goes on, whereby we cxpect motivotions,
initiatives and slarting signals forour deeds to originate f rom places olher
lhan our own socielies. To break lhal logic al last, lo recover individual
and col.lective iniliative, to lxx::ome oursclves again is one of the major
tasks prescnoed by History. Thal ta.sk, wíthin lhe speciíic fíeld of
knowledge, an,ounts to taking an informed enough vicw o( current
pmctices in order to work out <>lher p<>ssíble modalilies <>f producú,g
knowledge, olhe, possiblo forms of lt>chnological and scicnlific
production relationships, íirsl between theSoulh and lhe Norlh, bul aJso
in lhe South itsclf and inside ooch and every country.
 lutroduction 13

Status o{ the 'Traditional'

lt is in such a context that thoughts on 'traditional' knowled gc must bc
placed. Nobody can nowadays d�'t1Y lhat thcrc cxil.1, in our oral cultures,
corpuscs of knowledge sometirncs vcry elaborate, failhfully transmilted
from onegeneration to anolhcr and often gaJningquality substance in lhe
process oi such transmission. Thcn, in lhe conlext oi lhe massivc
extroversion of our societies, one may wonder, what becomes of such
corpuses? Whal oi their relations wilh assumedly modem science, thal
is, lhe progrossive, conquering hcurislic activity now dcveloping in our
univcrsities and other centres of inteUectual production, lhe institutional
rescarch which caLs deep inlo credit funds bul which otllerwisc dcpends
structurally on lhe Wcst,as wchavejust shown ?Whatone realises is thal
instead of developing and gaining in accu.racy and strictness as a resull
of contacl wilh exogenous science and technique, this ancestral
knowkdge of planlS, Mimals, heallh and illnesses as well as lhe age-old
handicr.út and agricultura.! know-how ratllcr tcnd to faJJ back upon
th�msclves.
Lnstead of fitting into lhe dynarnics of contemporary res<>.arch through
a neaL arliculalion wilh in1porled knowledl,>e, wilh a view to Je.ading to a
living and original synthesis, 'traditional' knowledge is seen, in best
cases, síde by side with lhe new one, in a relationship of símplc
juxtaposition, cxdusivu of aJJ truc processes of exchange and of aJJ
mann<,.rs of l'(.-tiprocal valorisation. ln thc worst cases, suc-h knowledge
cvcn ends up fizzling oul of lhe collectivc mcmory.
So, lhe intcgralion of tlle 11\ird World into lhe world proccss oi
knowledr,e production entails, among other palpable effects, a
marginalizalion of old clements of knowledge and know-how, along
with tht'ir steady withcring and i.mpoverishmenl_, and in wo�1 cases,
lhcir shecr disappcaring and vanishing oul oi peoplc's conscious
memory. lnsum, the logic of extrovcrsion which commands lhcso-<alkJ
r
modem scientific activity in lheThird World and sint,'Ularlyin Afíca, has
a binding corollary, a logic of D""!,>inalizalion. Pcripheral lo science in
the metropolis, in.�tilutionalisc.-d K'Séarch in Africa entails in its tum a
fu rther push oiendogenous clcmcnts of knowledge to the peri phcry, thus
relegating lhcsc to lhe periphcry of lhe pcriphcry, as mt>rc survivals,
intellectual and techoological curiosilies and lifeless, inerl cultural
14 EJrdogeuous Knctwlcdgc: &xartl, Trai/1

obj�'<ls, only fil for exhibition in museums for lhe titillation o f antiquaries
and olher lovers oí exorcism.
Uníortunately íor lhe institution, such lo$ic (>í marginalizalíon never
reaches ils oim fuUy. 1here is an impressive reoord of repeated foilure oí
hospital medicine, a howling inadoquacy oí officiaUy sanctioned
knowlcdge; and this has brought about a sloadily stronger tum towards
a so-called Lraditional n1edicine, and more gencra.lly towards those
núllemúal stores oí lcarnlng hastily disnú.ssed out of mind, in ordcr Lo
find lherein effective or tentaLive solutions to problems which are
considered intracLable today. The process of WesLemi,ation has lhus
turned oul to beselí-limiting. The backfires of Lhe syslem have fordbly
lt-d to lhe emergence and valorisation of counter-systems, of lhe vast
domain of lhe infom1cd 5<.'Clor, or more accuralely in lhis instance, oí lhe
teem.ing complex world of'yet unslructured docLrines', as per Georges
Canguilhem's aptcxpression (Cangu.ilhern 1972).
'TI1e core question, however, is this: at lhis juncture, are these isolaled
sorties ofí lhe beaten palhs of official sdence suífident? Is it sensible to
conlinuc treoting lhe counter-sysLems, Lhe ancestral knowlcdge and
know-how as sporadic seasoning, used only occasionaUy to camouflage
failu.res or shortconú.ngs, scen in lum as accidental mishaps in lhe
dominant syslem? Shall we keep p'1Ssing now and Lhen fron, wilhin lhe
dominanl systcm to counter-systems, and then back again, never
wondering iJ lhe two re.aJn'ls are compalible or'compossible.., to u_se a
concepl suggested by Leibnitz? Should we nol explore lhe possibility oí
hamtoni7.ing lhcm ir, a more viable oomposile, brin!Jing thoot into a
logical union, and thus findlnttoul if Lhey can in theoryand practice yjeld
coherenl conccpls and Lcchnical procedures thal mighl ai Lhe very least
prove minimally meaningful? Can we nowadays be sati.<fied with seeing
forn"'1Jy trained nurses, doctors and top-levei specialists in surgery or
paediatrics, when they fail to treat some complicated disoose, counselling
thcir paticnts lo'go rock to lhe vruage', to<:onsull tradílional heale.rsor
even quacks, with no rational explanation to back up their advice, wilh
no attcmpt to understand why Lhey themselves have íailed, or why lheir
lraditional counlcrparts do or mighl succood? How fur is it acceptablo for
our degree-burdened scienlísls, once Lhey lcave lhcir laboratories, to go
sccking oul loca.1 we:ithcr spocial.isls to find oul lhebesl time,;for holding
family cc!cbralions with U1e least risk oí their fietting rained on, without
 I,,troduction 15

taking lhe troublc to understand lhe mechanism and modc oí operalion,

thcscopeand lúnltsoí lhe know-how possessed by theselocal specialists?
How much longcr shall wc rontinue ogn,,eing with lhis wuterlight
comparlmentalization oí thought and d�'Cd, this sclí-dcvastating
duplicity, lhis ill-disguiscd schizophrenia?
This work would nol have SL'Cll lhe light o( duy, were il not for lhe
conscious detem1innlion of ils aulhors lo move beyond lhe presenl
impasse. For we have lo go furlher and, bcyond lhe mu le cocxislcn<"C o(
disrourses, to examine cach and every mode o( lhoughl wilhin lhcir
spocific trames, lhen if possiblc, lo bring lhem lace to face wilhin lhe
unifying context o( lhe kind of rigorous lhinking lhat is carclul lo �_nsurc
its <>wn cohercnce as"'"" as lhe• intclligibílity of its pra<'tical procedurc.
We havc to develop in ourselvcs lhe ability to shift from one mode oí
lhought and one logical universe to anolher, nol in a blind lcap, and
certainly not ín lhe kind of reckless íump lhat has somehow be<:on,eour
daily bn,ad - but in a conscious, intclligiblc movcn,cn� slcp by clcarly
identifiable step.
Such option for a rationalapproach requires an attitude, a relationship
lo 'lr.idilional knowledgc' mtirely d.ifferenl from lhose prevailing today.
'The new approach caUs for lh<' working oul of n<'W melhodologies in thP
various �-ubject arcas dcsignt'CI lo hclp examine and evalualc and in total,
in va.rious prop0rlions, lo díscard or to validate 'tradilionul' knowlcdgc,
lhus integrating il critically and ulterly ca.ref-ully into the trend o(rurn.>nl,
living research work. 1hc criLiral validalion oí lhe lmditional clcmcnl
wilh a view to focilitating its aclive reappropriation, is likely lo cause
wilhin lhe body o( existing knowledge, shilts and shake-ups o( wh.ich we
al lhe momcnt have no way o( prcdicting eilher lhe scopc or lhe in1pacl.
Toe main lhing. howcvcr, is lo crcate bridges, to re-create lhe unity or
knowk'Clge, or in simpler, dt'épcr lcrms, lhe unity of U,c human bcing.
1hc bulk o( lhis work is made up of a n,viscd and exlcndcd series oí
papers presenteei at a research seminar org.mized íor Masters degn,e
studcnts in Philosophy and Sociology at lhe Universilé Nation.1le du
Bénin, Cotonou, in 1987. Toe S('.minar was ordinarily <>pen to "'tlÍ•l<'red
students only. But olher studcmts, intcroslcd facully and rosea.rchcrs in
various ficlds wore invitcd toa sericsof 'open sessions'. This inlroduction
by lhe seminar dircctor anel eleven out o( lhe lhirteen íollowing chapters
are lhe outcomc o( lhe 'opcn scssions'. To lhose, wc nddcd a papcr by
16 E11doge11ous K,,owlcdgc: Rescarc/1 Trails

