Kenya Coast bibliography

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This bibliography comprises publications from the human sciences pertaining to the Kenya Coast and covers the following subject areas: anthropology, economics, education, geography, history, language, law, political science, religion and sociology. Publications from other disciplines have also been included where considered relevant (notably agriculture, art and the environment). The Kenya Coast is defined as the region extending roughly 150 km inland from the Indian Ocean coast and includes the districts of Taita Taveta, Kwale, Mombasa, Kilifi, Malindi, Lamu and the lower part of Tana River District.

References can be accessed by author, subject area and/or index terms. Nearly all the publications are in English, although a few are in French or German. The first publications date from the middle of the nineteenth century and the number grows steadily from the 1880s onwards. The three main clusters of publications concern history, geography and anthropology/sociology. Studies on language, economics, political science and religion follow. There are only a few publications on education and law.

The first version of this bibliography was published as a chapter in the Kenya Coast Handbook and covered the period up to 1996 (Hoorweg & Hekken 2000). The present digital version has been updated until the year 2000 and contains 1479 titles. A number of entries include an author’s abstract or a bibliographic excerpt. Compilation of references and abstracts is continuing and contributions from readers are still welcome. Please send remarks and corrections to hoorweg@ascleiden.nl

The initial compilation of references started with the library collection of the African Studies Centre (ASC Leiden). The journal publications in this collection are documented in African Studies Abstracts (for the years 1976-2002), book publications and reports are detailed in the list of ASC-acquisitions (examined for the years 1978-2001). Relevant publications were identified and texts were examined for further references concerning the Kenya Coast. Publications that were not available in the ASC library and published after 1980 were requested from elsewhere or other sources and examined for additional entries. The bibliographies of Norgaard (1980), Webster (1967), Wilding (1990) and Waaijenberg (unpublished) were also checked for relevant titles. Further sources include the International African Bibliography (1973-2002) and the Africa Bibliography (1984-1999).