{"id":21508,"date":"2025-02-07T11:08:49","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T10:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.zdv.uni-mainz.de\/fb07-ifeas\/?page_id=21508"},"modified":"2025-09-09T13:37:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T11:37:21","slug":"archives-at-ifeas","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de\/en\/institute\/archives-at-ifeas\/","title":{"rendered":"Archives at ifeas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/jgu-base-pageheader>\n \n<\/jgu-base-anchornavigation>\n
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The Leo Stappers Archive (LSA) offers insights into the research library of Leo Stappers (*June 6, 1919 – \u2020April 18, 1977), Professor of African Philology, who was formerly employed at the Department of Anthropology and Africa Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n\n \n\n

Leonardus Johannes Stappers, C.I.C.M., was born on 6 June, 1919 in Blerick (Netherlands). After spending several years in the seminary, he was ordained as a priest in 1943 within the order known as the “Scheutists” (Congregatio Immaculati Cordis Mariae). He developed an early interest in African languages and, following a two-year programme of study at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, obtained a degree in Bantu studies. As a missionary, he served as headmaster of a primary school in Ngongo (Kasa\u00ef\/Belgian Congo) from 1948 to 1951, and from 1951 to 1957 he taught at the Jan Berchmans College in Kamponde. After returning to Europe, he completed his doctorate at KU Leuven in 1964 with a dissertation on the Bantu language Songye, and subsequently accepted academic appointments in Kinshasa (1964\u20131971) and Lubumbashi (1971\u20131974), where he taught and conducted research at both universities. In 1974, he was appointed to the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz as the first Professor of African Philology (now African Languages and Linguistics), a position he held until his death in 1977. <\/p>\n\n\n<\/jgu-base-accordionitem>\n\n\n \n\n

The collection comprises a wide range of published and unpublished works, including draft sketches and manuscripts by Stappers, final theses written by some of his students, as well as various collections of African literature that he either recorded on his travels or received and preserved from fellow missionaries. Among these are important documentary works by the Belgian missionary Camille Fran\u00e7ois Van Ronsl\u00e9 (* September 18, 1862 – \u2020 November 14, 1938). Many of these sources exist only in their current form and are not available at other library locations (worldwide). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stapper’s work is primarily focused on the Bantu languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Za\u00efre). Of particular significance are his extensive and partly unique, unpublished works on the Bantu languages of the Luba group (L30), including Cilub\u00e0 (Luba-Kasaayi) and other closely related languages. Among these are handwritten drafts for a planned Luba grammar, as well as several hundred unpublished Luba texts. His documentary work on languages that have so far been little or not previously described is considered especially valuable for the field of Bantu studies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to Stappers\u2019 works, the archive also stores the final theses of his graduates from the Universities of Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. These include rare grammatical descriptions of a wide range of Congolese languages which, as far as is known, have remained unpublished to this day. They thus offer unique insights into numerous entirely undocumented language varieties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most important part of the collection, however, consists of the unpublished, handwritten manuscripts of the Belgian missionary Van Ronsl\u00e9, who, during his many years in what was then the Belgian Congo, dedicated himself extensively to documenting Bobangi, as well as a contact language that developed in the northern Congolese Iboko. These works are considered unique and of exceptional value, and have already been digitised by the University Library as part of the Gutenberg Capture initiative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. El\u00e9ments de la grammaire de la langue Bobangi <\/em>(1899) <\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Grammatica Ibokoensis <\/em>(1891, Berghe St. Marie) <\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Vocabularium Ibokoensis <\/em>(estimated year of origin: 1891\/92)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Equally noteworthy is the following manuscript, which is anonymous but is likely also attributable to Van Ronsl\u00e9:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. Lokota lo Bobangi <\/em>[The Bobangi language] (anonymous, no date)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n \n<\/jgu-base-image>\n\n\n

      These are works that were lost for a long time, which are of great significance and importance for understanding the linguistic history of the DR Congo, particularly with regard to the development of the contact language Lingala, which is widely spoken today. The previously withheld writings on the precursor language of Lingala allow for the closure of a glaring and hitherto existing gap in historical linguistic research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The rarity and, in some cases, uniqueness of the archive’s collection calls for linguistic, linguistic-anthropological and also literary engagement of the works and manuscripts; particularly given that the collection had been kept privately and remained inaccessible to the public for several decades by Dr Hans-Ingolf Weier, a former member of the institute. Following his death in 2020, the collection was transferred to the Institute (Stapper’s last place of work), where the value of the collection was quickly recognised by Junior Professor Nico Nassenstein and Dr. Anna-Maria Brandstetter. They have since advocated for the establishment of a publicly accessible archive from the private library, as well as for the safe preservation of the old and valuable manuscripts.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/jgu-base-accordionitem>\n\n\n \n\n