Joan-D<>minique Pénel, who was invite<! but unfortunately could oot

áltend. We also includcd a scparate chaptcr by Abel Aíouda, a
hydrologi.st, which is a contríbution to lhe discussion on 'rain n�.
Right at lhe fi� semiMt session lhere arose a lerminology problem.
Toe initial title was in fact 'traditional knowkdgc'; and lhe quotation
ma.rks bctw<.'Cn whiéh lhe word t.rnditioual wos put wc.rc alroady an
indication of some k,ck of satisfaction as weU as the a,varci,ess that, in
suth • phrose currently used, and duubtlcs-s cffoclivc wilh rccard to
empirical identification-in as much aseve,ybody k.nows or beHeves he
or she knows what 'traditional knowl�<lgc' refcrs to - lhe adjoctive
traditio11al is innoc('nl only in appearance. SponL,neously used in contras!
to 'modem', that adjectivc coMOtcs the obscu.rc idce of a radical cul of
lhe old fmm lhe new. lt lhus oonveys ,if lhe old a shallow, uneventful.
uniíorm, static picture in which ai! poinls appear as rigorously
conk'D1porary, kccping for thc ncw arder lhe prcstigc - or misfortunc
- of 01ovemen� of change, in shor� of hístoricity.
We had aheady in other circum.stances observcd lhe mirage effoct
produoc>d by passagc fron, thc noun traditio11 lo Lhc adj,,clivc trnditia11ali
we therefore proposed as a corrective lhe retum to lhe noun system. 1
Behind lhe caplion 'Africao traditional lhouf,hl' p�<l down aod
peLTified as it were by a long elhnoloflical practice, Lhere was an invitation
to a re-discovt..-y of Africao traditio,,s of thour,h� in Lheir own dialectics
and their cventful histo,y; and beyond lhe hinl al 'traditional' religions,
supposedly static, cold and ageless, there was a reference to manífold,
living rolígious trnditio11s, inS<lparablc fmni soci'1l gtoups supporting
1hem and from functions which they fulfO in different political, economic
and cttltural oontcxL• and which are marked by their convcrgcnccs and
divcq_;mccs, including. as lhe case may be, wars and other categories of
conflict which lhey instigatcd in lhe pa5l, direcUy or indirccUy. Llkewise,
behmd 'traditional' knowlcd&e held as definitivc and foreign to histo,y,
onccould hc�-by wish lo seekout manifold, livinr, knowledge traditions,
rorpuscs of k.nowledgc endowcd with variable coherence, íorming a
systcm in varying degrees or resL�tant to eve,y abstract systemali2ation,
coexisting in • relalionship of simplc juxtaposilion or logicru articulation,
moving as a group or separately and inducing al each stage, variably
cfficicnl tcchniqucs and olhcr practiccs.
 lr,troductiou l7

The quotation marks meant aU lhat at a time, i.. e., lhosc lcgitit11dtc
reservaüons, U,at crilicism of a reductionlst �ption of non-Westem
cultures, Lhat rcfusal of ignorancc ora priori cvacuation of thc history, Ute
internai movement as well as lhe change inherent in precolonial social
formalionsand lheir spiritual produclions. Putting U,c word 'lraditional'
in inverte<! commas in lhe scminar tille itsclf, was an implkil
acknowledgement l.hat lhe adjcclivc was impropcr and U,at as much as
possible, bcyond lhe <'mpirical identificution which was allowed and
maybe fovoured by such a usual tem,, therewas a need to undertake lhe
cnormous work of idcological deco1<5lrurtion ncccss,uy lo rc-cswblish
lhe facts.
Bul lhen, quotations marks are writlen signs, not sounds lil<ely to be
heard. 11,e graphic precaution appcarcd insuflicien� right front u,c lirsl
session oi lhe scminar. A satislactory desi!Jl13tion was rcquired bolh for
lhe ear and lhe cyc. Was il nt'(-cssary for such a purpose, to cvokc
'so-callcd traditional' or betterstill 'assumcdly traditional' knowlcdge, in
ordet to express lhe acknowledged impropriety oi lhe usual qualifier?
Thcgroup concludcd lo lhc inadcquacy of U,at vcryoratorical pl\.--caution
whkh, as il rendered lhe research programrne tiUe ralher clumsy, could
only C<)nfirm lhe impropriety which il set out to denounce.
Toe group lhere!ore preferred to find anoLl>er phrasi.ng. 'En dogenous
knowledge' apf'C"red to be a better choioo. The lerm e,-okes theorigin of
thekind of knowledge inquestion byidentifying itasan intemal product
drawn from a givenrultural backgrow,d, os opposro loanolher catcgory
of knowlcduc which would be imported from elsewhere. Certainly one
will object lhal sueh dislinclion ilsclf is rclativc altogcl.lt<'r and is valid
only in a first approximation. since whal today appoors cndog<.'110US may
have been irnported at a distanl tin,e in lhe past, prior to its )ater
assimilation and its p<'r«.'ét intcgration in lhe society, to lhe extent of
obliteraUng its íoreign origins. Ccrtainly onc can quot.c instanc<.'S of U,e
case in point; íorexamplc, maizc in thccycsofany tropical African farmer
appears as an autochtonous crop, whereas it originates actually írom lhe
American continentand in Africa does not dat.cfurlhcr back lhan Ulc 17Ul
cmtury.13
But, righUy, herc lics lhe crux of Ulc n,atter. That a cultural borrowing
L� assinúlated to lhe poinl of being at one with lhe collective heritage
lhcreaflcr, mc.ms thal such borrowing is fully masterc>d .rnd intcgraK-d
18 Endogcnous Knowlcdge: Rcse,ardi Trails

into lhe initial cultun,itse]f. 14 Endogeny therefore is not nccessarily s�1tic,

il can be dynamic. Maybe thcre iS, after ali, no absolute interiority, nor an
absolulély firsl origin. Maybe º"" is rathcr a witness to a riever ending
moven,ent of interiorisatic>n and appropriatíon or vatues derived from
dsewhere. Far from forbiddin& howevcr lha! a distinction bc made
between lheendogenousand lhecx<>genous. lhcabove rcalisation, on lhe
contrary, con,pcls one to mainlain il in ils principie, while shifling lhe
dividing line accordinr; to periods and slages in lhe history of a given
cullure.
One will U1ereíorc describe as cndog,,nous, in a given cu.ltural scl-up,
&-uch knowledge as is experienced by society as an integral pari of its
heritage, in contrasl to Cl<<>genous knowlcdgc which is pcrceived, •l lhis
stagc at lcas� as an element of another value system.
Jus! as lhe cndogenous does not refer to absolute intcriority, so it
cannot be laken as a &-ynonym of indigenous. ln facl lhe indigenous is
what appean; to lhe forcign obscrvcr - explorei- or missionary - as a
purely local curiosity lhat has no effectiveness outside its particu.lar
tontexl 1be tem, always hos a derogatory connotation. ll refcrs to a
spccific, historical experience, precisely one o f integration of
autochlonous cultures into a world-wide 'nwl<et' in whicl> lhesc perforce
ar<> pushcd down to inforior posilions. Toe endogenous becomes
'indigenous' in and lhrough such a world-widening process. What is
proper thcrcby becomes impropcr, and samcncss lurn.s out as diffenmce.
Viewed from lhe outside, and perceived as an objec� as a lhing, lhe
uutocht.onóus person 5C('S hin1 or hersclf cndowcd with a ncw fu.nction,
lhat of a 'primitive', a privileged witness of humanity's irnaginary
1>eg;ru,;,,gs. Worsc still, if lhat person does nol take care, he or she cun
very quickly interiorise lhe new values and, lookin1: at him or herself
lu.<>ftceforlh with other people's eyes, pcrceive hint or hersclf as an
'indigcnous' bcing. Such is truly, as occurs in every historie encounter_,
only lhe firsl momcnt of a dialcctic, wh.ich may suddcnly bring in a
roV'C'rsc movcment. The autochtonous person lherefore by ro.tK.tion and
through revolt, happens to daim his (or hcr) 'indigcnousnes.< justas lhe
Negro, more espc-cially, does hís (her) 'negritude'. Onc knows whlch
Uterary movements, which political and ideological trends were bom of
such a rcaclion, and how such movcmenls and trcnds, after forcefully
cxprcssi.ng the awareness of a coUeclive identity, in son,e cases
 lntroducliott 19

contributed to keeping up an uttcrly stale conservati,,11, and building a

resistance to progress, a real obstadc lo self-abO(.'gation.
But lhere will be no emphasis here on lhat dialectic. The ímpôrtanl
lhing is seeing how lhe world-widening process affccts ali fidds o[
human activity, how il entails lhe beliltling nol only of lhe existing
knowledge, bul of cullures in general, not only o( cognitivc valu(.-s, bul
of practical and acslhclic valucs, how il cntails lhe mar&inaliz.ation oí thc
whole economy, that is to say, lhe whole prO<lucüve activily, which is
hcnceforth ordinate and subord.inate to an externai demand, and lôtally
depríved o( autonomy and self-regulating p0wer.
Endogenous Technologies
The foUowingchapters faU into four sections: Endogenous Technolonies;
O,nceptual Structures; Medicine and Pharmacology; Transnússion
Mclhods.
The chapter by Pierre G. Mêtinhouc,, 'Toe study of 'traditional'
techniques and know-how: methodological issues' deals first and
forernost wilh lhe issuc oi lhe currenl terrns o( rcforence o( Hislôry in
Africa. As il highli!)hlcd conflkts such as wars and othcr hcroic d�x,ds,
fu.rlhcrmore as itaffinncd lhe primacy of lhe wrillcn word, thctraditional
approach o[ lhal discipline narrowed considerably lhe scope of possible
investigations in Africa. ú, order to uncover lhe African historian's
m.ind's cyc and open up ncw J'<'rspcctives, thcrc was a nccd lhereforc to
start rchabilitating oral traditions as materiais conducive lo proper
knowlcdgc of lhe pas� and with regani to conflicts such as wars, lo
highlighl lhe sludy of civilisation facts, in particular material cultures.
lhe new approach lo history lhusoffersa vast field to lhe researcher. thal
of endogenous techniques. All has nol been said, lhe African historian
does not Jack a purpose, innovation rcmains possiblc, just as lhere is hope
for an incrcasro contribution lo coUcctivc rcposs,.>ssion of self and lhe
world.
To illuslrate his vicws, Mêtinhoué lists up to forty-lhree (43) research
sludies conduclcd between 1985and 1988 by material culture history and
archacoloBY studenlsal the National University oí Benin. Thescstud('[lls,
somehow, showc'<l lhe way forward, bul thei.r to pies obviously are only
a few pointers among hundrcds or evcn lhousand� of olhers.
10 Endogcnous Knowlcdgc; Rescnre/1 Trails

