Revisiting the Historiography of Firearms

Abstract This introductory article to the special issue ‘Firearms in Focus: Exploring new cultural and environmental historiographies in Africa beyond warfare’ provides a snapshot of the historiography of gun technology in Africa’s past. It highlights a significant shift in this historiography, characterized by an increasing convergence between African history and the history of technology. The article explores a new African military history, situated at the intersection of several disciplines, which moves beyond traditional wartime narratives to investigate how objects of war-such as firearms-are integrated into people’s everyday lives. By focusing on the materiality of firearms and the meanings embedded in cultural practices and environmental histories, this paper introduces fresh perspectives on the role of firearms in African societies and regions. Recently, several scholars have revisited the historical study of firearms. Notable among them are Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga, Giacomo Macola, and Saheed Aderinto, who have moved beyond diffusionist narratives of firearms as mere barter objects to explore their material and metaphysical significance in African societies. As demonstrated by the contributions in this special issue, examining the everyday cultural, socio-economic, and political practices associated with firearms can help situate technology in African historical contexts without undermining human agency and ingenuity. This paper illustrates how this recent shift in perspective has brought scholarship closer to integrating cultural and environmental histories of firearms. Ultimately, this special issue seeks to unite the efforts of historians of technology and those contributing to what the journal’s editors have termed the “new” African military history, by exploring innovative and promising avenues of research.