      Thanks to funding from the Sulzmann Foundation, an initial six-month review of the material, as well as a preliminary sorting of the collections has already benn carried out by doctoral student Janika Kunzmann, M.A. With the support of Belgian colleague Prof. Dr. Michael Meeuwis, who significantly contributed to the discovery of the above-mentioned Van Ronsl\u00e9 manuscripts, the value of various manuscripts could be determined. His in-depth knowledge of the linguistic and research history of the region enabled the identification of numerous texts and their contextualisation. In the near future, further especially valuable and fragile documents are to be digitised in collaboration with the University Library Mainz and the Centre for Digitisation and Photographic Documentation (SDF), thereby not only preserving them but also making them accessible to a wider public. At present, the Luba collections in the archive are being reviewed and examined by expert Dr. Mpunga wa Ilunga, a former student of Stappers in Lubumbashi and a visiting professor at the Universit\u00e9 de Mbujimayi in Kasai (DR Congo). A preliminary sorting and precautionary first digitisation is currently being under taken by Nico Nassenstein, in communication with the Lubaspeaking community in Brussels, Belgium. <\/p>\n\n\n<\/jgu-base-accordionitem>\n\n<\/jgu-base-accordion>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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      The online image archive \u201cAfrican Independence Celebrations\u201d <\/a>contains over 28,000 image files (photographs, newspaper articles, documents and objects) from twelve African countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, C\u00f4te d’Ivoire, Gabon, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria and Tanzania. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The archive was migrated to a new JGU Mainz website in 2022 and can now be found under \u201cGutenberg Images\u201d: Gutenberg Images – Research<\/a>. Unfortunately, access is still restricted at present. However, you can gain an overview of the available documents, images, and videos by consulting the material directories (see links on this page). If you wish to consult specific materials mentioned in the lists, please contact Dr. Anne Brandstetter<\/a>. We hope to be able to restore direct access to the materials in the near future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Head: Prof. Dr. Carola Lentz<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \n\n \n\n

      The diverse material photographed and collected as part of the research projects \u201cRemembrance Politics and National Celebrations in Africa<\/a>\u201d (2009-2013) and \u201cThe Performance of Nation and the Treatment of Subnational Differences in African National Celebrations<\/a>\u201d (2013-2019) offers unique insights into national cultures of remembrance, and political celebrations in Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      An overview of the material on the individual countries is provided by the lists in the material directory. The material in the database \u201cAfrican Independence Celebrations\u201d comprises the following categories: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      1. Photos<\/strong>: The online archive contains more than 23,000 photos of various events from the festive programme (e.g. parades and torchlight processions) and other events that were held to mark the celebrations (e.g. theater performances, concerts or conferences). Other public events and ceremonies such as election campaigns or other public holidays are also documented in some cases. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. Newspapers<\/strong>: The online archive contains photos of over 4,000 newspaper articles that were photographed from various daily newspapers. In addition, around 7,000 newspaper articles are stored in the \u201cAfrican Independence Celebrations\u201d newspaper archive at ifeas. These include articles from over 150 local African daily newspapers (mainly in English and French, but also in Afrikaans, German, Malagasy and Swahili). <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. Documents<\/strong>: The online archive contains photos of around 1,000 documents, including posters, flyers, book pages, minutes, and brochures.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      4. Objects<\/strong>: The online archive contains photos of the approximately 150 objects (paraphernalia with anniversary logos and merchandise items) stored in the Ethnographic Study Collection.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n<\/jgu-base-accordionitem>\n\n\n \n\n \n<\/jgu-base-image>\n\n\n

        The documentation of Ghana’s 50th Independence Day in 2007 laid the foundation for comparative research into national celebrations in Africa. As part of the research project \u201cRemembrance politics and national celebrations in Africa<\/a>\u201d 2009-2013, a group of six doctoral students from the Institute for Cultural Anthropology and African Studies (IfEAs) at the University of Mainz worked on the topic of nation-building<\/em>, remembrance politics and national celebrations. In cooperation with a student-led research group under the direction of Prof. Dr. Carola Lentz, field research was conducted in 2010 on the fiftieth independence celebrations in Benin, Burkina Faso, C\u00f4te d’Ivoire, Gabon, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria and on the twentieth anniversary of independence in Namibia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The extensive material photographed and collected in this context was incorporated into the online image archive \u201cAfrican Independence Celebrations\u201d and supplemented with documentation of Tanzania’s 50th Independence Day (2011). The archive has subsequently been continued as part of the research project \u201cThe performance of nation and the handling of subnational differences in African national celebrations<\/a>\u201d (2013-2019) for the countries Burkina Faso, C\u00f4te d’Ivoire and Ghana. This also included archiving material gathered during two student-led research projects in 2017 in Ghana on the 60th anniversary of independence and in C\u00f4te d’Ivoire on the 57th anniversary of independence.

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