The histo.ry oi moterial <-ultures, oí which lhe relevance is lhus

pinpointed, however offers an 'unpre<edented melhodological
chollcngé to lhe re,;carcher. Crounding his argument on authors lil<eJ<'Wl
Dcvisse and André Leroi-Gourhan, Mêtlnhoué shows how lhe solution
to the challeni,-e prcsupposes, not only stroa.mlitling oral source study
criticai methods, but also resorling syslemalicalJy in a spiril oi
inlerdisciplinary approad,, to data írom othcr subjcct areas IÜ<e
archaeology in th� firsl place, but also palaeography, palaeobolany and
'litUe by litUc, U1e wholc modem knowledge and Lcchnology'. The
chap tercloses with a casestudy, consisting of a description oi the making
oi distilled p,tlrn winc, which lhe aulhor presenL• hcre as an illustration
oí how the history oí endogmous techniques reodily blows up whot
Joseph Ki-Zcrbo tem,ed lhe myth oí lhe historical passivity oí African
pcoples.
Thc c.hapter by Alcxis Adandé, 'Tradilional lron metaUurgy in West
Africa' is basicaUy an answer Lo lhe sarne preoccupaUon: to re-establish
lhe historical trulh. bcyond ali lhe shrewdly kept up complexes whereby
Aíricans wcre made to believe that they had never invente<! anything
lhrough lheir o\.m means.
Sccondory metollurgy isa ·well-known aclivity in black Africa,and the
business of blacksmiths has been studied thoroughly by ethnographers
und hi.storians. What is less known however, is lhe existence of a primary,
vcry ancient metallurgy in Africa. Recent nrchacoloi,>ic.'11 rescarch enables
one to locate in Wesl Africa today, namely in Chana, Nigeria,, Burkina
Faso, Mali, Senegal, lvfauritania, Togo and Benin - m,'llly sites where
blast furnaces in oldm times were uscd for separating iron from ils ore
lhrough U1e 'dircct method', lhat is to s.,y, withoul going lhrough lhe
intennediary cast iron stage.
Gíven Lhat obvious reaJity, lhe g:real oontroversy an,ong specialisls
would not d"'11 wilh lhe cxistence, but with lheorigifl of that lechnology.
While researchers at the beginning of lhis (entury admitted easily lhat
iron metallurgy wus bom in black Africa prior lO its dissemination
towards Europe, direcUy or throuch lhe Near E,,st, another group of
colonial researcbers, from lhe years 1930, findín& it hard to in1agine lhal
Africa ilself could ewr invent suc.h a technology, lhought it dever to
supposc U1a1 the technology came from lhe Near Easl or lndia: a quaint
íntcrpreh,tion oí lhe diífusionistscl,ool oi thought slrongly contradicted
 l11troductio11 21

howcvc,r by more remnl research work lhal leads lo placíng in Afrka

jtsel[ lhe origin of iron extractive metallurgy.
The sludy by Alexis Adandé starts with a few definitions and
conceptual preliminari<".s; lhcn it draws a balance-sheet of currcnt
knowledge on ancient iron metallurgy and shows lhe relevance of such
• rcsearch field.
Divided by some archaeologists inlo three periods, lhe irem age in
Africa would thereforecomprisean early period extending up to year650
in our era, a suooequenl period going from Vlllh to XV!th centwy and a
recent pcriod stretching from XVIIth to twly XXth century. Up to lhis
day, lhrce Jarge arcas relating lo lhe early period have been identified,
lhat is lhe Nok cullure complex in Central Nige,-ia, lhe !\ir region in
Northem Niger and Daboya in Norlhem Ghana; but thc main thing is
lhal lhe daling data obtaint'<i lhrough lhe mosl rigorous mcthoJs no
longer today allow for lhe least doubt aboul lhe ancienl origin of iron
technolop,Y which inAfrica goes perhapsback to lhe beginning oflheíirsl
millennium before Jesus-Chrisl.
The major question lhcn is how lhese mclallurgicol lraditions cndnd
up vanishing, and why lhe vasl hislorical regression ai the tem, of which
lhose iron-ore processing operalions wlúch were once conduclt'<I on a
large industrial scale, are carried on nowadays only in a few Lsolated
placcs, seen as 'lhe ultimatc traces of a once widely practised activily'.
Aloxis Adandé mentíons two causes here: lhe impacl of slave lrade, of
which one has good reasons for thinking that it dtained an importanl
group of African foundry-workcrs and blacksmiths to lhe Amcricas,
where Lhe natives unti1 thcn kncw only gold, <opper and brow..e
nR>!iillurgy; lhe other cause mcntioncd by Adandé is thc brutalily of a
colonial adminislratíon which doomed it expedienl to prolecl the market
of imported iron ilerns by suppressing local metallurgicaJ practices. ln
addilion to lhat historical rcg·rcssion problem, othcr issucs arisc�
regarding namely lhe metallurgisl's and blacksmilh's social statuS, and
more gencrally forms of iron production social organisalion which vary
considerably from one region to another, or regarding lh� influence of
thal production on lhe economy and politics, on relationships between
social fomiations, development of rcligion and magic,and ecology.
22 é11dogcrroU$ Kmrwlcdgc: Re5<ardr Trails

With lhe papcr byGbl!noukpo Dah-Lokonon-Bodehou and lhelively

debate that follows, wc an: al thc heart oi an essential problcm and of a
difficully. Thcqueslion which lhe speaker was asked to answer wasdear.
how much myth and scienceis therein lhe practiceol 'rain make,rs'? How
can lhe core oi proven lechniques be identilied as opposed to
mystification and sheer magicai/religious delirium? Wc would not havc
raisecl such queslions if we knew lhe answers, or if we were sure lha� in
lhe local wcathcr spcdalist's daim lo atmosphcric managemml, all is
nicrc mylh and illusion. Besides, Dah-Lokonon's paper, beyond its
obvious infom,alivc richness, will ccrtainly amau, its rcadcr,; owing to
its dcliberatcly apologetic character, its unnútigated valorisation oi
something whích precisely is at slake, and lhcrelore its tendency to
suppress questioning. as S<·v�ral spcakers remarl<ed durin8 question
time. This ís a prool oi theexlremedilfículty of having LOsilon lhe fence,
of knowing from thc insidc technícal and magical pradices inhcrited
lhrough a lradilion dalíne bati< ll> lime immemorial, and of keeping
lowards lho discoursc supporling or expressing s11ch practíces - lhe
criticai distance nccessary for a faUy ralional assessmcnt.
Bul there líes, precisely, lherelevanceof lhe paper theaulhor of whJch
should be givcn duc crcdi� firsl for mar,aging lo support lhe views o(
thooo he d,icrentiaJly calls thc 'wise oncs' in our counlrysidc, lhen for
agn."Cing to lake on questíons and oboorvations from speakers who, in
thcir lar8C majorily, warc rathcr sceptical, in order to atlempt buildjng
wilh lhese a common knowledge ín a dynamic DWU1(!f, ln lhal dialogue
whi<h occasionally resembles a propcr disputation, rationality can be
seEn al work inside o, starting from a diséourse which slill remains,
thoroughly, thc >'J","<-'Ch of lhe anccslors: myl/ws in its litoral scnsc.
From Dah-Lokonon to Abel Afouda, lhere is a noo.l for a 8Í""l's step.
Toe hydrologist ri!)hl away beued on rationaJ.ily, lha! is LO say integral
inldligibility; a fim, position backcd up with ull<?l'ly slrong heurislic
principies wlth whích hequeslions pre- or prolo•scicntific practices stilJ
parlially <aught up in myth, and of whích hc aims IO work oul lhe
n1ooning and limitalions. He aJso wishes IO confcr a ncw valuc on
cndogcnous knowledgc, but Uu-ough a recupcralion process subsequenl
LO a preliminary ruplure, instihitcd pnl<iscly by 'fandamental principies
of modem sciencc'.
 lutroducliou 23

lt is lhercfore in lhe light of a positive knowledge of lhe usuol

mc'Chanism or almospheric precipilátions lhat Abel Aíouda wishes to
interpret 'lhe experi.mcntol device oí a rain nlUl<er', as obserV<.>d by
himself in August 1978. That lhe experunenl held as a reíerence shouJd
have ended as a failure is only a minor detail lo lhe hydrolo&is� whereas
such a fuilure would have been �ufficienl to make lhe experin,enl
irrelevant in lhe eyes of lhe apologist or ideologist. 1ne whole trick is
explained ú,us:
The big wood fire acted as a generalor oí a smoke panache oonlaining
fine particlcs neccssary for nucleaUon. Toe ncccssruy hy&n,sropic
properties would toe oo,úerred on lhe panach<, by lhe fine partidos
obtaim:d fron:1 Lhe: buming of sall or hcrbs Qnd )caves uscd as
ingredients for lhe experi.men� etc.
And U,at is not all; lhere exists on lhe issue a plenliful scicntif;c lilerature
which gives a minute accounl o( various artificial precipilation
experimcnls. lmportanl elen,ents of knowledge have been ac,cumulaled
on lhe issueand have sometin,es given rise lo indusLríal implementalions
in lhe United Státcs, lhe fom,er Soviet Union, Israel, Fmnce, Chile, lndia
ill\d Africa.
ln lhe light of such experiments, onecaJ'IOlU
help lhinking lhal mental
sinking in lhe mythical discourse comes from a regrettable Jack of
information; aJthough lhere is a need to guard against nullifying
endogcnous praclices. lndeed, if the artificial causation of rain is nol a
phenomenon peculiar lo Africa, neverlh<"Jess, lhe lact remains füat
'African meú,ods can have lheir particularities'. ln lh•l regard, Abel
Afouda opens up palhs of n,scarrn that hold out promises of fccundity,
aúned al an aclive reappropriation of lraditíonaJ know-how.
Conceptual Structures
Under lhe title 'Conceptua.1 Structures', part two oí lhe book covers a
S<.>ries of lhoughts on lhe African numericaJ system, lhen anoú,er on lhe
mathen,atical foundation of geomancy, and a third on z.oological
laxonomy in Hausa.
How to counl up lo one lhousand, up to one million and one bilfüm
in African languages? Whal is Uie n�,rhanisn, of nun,erical sysleti't'i in
U1ose Ianguages and which transformations and new abslTac tive
24 E.11dogmo1� Knowlcdgc: R/:$carclt Trails

