The Past Times
Senior 4 · English
The Past Times
Lesson 1 of 5
25 min
Let's begin
Imagine a country with no history books, no newspapers and no written records at all, where the names of past kings, the borders of old lands and the stories of famous battles exist only in people's heads. That was Rwanda until little more than a century ago. This lesson's article asks how a people remembered its past without writing, and tells the story of the man who spent his life writing that memory down. As you read, watch how the writer moves through time: what happened first, what was going on in the background, and what had already happened before.
A feature article written by Ganzaa from the sources listed at the end of the lesson.
1 Until the twentieth century, Rwandans did not write their history down. They remembered it. Experts say that Rwanda's literary history is largely an oral one, and that its traditional texts fell into two kinds. There was official tradition, the history of the kingdom, which was kept at the royal court and recited from memory. And there was popular literature, the stories, proverbs and riddles that families shared in the evening while the fire was burning low. A good storyteller was, and still is, greatly respected.
2 When European missionaries arrived, first German and then Belgian, they were the first to put Rwandan history and stories into writing. But the people who knew that history best were Rwandans, and many of the oldest had never been asked.
3 Alexis Kagame was born on 15 May 1912 at Kiyanza, in what is now Murambi Sector of Rulindo District. His family belonged to the abiru, the traditional ministers at the king's court, and it had produced a long line of court historians. He grew up, in other words, in a family for whom the past was a profession.
4 He went first to a missionary primary school, and in October 1928 he entered the minor seminary at Kabgayi, where he studied until 1933. He then moved to the regional seminary at Nyakibanda, and in 1941 he was ordained a Catholic priest. By then he had found his life's work. From 1943 to 1966 he published book after book in Kinyarwanda, including poetry and translations, at a time when most books about Rwanda were written by foreigners in European languages.
5 His method was patient. He collected oral accounts from men who had held high office in the old, pre-colonial administration, people who carried the kingdom's records in their memories and who would take that knowledge with them when they died. He did not publish everything they told him; he published summaries and his own interpretations of it. His later studies, written in French, included a book on the philosophy of being in Rwandan thought (1956), a study of the great lyric genres of old Rwanda (1969), and a two-volume summary of Rwanda's ethno-history (1972–75).
6 He also became a teacher of teachers. After he had earned a doctorate in philosophy at the Gregorian University in Rome, he became, in 1963, one of the first professors at the National University of Rwanda, and he later taught as a visiting professor at the University of Lubumbashi. He died unexpectedly on 2 December 1981, while he was visiting Nairobi.
7 Historians today read Kagame critically, as they read every source: he recorded the official tradition of a royal court, and a court remembers what it wishes to be remembered. But without him and others like him, much of what the elders knew would have disappeared with them. Every generation decides what it will remember. The question this story leaves for you is a simple one: who, in your own family, is the keeper of memory?
Definition
Glossary
The article is mostly in date order, but paragraph 6 goes back to his doctorate before 1963. Putting events on a timeline is the first step in understanding any historical text.
Questions 1 to 5 test what the text says; 6 to 8 what it means; 9 asks for your judgement.
| Word or phrase (paragraph) | Meaning in the article | Another use |
|---|---|---|
| fell into (1) | were divided into (categories) | fell into the river (dropped) |
| burning low (1) | (of a fire) dying down, giving little light | Our supplies are running low. |
| put into writing (2) | wrote down | Put your complaint into writing. |
| produced (3) | had as members over generations | made goods; showed (produced his ID) |
| life's work (4) | the work a person devotes their whole life to | — |
| held high office (5) | had an important official position | held a meeting (organised it) |
| unexpectedly (6) | without warning | — |
| critically (7) | by asking who made a source and why | critically ill (very seriously ill) |
Worked example
Fact or interpretation? Reading a historical text critically
Question: Paragraph 7 says historians "read Kagame critically". Give one fact about Kagame's sources and explain why it matters. (3 marks)
Answer: Kagame's informants were former high officials of the pre-colonial administration (fact). Because they served the court, they passed on its official tradition, which may present the court in a good light and leave out other people's experiences (interpretation). So his books preserve one important view of the past, not every view.
Tip
Read history with a pencil. Write each date in the margin as you meet it, and draw a small arrow pointing back when the writer jumps backwards in time. Then ask of every source: who made it, when, and why?
Warning
Practice
Key points
Sources and credits
Quick check
According to the article, how was the official history of the kingdom kept before writing?