pro«...scs should be introduood to make lhcm more manageable and

more able to express aoo <.mich nlO<lcm arilhmetic lhinki11f.?
These questions n.-ceived answers from Toussainl Y. Tchitchi, on lhe
basis of a Benincsc languagc, Ajagbê.
After describing lhe rml fundioning of lhe Aja nu.morical sysl<.m and
examining sucressivcly in lhalframework, lheformaticm of cardinal and
ordinal numbcrs, and of what hc calls iterative nu.mbcrs, lhe cxprossion
of currency, and lasUy tcrnlS oi ronneclion enablinJ lhe expression of lhe
basic arithmctic oper.1tions (addition, muJtiplication, subtraclion,
divi5ion) - lhe aulhor ralses lhe issue of lhe transformalions necessary
for adapting lhe Aja languoge to lhe pressing nccds of modernariUullelic
thinking. Hcncc lhe questicm oi decimali7.ation, an essenlial is.5uc oi
which Tchitchi's laconic p�lalion indicales hôwewr clearly lhe
inlrndability just as it proposes a solution, as follows:
The aja traditionaJ system o( numcration uses hvo 'OOsic numbc.rs':
10and -lO. Eighty, onc hll!ldr<.'CI and twenly and <me htmdred and sixty
are 'twicc forty', 'thrmlin-forty', 'four limes forty',and soon. Solha!
bcyond forty, 'whole powers of forly S(,rvcd ... as conncctíng modes in
Lhe system'. Hence lhe d ifficully in cxpressing vcry largc numbcrs, and
U,e high propensity or lhe systcm to nll!lierical saturation.
A team of refom,ers, bcnt on simplifying lhe system lhrough
Jecin,ali7,1lion, al lhe end of a series of ,..,refui ficld cnquiries and afh)r
ronsulting wilh elders in lhe rommunity - had lo propose new temis
for saying ten, oru:: hundro..'<l,thousancl, million anti billion. ll,us, insiead
oi saying lhe number ninety, lhe way il is naturally done in lhe language,
U,at is kavc l,o wo, literally: two ropes plus len (one rope standing for lhe
simple unil 'forty'), one will say in thc new tcmunology: tn-s/,idclr;,
literally: nine 'heads',or more accurately (,wen lhough Tchitchi doesnot
spcdfy il) nine heaps, a hé<tp standing hcncdorlh for lhe simple unil
'ten'.
Finally, asking hintself lhe relevance of lhe rcfomi, lhe author
obsorvcs lhat if it does nol lead nec<.'SSafily to shorter numcric tcmis and
does not lhcrefore en!ail an economy in lhe enunciation, nevcrthcles.� it
cases management of largcnumbcrs and f;gurcs.1hc testing of lhe ncw
system by lam,crs in lhe Mono Region -wilhin lhe programn,es oi lhe
 Introd11ctio11 25

Centre for rural devclopmcnl �na! oction (CARDER) - invites oro

to asserl lhe efficiency of lhe new systcm, lhe author condudes.
Toe mcssagc of Victor Houndonougbo has a differenl orientalíon in
as mut·h us lhe aulhor nims nol Lo transfom, bul lo clucidalc, not to adapt
existing resources for lhe sake of a more secure production of lhe rational,
bul to lay ban: lhe concealcd rationality o( a 5(."emingly mystical practice.
Bchind the r,eomancy o( Ua, alroody abundantly desrribcd tlirough a
whole etlmographic literatUJ'C, bchind lhe complex signs intcrpretcd by
lhe divincr by nwans of sch<.mc'S and a wholc sei of symbols which
emerged as a rc sult of lhe force o( tcadition, Houndonour,bo discovers a
few sin,ple rulcs, a few combinalorial clcmcnts thul refor to familiar
malhcmatical lheorems.
Calculation of probability lherefore allows a mtional interpretation of
lhe lhree modes oi divinalion, which indude bolh U,e 010s1 simple and
the n\QSt complex, i. e. divination by a throw o( kola�nuts, cowries, or use
o( beads. Houndonougbo's approach consists i n construing
nuilhcm.,tically, 1rom a givcn divimto,y material (four lobcsof kol"·nuts
in U1e tirst instance, sixtecn cowries in Lhe sccond case, a string oi eight
bead itenlS in Ule lhird case) - lhe dilforcnt possible orrangemenlS of
such materiais; lhe author also calculalcs Lh<, probability for each
arrangcmenl of such materiais. The n._-sult oi lhe exercise can be
fom,ulatcd by m�,ans of a Lheorcm whcrcby lhe alC'Olory varia ble
(number of lobes facing down in lhe first instance, number of cowries
facing up in lhe second case) is distribul<.-d on:ording lo wcll-known
prohability calculalion laws.
No matter who can understand fom1ulaeand graphic representations,
us wcll as malhcmalical concepts whereby lhe aulhor accow1ts for lhose
phcnom,'lla: Bernoulli's binominal law, associated prooobility spaco,
arborescent exploraUon wilh unicolunm matrix notation, faclorial trce,
Pascal's lriunglc, Gnuss' bcll, applicalion o f �• scl of x clcmcnL'-,
<c'quiprohability, quanlity of information equal to lo11arithm of n, wilh 2
as Ui<, ba&;) (4 • logi n), ele.. The essmtial Uling for Ule common readcr
hasically is llw píO<'.eSS ilS<>lf: tht> laying hare of a concealed rationalily,
lhe cndeavour to fonnallse a p.racticc perceived by alJ and perceivillg
it.sc.lJ as myslical, Lhe 'm, .tthcmatisation of an unstn.ictun--d doctnne' ,. to
use Gcorgcs Canguilhem's phr<lse (Cai111uilh,�m 1972).
26 Eudo geuous Kuowlcdge : Rcscardr Trails

However, onc will note, in passing. lho following implication: betting

on rationality presuppose.� a complete evacuation, a blowinf� up or lhe
mystica.l horizon wh.ich thus far encompasscd divinatory practiccs.
Houndonougt,o comes back lo ít lhree times al Jeast: no esotcric or
psycruc influcnce, no mystical mtity directs lhe kola lobes or orients lhe
cowrics, justas no mystcrious power iníluences lhe lay-out o( lhe beads
U,rown many limes in succcssion. Such definilcly is rol lhe opinion oí
thc divincrs lhcmselves, who on lhe ronlnuy asseri strongly lhat cach
lay-oul of beads is guid�-d by a divinity wJiosc messag-c it l1unsmits
foilhfully. The mathematical approach proceros therefore from taking
lhe sacredness away írom Uie real wortd. Toe mathemat.ical approach is
god-killing. Such is Lhe splendid assassínation which Victor
Houndonougbo perfom1S withoul saying it,or rather saying it in his own
way, with lhequiel assun.'<incssof lh<::scicnlist.
Wc are back lO lhe languagc ••sue wilh J. D. Péncl's papcr cntiU�..i
'Epistemological rellections on animais' names in Hausa. As in Tchitchi's
text on traditionaJ cnumeration syste.ms, the objccl consisl5 in
queslioning lhe functioningoí an Aírican Janguagechosenasanexample,
wilh regar<! lO a given knowledgc fieh.l.
Pé:ncl's inLC.nlion ic; lo tnmpare lhe moJc of dnssificat.Jon of anima.Is
in Hausa and lhat of modem :wololl}', as was estnblished ín lhe main, by
Linné in U,e 18th cmtury.
While Linné' s dassification goes according to hierarchy and.
'interlocking' of categories, namcs<>f animais wW1 lhe Hausa pcoploare
primarily in keeping wilh íealures lik<!ly 11, be obscrv�-d direcUy by lhe
five senses as for thal maller, lhey lhemsclves supply valuablc
lnformalion on morphololl}' and behaviour, natural placcs, S<'ASOns and
othcr times of appcartmce of such various animais. Dcsignations thus
constitulein then1Selves 'a conlribution to knowledf�Whi<:h zoololl}',an
ulili.scand intcgralt:f.
Pfuc.l pinpoints also in llH� proc<!SS of naming some unimals a
· projeclion of lhe social world on lhe animal world', but lhe author soon
rcaHSt,,� lhal such anlhropomorphism which has a nlc;\S.'�ivc prcscnt'C in
Hausa z.oolo[lical lexicon, is nol whoUy aboent either from a so-called
scicntific Lem'linology.
 fnlroduction 27

Thc most importaT'll point, however, is the exarnination of

classiíicalion processes used in compound names. lndeed, lhe naming
approach which consists in laking o oosic name and adjoining to it one
or severa! attributes - 'operatcs as lhe root or ancestor to Linné's
procedure', which ilSclf stUcly as weU sldrted with an �,xt<>.mal but
rigorous observalion of some paris of lhe bodies of animais and planLs,
prior to rising to dislinction between gender andspecies and lo lhe whole
thcory U,at carrics it. Thcn ali o( a sudden one sces clmuly lhe rclcvancc
of Hausa taxonomy and its lúnitalions, its richness, but also lhe urueliable
naturc of a.na.logics groundcd on externa! description nlonc_, with no
reJ'erence to anatomy and physíology, lhat is, to structure analysis and to
study of functions. That is a valuable pointer to what remains to be done,
providcd lha! one wanls lo go lx.j'ond lhe limits of the proscnl for a
self-projeclion into lhe future. And thal is a task a!J the more important
sú,cc aU in ali, zoological vocubulury itsell is for from rc.iching, toduy, u
measure o( strictness comparable lo that of lhe conccpls of physics or
chemistry. 'uitin d�'S not in itsclf crcate scicnce and ... is only a
convenient convcntion for avoiding friclion o( nalional (ec\ings among
scientists·. ln summary, zoolop,Y is still in lhe makinp, lhat is, in a state of
incomplclcncss which gives udditional scnsc a.nd juslification lO n
research process that would endeavour to take into account lhe
conlribution o( loc,u knowledgc by inscrling it into a ncw thcoretical
mvimnrnent.
Medidne and Phar01acology
11,c Third p<1rl of lhcbookdeals wilh nicdicincand pham,acology. ln hcr
presentation of some o( lhe most famous m(.'<licinal products in 8<.'nin
pharmacology, including fourK_..,,., (14) fruils, �jght (8) se..'<ls, U,ree (3)
bulbsand rhizomes, one (1) sheU and nine (9) mineral itents -Simone
deSouza ensured that shcindkawd for each of them, notonly local names
as wcll as lhescicnlific, lhot is losay, uitincorrcsponding words, bulalso
and above all, prover,, objectively expcricnc�'<I n><'<lical, cffecLs, lhcn
supposedly maiµcal clfe<:ls, und lasUy bolh medical and magicai dfccLs.
11'\C vaJue of lhe pape...� does nol derive from its infommtion contcnt
alone. Between lhe lines of su,:h a brief, unassuming itemiz.ed lis� two
issues at lcasl cru, bc seen, loontlng up ai first., then bccom.i.ng lruly
unavoidablc.- - as discussions showed. First, how can one discriminate
28 E11dogcu01d K.uowledgr: Rt'$corcli Truil�

hetwccn mcdirin<:and magi<? Why are lhcy s-0 dosely tfod up in so-callc-d
u,
traditional lherapeulic p,aclkes? substance, u,e same question arises
wilh regar<! to rain-ma.kcrs whosc procé-dtUesalrcadycaJJ,'<l for lhoughts
on lhe dividing line between mylh and reality, positive lochnique and
wild riluaJ.
11,cn and abovcall, groundcd on lhal first qut-stion, lhcn, is a conccm
which amounts lo lhe \'('.,Y one lying al lhehearlof lhis book, in lem\Sof
how, by which mclhods, by which wQys and means onecan rt.'<-Uperalc
and put to lhe servke oí our socielies loday, whal is most valid in local
pharn,acology ? Thc roodcr will be lcfl lo makc his (or hcr) own
asses.çn1ent of lhP aulhor's an...,wc-)'s to lhesc h\'O qucstions, and. to cany
on by hin, or herselí lhe U,inking lhus slnrled, possibly lhrough a
lmnslation into an aclion programmc.
Quesli<>ning lradilional <-tiologkal modds, írom Ih<' cas.• of Benin
republic, Gualbcrt Ahyi observes lhal mental illness is li1'1ked lO two
causes: it is thc work oí a humon bMng or of a spiriL ln l.hl� ÍOrm<'r case,
il results from a dÍJ'e('l or indirecl aggression; direcl when somebody
attacks somcbody dsc wilhout an inlem,cdiary, by \li.rtuC of a g('t1u.inc
power whi<:h is wilc-hrraft. The aggression is indírecl when somebody
allacks somcbody eJ.se lhrough a lhird person, perrcived ns an Uútiat� a
ma&ician or a 'marabout'. ln lhe Jatter case-. on lhe contrnry, the
aggr<...w;sion c<>mes from a spiril lhal parlakcs of ancestral rí,ligions or
importod rcligions.
11,e conscqu�nce of such aetiolO!lY is lhat i.n his or her J iagnosis, lhe
hcakr wiU concenlralc not so much on visible symptoms of lhe il.lJlcss as
on sinns which can allow him (or hcr) lO identify lheaggressor. And such
signs he will íinJ abovcall ln whal u,e patienl or lhe íanúly says and lhe
quality of lho rclation..�hips lfr,king lhe individual to lhe group; which
ddinilely puts lhe psychialric facl outside lhe field or mental illness,
slrictly spcaking: 'Thc lroublc is ncilhcr in lht' body, nor in lhe sick
!"'™'", but in the ap;gression'.
Whal is lhe lh<'rapeutic virtueof such models? Ahyi th<masks hin,sclf.
Bolh modcls refor lo confliclwtl silualions. Aggtt'Ssion by witehcr•ft
refers lo a basicconOicl wilhin inlPrpersonal relationshlps, and finally, to
an origína.l rclalionslúp wilh lhe molher. Thc wilch who 'e•ls' a viclin,
is only an avatar of Lhe de"ouring molh<·r. As for lho healcr, hc or she is
 29

also necessarily anadcpt of \\�tchcraft, that is, lheonewhich does noleal,

nor kills, nor use,; iL� power to cause ham, bul which on lhe COJ\Lrary is
n,cant to preveni olhcrs from eating, killing and harnúng potenlial
viclims.
Aggression by spirits refers not al aU to a dual relationship, but to a
relulionship wjlh lhe Jaw of anccslors, Lradilio11, taboos. llJness is lhen a
sigo indicating that a taboo or a rule has been violated or forgotten. lt is
a call to order, a message signalling lhat somelhing abnormal has
happMC<I in lhe dynamics of lhe family or social group, that lhorc has
occurred a rupture which can bc overcome only thr<1ugh special rituais
which lhe healér, a pricsl of a kind, will as a duty prescribe.
Regarding such lradiliot1al modcls, Lhe author r,commcnds Lhe
minimal humility whích is required for taking seriously a type of
discourse wholly nonsensical al first. He even goes íurther. The African
a<>tiology, he acknowledges, is very much líke 'a bigjoke' ... Howover, it
is an efficient jo!«1, 'a lie Lhat works somehow'. Toe most original
contribution of lhe papcr lics probably in lhe th�'Ory of lhe efficicnt lie!
'Thus, lhe Black man would havc undcrstood lhings which hc cannot
nrune, oc,-..use nanting thcm would serveno pu.rpose,cxceplfor broaking
íamilics'.
A child who killed his (or her ) mothor could not have dono it on his
(or hi:,r) own; hc(or shc) must havc bccn di sturbcd by a spiri� bccause of
lhe fnm.i1y's foilurc to perfonn such or such a socrffice. As a rt�lt, lh(!
culprit i� perceived as a viclím and in this capadty, is taken chargeof by
lhe group. Whot purpose would it have scrvcd to spcU out lhe crude foct
of the,rime? A crudedenomination, • positive designotion of rmlity can
lcad 10 a d<>1dlock. whereas a symbolical dothingcould ro,wersely allow
prt-scrvalion of social cohcsion. Gualbcrt Ahyi SL'<.'S thcrclorc in such
African therapeulic practiC<.'S a 'rc<'overing technique: 'lt is pcrhaps
becouse truths arcnot spokrn but thrown away clsewhere that thcsystcm
operates. For if lhe trulh was unvciled, onc, would from a n•rtain momc,nt
be for«.'<! with d truU, upo11 which onc could pcrhaps no Jongcr work'.
Do 'mystical shootings' cxist really or not? Any littlc chíld in Bmin
would íind such a question as propostorous as when oni.:. wondPrs if lh<'
e.arth and trres do exist. Bclicf in 'tslu>ka11<' (mystical shooting) and bdicf
more gcncmUy inoccull forces- are hcre a ntalle:r of course. But thcn is
30

this mcre belief, shec.r fa.ntasy, and lhe outrome oí an 'animisl' vislon of
lhe universe(ac.-ording lO Tylor) or of a 'primitive' n\erttality(according
lo Lévy-Bnahl)?15 h is os a surgeon, Lhal is to say a praclitíoner of one of
thcmosl posiliveor malerialistk branchesoí medkinelhal Henry-Valére
Kiniffo answers lhe question. As a mallcr of íacl, his an.çwer, on·c must
say ít plainly, L� quite disturbing.
'Thal a child should have lhe broken tip of a pencíl fall ínlo his or her
ear, swallow a bulton snald1ed off • shirt, or brcalhe a liny ball inlo his
or her nose, lhat a stray bulk-t shou.ld hit deep inl<)S<>mcbod/s backbonc
or thal a clumsy or carclcss surgron shou.ld !cave a biade unnoliced ín a
patient's body- such are cases where a foreign object being found oul
in a hu.nian body, for from app<.>aríng as a surprise, is seen by all as
resulting from a material, causal proccss which can bc obscrvcd
mnpírically. The aulhor starls by presenling a typology oi such parasitic
objccls according lo U,cir modcof inlroduction inlo lhchuman hody, then
hc, índ.icatcs in ea�h case, lhe most efféclive techniques of extraclion.
TI1ereare however cases where lhe presence oí a íoreign objecl cou.ld
nol be cxpJai.n(,-d in such an 'obvious' ma.nncr and doos nol wler to any
causal, observable process. Tappíng his own rich medical experience.
Kiniffo cites spcdfic cxru:nplcs. ln two such cas<..-s which ren"1íned
íamous, lhe w.nowned surgeon palienUy managed lo extracl sewing
needles stuck deep in various parlS of a catechist's fore-arm, and aJso a
bundle of black and 11,-d hair plaiting lhrcad ncslk-d quainUy in a young
girl's stomach. There is no denying lhe facts, hard and properly
cst.ablishtxl as th<."Y wcrc. Mowcvcr, onc will scek fi:.rst to cxplain thcm
posilively by casting onlo lheir backp,round an empírically inlelligíble,
causal rt'Osoning. Bul lhcn lhíngs gel complicalcl: lho rnlcchisl did
definitely not fall unto a bag of needks, nor diJ liltlc Agathcswallow
pluiling lhreads. TI1c 'n1yslical' c'Xplunation app<.-ws lherefore lo b<' more
simpie, in Ulis inslance, thal is, more economical: 'The maller has lo do
rol wilh swallowed threotls bul wilh a lhing senl oul' (sic), whlch is a
literal translation of a stock phrase in local languages. Toe aulhor sceks
no furth(,r cxplanatk>n. Al most, he adds, in his capacity as a Uierapist,
lhal whal hchimsclf achievcd by dint of patienreand owing to whal one
is indined lo seeas a piem of su,gical SU<'cess story, lhe trad itional healm
�rformsothcrwise, lhal is,through magnctkcharm. Thc ultima te naluro
of �-uch therapeulic process will how1,-vcr nol be queslioncd, nor was lhal
 lutroductiou 31

of t.he mystical projc'<'tion oí which t.hc proccss is considcrcd as the

antidote.
What a pity (that) t.he recording o( the long discussion which then
followed got lost! Qucslions were íulJ oí passion, one guesses easily, just
as theclashof argumcnts wasstimulating. Ooesces what thecase in JJ()inl
could be: valuc <tnd limitations of ralionnlism in 1,>cncral, or at lcas� of
that common rationalism which some describe, wrongly or rightly, as
perlain.ing lo Descartes, and whkh appears to many as a very narrow
approach which singularly reduces and impoverishes rmlity.
Toe paper by Comlan Théodore Adjido relates directly lo t.hat debate.
Lei us not jwnp to conclusions too quickly, the aulhor wams, and let us
not give up understanding. Onc must get ou! o( U1e doscd world oí
witchcraft lo be able to deal thematically with witchcraft itself, that is, to
take il as a t.heme, as a topic íor study. For 'witchct'aíl is one oí such
phcnomena as descend suddenly upon lhe people; and by deíinition,
epidemiology is one oí such sciences as deal essenlially with phenomena
lhal dc>SCend suddenly on peoplcs'.
ln other words, lhe r>'.al is.sue is nol wilchcrafl il<elf, but bdief in
witchcrafL And that beliel which pervades our reference societies, has all
lhe reatures of a scourcc, such as snmll pox or cholera epidcmic. 16 For
Theodore Adjido, psychosomatic medicine, such as it develops
nowadays, offers altoget.her if not complete explanations, at lt>.ast a
satisfactory modcl of cxplanation oí wikhcraft phenomena whic'h
u�"U.ally appear to us so mysterious and whkh wc considcr wrongly as
spccific lo Afrirn. Wha.t is being qucslioned therefore, on careful
exanúnalion, is nol rationalism in general,. but al most a narrow
ralionalism which would l.tke ínlo accounl, in tem�• of etiological
explanatio� only a series of causes exc1u.sive of ali others, and which, in
like manncr, would ignore lhe complex relationship between lhe body
a.nd lhe mind. ll is to a beller knowlcdge oí procc'SSCS whereby lhe human
body responds to environment t.hat lhe aulhor invites us. The reader will
ccrtainly be fruslrntcd for finding in lhe firsl chapter on 'sy nopsis o(
psyçhosomatic medidne' only a brief overview on authors, works and
conccpts which would probably deserve a major empha.sL�. Bul one will
understand easily U,at one cannot do bctler in a prcsentation ainúngonly
at showing a possible way for resiea.rch. Maybc it will bc regn>tted also
Lhat lhe aulhor does not show further, relying on hís cxpcrient."C as a
J2 E11doge11ous Knowl"1�: Rcscarcl, Trails

psychiatrist lhe practical implications of hisappro..ch. Such howeverwas

not his aim eilher, and in Lhat general discussion on eliolor,ical models,
lhe only clinicai caso which was cited could bc more lhan cnough.
Mt""' no di bobo"º dí: evil strikes only somebody who is roody for it.
The above saying quotcd froo, lhe Fon languagé by Adjido, ;.ums up lhe
contcnt of his PªP"' and shows also that, evcn inside a culture wherc
bclief in wítchcraft rcmains not only omnípresent but basic structurally,
lhere c.x:ist discorda.nt voices, non-conforutist voices which express
scepticism and proclaím ils k.'gilimacy, lhus showing to aU and sundry
lhe way to a possiblc psychological ltreralion.
Transmission Methods
At lhe end of Lhís intcllectual joumey, while it is no longer poS!>iblc Lo
doubt thc cxi.<tence o( endogenous knowledge and of lhe oomplcx
problems related to its idenlification and actualisalion, one is forced to
misc questions on lhe modo of transn1ission o( such knowledge in lhe
pa,,1, and in particular on lhe respective roles, scopes and linútalions of
written and oral mrons of communication.Such is theobject of tlie fourlh
pari of this book.
As a true argument in favour of orality, and kce,, on rehabilitating a
form of communication which il deems unfairly despised by the
intellectuals, thosc who in Benin go by Ih" nan,e of akow., - a yoruba
word nieaning lilcrally scribes - lhe tcxl by Fra_nçoís Dossou starls by
nskíng a definite question, which relates to lhe intrinsic efficiency oC
orality, lhat is tosay, specificmeans at lhe disposal of a givcn culture for
sclocting, shxkingand tran.smitting from one gen.c.ration LO a.nolher such
knowlcdgc as it deems useful, wid'lout resorting to writing. Once d'le
question is thus pu� theaulhor propooc-safow definitions which hcsecs
as justasmany 1warnings1 •
So he vigorously denounces lhe semantic shíft which makes lhe
illitcratc ªPP'"'', no longcr as sinlply somebody lgnoranl of lhealphabct,
bulas an absolute ignoran� likewise,orality is conceived o{, restrictively
as mere absence of wriling, whetc.1S very posilively, iJ1 lhesame capacity
as scripturality of which it is lhealternative, orality is seen as a particular
form of communicalion and transmission, of whích the functioning
deserws a dose examination. Fin.�lly Fran<;ois Dossou poinls out l.hat
wrilillg wa.s invented in lhe bcginning in response to practical and not
 Juttoductio,, 33

literary or scientific needs and lhat it serve<! lhe exclusive inte,-ests of

social classes lhemembers of which were lhen ín positions of power. Next
comes lhe examination of what lhe aulhor calls 'verbophilia' and
'scriptophilia', lhal is to say, an exclusive cult of speech or writíng, as
illustrdted respectivcly by Rousseau, Lévi.strauss and S.ussure on lhe
one hand, and on lhe olher - mínd youl - by Jacques Derrida and ...
PauJinJ. Hountondji. Onefirst expectation is lhal lheaulhorshould brush
aside both antagonistic altitudes and ínstead propose a global, more
balanced approach whereby lherespective and complementary functions
of specch and writíng would .rcceive their fair share of appralsal. But it
appears very quickly that for lhe author, lhe absolute evil is
'scriplophilia' - which shows up as a theoretical peroration of oral
civiHsation and which tends to consider as savage and prinútive, pcoples
wiU1 no known writíng tradítions.
LitUe wonder therefore that a third and last paragraph serves as a
s pecial renewed contributfon to such crilicism under lhe litJe:
· Mystification of lhe written word'. François Dossou, as aJways, wams
agaínst 'fetishismof the Alphabcl', which considcrs orality as incapable
of conveying knowledge, leading us to 'kneel down ín frontoí the written
word',to believeal lhelinút that 'whal is not written is U10ughlless',and
to look at omlity 'a• ... a wcakness, ... a synonym of illiteracy, of
ignoranre, and al the limi� of primitivism'. Toe author analyses lhe
reasons for such a mountaín oi prtjudices and invites the reader to give
back to orality all its value by going beyond the nolions of individual
authorship,individual merit and copyright, which a.re bound up wilh our
bouri;eois world as wcll as transcending rellexes linkcd up with the
triumph o( modem bureaucracy and of 'paper civilisation' in societies
which had Lill lhen niana1,-ed to do withoul Lhem.
One wilJ not bc surprised at lhe di.rcct and fairly lively nalure of Lhe
discussion oi which lhere is a deliberate failhful transcriplion here, along
with its occasionally íntra-Beninese polemkal heights. For scicocc is all
lhat as weU, that is to say, lhe outcome of misunderstandíngs which
somelinies are dissípated and olherwise persist in spile of clarifyíng
eíforls, ingenuous or ill-intentioncd questions, which sometimes
resemble disputalionsand are nolalways innocentof cha.rges or bad laith
whilc finally and in their own ways, they contribute to progress of
knowledge.
34 fudogenou$ Knotulcdgc� Rt'Seárch Trails

Wilh the pap,r by Bicnwnu Akoha, beyond lhe ideological and

impassioned debate, one comes bock to a queslion of fact: lhe actual
history of writing.
To put writingsystems at thcir proper places in precolonial Aírica, lhe
aulhor starts wilh a general rem.inderof U,e diíferenlslagesof lhe writing
proc<!SS: lhat of U,c vcry firsl fom, of writing, whcre lhe signifying
function is attributed to various objects chosen as symbols or, al a !ater
stagc, to U,e graphic repr<.'SCnlalion of such objects; nex� lherc is lhe stage
of piclography, whcn: a si&n or group of wrillcn sigos a(ms lo �-uggest a
whole senlence, o trend of which lhe Fo11 cullure ín Bcnin, offers
numcrous ilJustrations; lhc.-n comes a third stagc dct"pJy innovativc
regardíng lhe pre<:edíng ones, namely lhe ideography slage, where lhe
written sign no lonuer caUs to minei a SC.."11.lencc, but a w<.)rd; lastly, wc
have lhe phonetic system of writing, where lhe graphk sign represents
cilhcr a syUablc (hencc lhe writing syslem is said lo be syUabic), or •
sound or phoneme (hence lhe writing system is said to be alphabetical).
lt is in lhe light of such concepts as are presented above, and
cumtinced, likc aJJ linguisl•, of thesup,riority of lhc alphabetical system
of wrilinp,, deemed lo be more economkal and lhcn:fore more efíi<ienl,
that Bie:nvcnuAkohu examines what cou.ld correspond, inAfrka, to lhosc
diíforentslagtJSof lhe wriling process.
ln such a way, evidence is given on our conlinen� first,of 'forerunners
of lhe wrilten word', as are largely illustraled in lhe aulhoi's referen<,e
rullurc - lhe Fo11 culture - lhrough lhe famous 'r'é<:ades' - wooden
and iron emblemsín honourof Kings of Abomcy, Uuough mapsserving
as lap<JStry dmwn byspies to help identify stmtegic poínts in townsto be
conquered, bas-relief showing war sccncs, lfa symbols as intcrprell:.'<l by
diviners, as alrcady discussed abovc. Evidenet? is also given, in
precolonial Afric.a, of moro claborate fonns of non phonetic writing
systcm, such as pictography, of whkh lhe aulhor cites nu.mcrous
examples borrowcd fr<>m Aslumti, Ewe and Fo11 cultures, and ideography
or word-ba,ed wriling syste,n, of which Egyplian hieroglyphics oífer
shíny examples. Finally, evidence is given of more or less elaborate
phonctie writing syslems, such as Vai, Mende, Sonwian, Ethíopian and
Arabic.
 lntrcductiou JS

Oncc íacts are lhus reconsHluk.-d, comes lhe incvitah1c qucstion: how
can one accounl for lhe stagnation and decline o( Aírican wrilinl)
systems? Why did Afrirn, unlikc U,e Wesl, ncvcr pul a prenúum on
writing as a means of communication? Given that questfon, A.koha
diSt-ards fonnally a bad answer which wouldconsisl inseeking lhecau.se
of such stagnalfan in thc writing systems lhcmsclvt.'S. Onc should mthcr
question history and sociology - he cautions - just as one should
examine doscly lhe mod,) of collcclive use ond approprialion of wriling
systems in Afric-.m societies and lhe relations or such societies with lhe
olhers. The aulhor' s assumplion is a sLrong ore: il sccs in lhe scienti!ic
and cultural marl)inalization of Aírica lhe combincd cífocl of two
phenomcna whi<:h are dL�lini:L butcomplemcntary wilh l'(.--gard Lo Negro
Slave Trade which, from XVlth lo XIXth century, compelled societies on
lhe Black conlinenl to live on lhe defensive by wilhdra,ving wiUún
Lhewnselvcs, al thc vcry time whcn U1e i.nvcntion oí printing in 143-l, n'klde
inlensification of inlellectual exchange possible in lhe rest of lhe world.
No doubl il will be objccled thal •uch assumption is valid only for a
very lhin laycr of African and internation.il Jtistory, as re-placcd in lhe
longpcrspective. One could however nol deny lhe relcvanceand richncss
of lhe assumption at leasl wilh rcgard to i:e<:enl history, nor çouJd onc
ignore lhe strategic importancc of lhe period in rclalion lo lhe hislory of
wrilinr, in U,e world. TI,ere is lhereíore a need to takc lh,• reading of farls
SC'.ri<1usly, as proposcd by Akoha, who S<-C' S in lhe history of wriling in
Afrka the story of a losl opportunity, lhe missing of a decisive
lurning-poinl in lhe evolulíon of mankínd.
Such is broadly lhe problem p<'>Sed in lhis book, which raises issues
some o( which are cssentia); bul while therc is no clalm lo givinfi ffnal
an�-wers to 01ose questions, lhe inlention is sin,ply to open up palhs and
lo show passiblc ways for thought and aclion. ForulS of knowlcdgccxisl;
the point is how lo leam to find lhem oul, lo recogni7.c lh<'ir inrn:r trulh
and cohcrente by r�pld.ting lhem in lheir original conlexls, in ille
dyn.amics lhal caT"ri<•s thcm and likewise spelJs oul lhC'ir spedfic
límitalions. There is a fu1thcr need to learn LO scrutiniu, tl1em in order 10
cxlract thc csscntial kernel, to p11rify 01cm by scparating lhe myth in
which they are wrapped up, just as righl here m Africa, metais used to
be scparalcd from mineral ores. Finally, onc must lcarn to re·--intcgmle
surh forms of knowledr,e lhus n.._.·laim<xl inlo lh,• mowm,•nl c,í living
J6 Endoge,1ous Kmnulcdgc: Rcscard1 Trttil,

science, into U,enew dynamics that ,arries us nowadays for.V 'ard, us and
our societJcs.
ln lhe following pagcs, onc wiJl find very litUc crudition: íew
quotations, few references to existing sciencc literatura; mthe.r, one will
íind lhe direcl expression of context-bound preoccupations, a
U1cory-building approach obviously mark(.-d by lhe linúlS of s<ientific
information on lhis periphery of lhe world markel of roncepls, polemks
whkh one will perhaps deem. noive insomecá.S<.'Sand which would make
one snúle ií one were not aware lhat sctence can also be done in a hole
and lhal everybody's wsk today is precisely to cnsure lhat U,ere should
be no such holes any more, by crroling ronditions for a more equitable
sharing oí informalion.
To dcmarginali,_e Afrka and lhe ThirJ World wilh regard lo
knowledgeas wellas inall other respccls, lo cnsure lhaton lhis periphery
of U1e world capilalisl market, lhe common heritage bc appropria.led as
lhe fruit or lhe work of aU and sundry and thal lhe n1ari,>in be no longer
margin but part and pareei ora muhifaceted whole, a centre of dccision
among olher centres of dccision, an aulonomous ,-entre of production
among olhers, such is today a major task. Bul such appro priation by lhe
periphery of ali theuseful knowledge supposcsf urlher, a consciouseffort
towards a critiral but resolute reappropriation of one'sown practical and
cognitive heritage. a ncgation of lhe marginality of one's endogenous
knowled ge and know-how, and a re-insertion of lhe 'traditional' into a
living tradition lhat looks out to U1e fulure.
The queslion of questions, one can see, is still and always U1e sarne:
whal nt.>xt? The issucs raised in this book refor to problems of scienre
policy and of polilics, pure and símple. lnéy are bom of practical
preoccupaLi<>ns and n1usl lead, bcyond lhe nexusof lheorelical onalyscs,
to answers to such preoccupations.

Notes
1. ln lhis firsl parag, .,ph. l have incorporatcd thc sub5tance of texl� alrt>ady
publisht'<i(Hountondji 1984, 1986, 1987, 1990a, J99Cl,, 1992).
2. ln this rega.rd, 1 reoommt.'Od lhe read.ing of • special iSsue on 'Sdenr.iíic
researd,' of R,�li,rc/11!, /Wagogieel Cullure(Patis) No.38, nov. -dt.-:. 1978;
os wcU as Rossi 1973, Moravcsik 1976, l.alour 1�2, 1983.
 lntroductiou 37

3. Underdcvelopownt asm1 e,ul prôduct, that is tosay the rontrary of a native

property or of un ataw.·m: il is worth •mphasizing U,c releva,,ce of u...
approach whicli better than the evolutionist theories which were
clomlnanl up lo lhe cnd oí lhe ninctecn sixtios (Pamons 1951, 1964;
Leibe�tein 1957; Rostow 1960; Hosdi17, 1960; S,,entes 1971) enables the
w,dersbmding oí thc ph<,nomcnon oí undcrdcvclopmont by putting il in
historical perspocliw. He,,ce, thc adnutted opinion nowddays Lhat n<>
<"ounlry ís in itself unde-rdevelopPd, but that ull con ht.'éomc
undordovelopcd in proportion wilh lheir annexalion by lhe world
capitali<,1 market (Frank 1967, 1972; Amirt 1970, tm; Rodrl<'y 1972;
Walli'l'Sloin 1974). Wcshall cndcavour, in lhis inltoductory pari, lo apply
thal pattem oíexplanati<>n100110 partkular, ali too ofien 1"j;lected aspect
of thc- samc phr,,omenon, which is tcit'11h"'ftc u11dc:,rd<.•vc:,lopnu•nt.
4. Bruno uitour in LA vi, ile lnbornloir<, o,a.kes a Uiorough description of U,e
daily fu,,ctio1únr, of osmalkized exp<>rimcntal n>Search unit, thus giving
an cxa,ll<,nt example oí whal sctence anlhropology can bc (Latour 1988).
What is pl'Of'<l&ld here is a 1:e1wrali�Lion of Lhat r<>líon of lahoratory in
a perspective whkh is not anthropolo1;ícol bul epistell'lologicaJ. So,
auúx,r.; such as AJau, 6adiou, Pierre Raymond, Xavier Rénou propc,6<' to

•n experimental só•=
coil.Çid�r malhemalics itsclf, nol as a pun:-ly id('al ora prfori sdM,<;c•, but �
whrreby lhou&hl moves forward only owing to
physical octions lx•ing hrought to lx>ar on a Dlaterial dovi<e: Lhe wrilten
fom1ul.:i bcing an exuct t'q_qivulenl o! lhe oliau;rope or of ot.her more or
loss sophisti<:at<•d material <,quipnwnt it('(llS (Badiou ·1969; Rayo,ond
1973; Ronou 1978). ln thot amtcx� and in tl,c üghl o f U'l<ll rxpcrimcntalisl
vision oísde110?, il is propooed here Lhal lhe tt,nn laboratory, in ilS brood
sen<Çt\ shúuld be uSt�d to dcl:Signtit<.• a.ny organiSt.J spa<."C containú1g
equipmonl itcn<i and olhrr materi.tl <levices tl,at are nwanl 10 enable
lransfonnation of infonnatian into knowledr,e.
5. Slatistks show a considerablc downfoll oí thot production from-14,<XXJ 101\S
in 1971 lo less lhai, 13,<XXJ tons per ycar fmm 1979 till ú,is day. 1'his is
ho,,.,cwr on!y a nu.n(>r polnl wilh n!gard to our problcm.
6. lf reíereiice to lhe colonial systrm is a particula.rly eloqu�nt illustr.ition of
lhP futl(tioning o( uud<.'rdeveloped e<onouifos_, lhe fod n�ains lhat
íntcgralion into t.he world 111ar.ket is olc.ier an<l goes bac.k to Lhe SJave trad(•,
as far as Blad< Afrira is ror>C<'med.
7. LéopoJd Gnininvt whifo d.i.n.xtor for scfonlific resc-.on::h in T<)t,lO, Juring o
rou.nd-table meeting, talked jokmgly al>out s-uch embaJTaSSownt as �an
arisc írom a oUcrosrope brea.kJown, or fn:>m Lhe dysfw,c;,tíoning of some
<>Úl<'r apparatus in an African luboratory: lho only alt,•malíve is to wait
for th<• D\Oker tochoose lOS<>nd the spare J"lrls ÍTI)m Eur<>p<' orc•l<< >wher e.
38 EndogeHous Knowledgr; Ru.earcl1 Trails

For scrious bn,akdowns, U-.,re was a n<>ed to <01d back lo lhe niaker the
apparalus lhenisclws for repairS(R«ltcrc/,e, l'.i,1agogicel Cult11re, 19?8).
8. Elhnophilosophy ís a good example of such scienlifk dosing-in. 01,e
w,derslartds lhereforo lhal criticism of ethnophilosophy should always
go band-in-hand wilh o-iticistn of Africanism or, al lhe leas� of ext,eo,e
fom\S of Africanism, and wílh a daim to whal could bc callcd the righl lo
wú,.,rs..lity (,._'e Hou.ntondji 1977, 1983; Towa 1971; Njoh-Mouell� 1975;
Muditnbe 1988). Onc rcmcmbers Aimé Césaire's warning lhat 'thcre are
two woys lo losing onc>sclf: lhrough wollod S<1grogation ln lho particular,
and through dilution ln lhe wúveisal' Césalre 1956). Sdent'if,cclosir,g-in
relates to lhe forme,- way lo perdition. 11.., !alter fom� on lhe rontrary,
w0ttld be thal abotrocl wúversaüsm wlúd� takinc • prelexl out of lhe
unl\"isal validity of 6áena,, would hoJd as superfiuous every questíon
concorning lhe rcJationship lo scicnce, Lhe hisl<>ric-.a I mt>dcs oí
appro prialion of knowledge, the relalionships of scientific and
h)chnological production world�wid<',
9. Here, an .-Ltempl is mJdc by va.rious aulh,>rs to do justice to a weD
<ks<Tibed plwnomenon. Bul lhe melhod US<-d is more narratíve lhan
unulytical, às it, thL,; rc.markable ttslimony by J.acques J� Certaines: ln tl1t
l\friam U11/wrs,lies td1rrt I trm,.,,t a hig/1/y va/id scie11tijic /enchi11g was
p1m1itft'tl tuill, n."Jl«I to tlre �ubj«ts 1 sludied, but... all t)ri� 'good' fe<Jdú11gtmly
l,d lo « ft--c.ling of subonlim1tiat1 to tire sít,s rclrm S<.:icm.a: was really M·ug
,mdi!rlAkm. 1 was "'1Hlew/UJI told: lrm, we 1oork ai tire peripl,ery efsci,.,c,, btll
if you 1\!ally iV4HI W go to t/:e f,('art, t/w,1 you nu,sl go. Ali n,y sd1ool mates
conH,med th1..">ir studies in br_.ology, a number oftlk!1n eugaged in S(.Y:<>mlary sdwol
ltadiiug, bul llwse u:lro mgnged iu researd, left. Cn,, our ed,,caHoual sysle,n
wlúd1 i, in sud, a sJnk of1kptndellí>1, lentl toagmui,reJ,-w/opn,mt?(CoÜectíf
1978b:41).
10. For an Afrit"'un version of that linguistic ronu1nlicisu" o.nc will refer, for

lroalment of languai,,, °'"'

example, lo the famous book by Alexis Kaga,ne (Kagame 1956). Such
knows, how.-,,r goes back to lhe xvm�,
century as illuslral<'d particularly by Herd<>r(Hc,rd<!I" 1766) pri1.-10 bcing
lakm up and developed in lhe following a,ntury by Wilhelm """
Hwnbo!Jl (Humholdl 183:i, 1974). ln orJcr lo appn_'<iale lhat forut of
romantkism and ,datlvist lheses 1vlúch denwd írom i� v.,! rerommend
lhe n•ading of our ortidc on lhe issuc(Hountondji 1982).
11. Fore•sily w,dcrstandablc hístorlcal rellSOnS, linked u,imely ló prevalence
of lhe assimilalionisl ideal in lhe Fl\lnch oolo,tjal dOl;trine, lini:uisüc
oxlrowrsion as dCS010l}d hr,re, is n,ore marked in francophone BJudt
Africa 1!"11> ln lhe rest of sub-Saharan Africa. Thc phenomenon is none
the lc-,ss gt'!m�al and it is liltle wonder if ocmsionally it cau..-..s violcnt
 ltttroduction 39

rtjcction reactions on lhe pari of boU, anglophoncs and franrophoncs, and

oddly cnough Ylilh lhoc;e a. m ong thcm who master lhe coloniz.er's
language besL Witness lhe pathetir 'farewell to lhe English languae�·
which opcns lhe lasl book published ln English by U10 K,.,nyan wrilcr
Ngugi wa Thioni,,o, enliUcd Decolouising tlie mind (Ngugi 1986).
12 Soo Pa1tlin J. Hounlondji: 'Evide,-.:., of ,,,d, cvacuation of history i< lhe
use oí the adjeclive 'Lraditiooal' wh.ich has bccome habitual ...
Replacemenl of lhe word 'prerolonial', whkh implies simply a
convcnl-ional pcriodis.ation of History wilh no rclation to lhe in�moJ
characters of lhe objert-hy lhe qualifir.r 'traditional', which appcais lo
cxprcss an intcmal c;Mractcri-.al-inn, do� tran,�late thc will tosimpliíy lhe
cult1tral History o( Africa, to reduce il lo• conven.ien� handy pauen,, 10
empty il of lt� t�nsio1\',;1 its ()Jlit,t,a�, its equivocat.ioo.s, anel finally to dose
il j... ]. Rathor U,an spcak of 'tradilional Africa', boll�.r spcok of African
traditio1,1 or better stil.l, Aírican tradilions. For noth.ing suçh as
'tradilional Africa' au, ho fow,d out ú, t.hcscnse that lhe adjcclive woulJ
qualify úwarianlS remaining identical with themselves throughoul lhe
millcnnium,,; óÍ 11 :.'Up(>OSCJ.ly rcpt.?titivc Hislory. Bul Lh<.'rc cxists an
African tradilion, or more aa:urat.ely Afuran tradilions. for nothing su.ch
as 'traditiona.l Ahica' can be found out in lhe.- senso of complex hc.ritag<'S
which rue plllrivocaL oontradiclory, and transnútLed from generaliôn to
l)éll<!rolion through the waverinesand somersaults of an evenlful Hislory
(extract from un W'f'ublishc'<I popor wrillen for UNESCO in 1974).
13. ln lhat rei,>ard, read lhe beautiful papér by AIC?Xándre Adandé, Lcma'is et
ses usagcs au Bénú, m&idional (Adandé, Alexandre, 1984).
H. On lhe exact meaníng of those leru\S as used by Tylor and Lévy-Bruhl.
n,ad namely by the former aulhor the very groot classic, enliUod PrimitiVc
Cullure, anel hy lhe laller, lc'S foncliôns menlalos ddJlS les sociélós
iníérieures, as weU os La mcnlalité primitivo (Tylor 1871; Lévy-Bruhl
1910, 1922).
15. Mar<: Augé very acwralcly p06ils the issoe in a reoiarkable text on
'\,Vitchcrufl bcliofs'. By thc sarne aulhor, wc r'C'C'Olltnlcnd l� r&1:ding of
1l1oorie des pouvoirs et ldoologie (Augé 1974, 1975).
16. We are aU lhe more groleful lo CODESRIA's res,,ard, tcams who kindly
joined in lhe wurk by proposing lo us additional bibliographies,
t'ilrticularly usoful for pushing lhe anolysis funher. We ore pleased most
spccially lo than.k Volc11lin·Yvcs Mudimho, from Duke Uni,,eraily (USA)
whosc friondly suppor1 is appredated onco aga!r1. subsequenl upon many
othJr sud, occasions.