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Open research questions in African history and culture studies

167 gap statements mined from African history and culture studies papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 3,570 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

Choosing where to publish on African history and culture studies? See the ranked Social Science journals.

What the literature leaves open

  • The authors of the present article focus on the hitherto understudied forms and nature of anti-colonial movements that took shape in British West Africa in the early 20th century.

    British West Africa (1900s — 1930s): Revisiting Nationalism, Communism and the Roots of Anticolonial Struggle · 2025 · DOI

  • The authors of the paper focus on the still understudied Russian reaction to the colonial division of Africa and to the course and results of the Berlin Conference of 1884—1885.

    Russia’s Reaction to the Colonial Division of Africa (Based on Materials From Russian Periodicals of the Late 19th Century) · 2024 · DOI

  • Scholars of contemporary Nigerian security governance have identified the structure of hybrid arrangements and mapped their postcolonial elaboration through the Civil War, the Structural Adjustment Programme, and the return to democracy in 1999, but the historical process through which the socially embedded reciprocities sustaining those arrangements were produced has not been examined.

    COERCION AND ITS LIMITS: COLONIAL POLICING, NON-COERCIVE IMPROVISATION, AND THE ORIGINS OF HYBRID CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN NIGERIA'S MIDDLE BELT, 1920S–1960 · 2026 · DOI

  • The study highlights the need to consider the role of art in resistance and trauma.

    Quatro Filmes, Quatro Contextos de Resistência e Trauma · 2026 · DOI

  • The limited understanding of vigilantism in Africa, particularly in the context of state-centric problematizations. The lack of nuanced analysis of the phenomenon, going beyond simplistic portrayals of indiscriminate punishment.

    Vigilantismus in Sphären sozialer Nähe: Zur Emergenz der Strafpraxis urbaner Koglweogo-Gruppen in Burkina Faso · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research could explore the implications of the study's findings for our understanding of postcolonial disillusionment in African literature. Future research could examine the ways in which other African dramatists contribute to the re-examination of postcolonial disillusionment.

    Rethinking Postcolonial Disillusionment in African Literature: The Case of Femi Osofisan’s Drama · 2026 · DOI

  • The gap in current research is the dominance of the jeremiad account of disillusionment, which scapegoats leadership in African literature. The study identifies a need to re-examine the concept of postcolonial disillusionment in African literature.

    Rethinking Postcolonial Disillusionment in African Literature: The Case of Femi Osofisan’s Drama · 2026 · DOI

  • The study highlights the need to consider the role of temporality in the reception and integration of children born in captivity.

    Temporality of experiencing and overcoming stigma for children born in captivity (CBIC) among the Lango people of Northern Uganda · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should explore the experiences of children born in captivity in other contexts. The study's findings highlight the need for further research on the role of temporality in the reception and integration of children born in captivity. Future research should consider the development of interventions aimed at supporting children born in captivity in Northern Uganda.

    Temporality of experiencing and overcoming stigma for children born in captivity (CBIC) among the Lango people of Northern Uganda · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of African participation and input in the preparation and development of IHL.

    Pre-colonial Eggon Warfare and the Humanization of War · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the discourse of IHL, where African participation and input were lacking until the 1970s.

    Pre-colonial Eggon Warfare and the Humanization of War · 2026 · DOI

  • The study highlights the need for further research on the complex relationships between the living and the dead.

    Uloga Fikreta, bodybuildera sa osmjehom, na život žene Suade / The Enduring Agency of Fikret the Smiling Bodybuilder in Suada's Journey · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research could explore the potential of tricksterism in other speculative narratives. The paper's findings suggest the need for further analysis of the intersection of Africanfuturism and feminist theory.

    Africanfuturistic Cosmovision: Tricksterism in Nnedi Okorafor’s "Remote Control" · 2026 · DOI

  • The analysis highlights the need for further exploration of the trickster archetype in Africanfuturist narrative.

    Africanfuturistic Cosmovision: Tricksterism in Nnedi Okorafor’s "Remote Control" · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research can explore the application of Amazonian feminism to other African feminist texts. The paper's findings can inform the development of feminist pedagogies adapted to African contexts. Further research can examine the impact of feminist parenting on dismantling patriarchal structures.

    MOTHERHOOD AS A TOOL OF SUBVERSION: AN AMAZONIAN ANALYSIS OF DEAR IJEAWELE BY ADICHIE · 2026 · DOI

  • The study highlights the need for a theoretical framework that values collective memory, community resilience, and intergenerational solidarity.

    MOTHERHOOD AS A TOOL OF SUBVERSION: AN AMAZONIAN ANALYSIS OF DEAR IJEAWELE BY ADICHIE · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in our understanding of the Yanomami concept of enemy, - The study highlights the need for further research on the complex systems of classification used by indigenous cultures.

    The Notion of Enemy According to Davi Kopenawa and Bruce Albert · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of research on the phenomenon of Bad-Belleism in Nigerian academia. The study aims to fill this gap by providing a nuanced understanding of the impact of Bad-Belleism on scholarly integrity.

    Bad-Belleism in Nigerian Academia: Intellectual Sabotage and the Cankerwormic Decline of Scholarly Integrity · 2026 · DOI

  • The need for continued research in the field of neurochemistry and neuroscience. The potential for TCM substances to be used in neuropsychopharmacotherapy.

    A tribute to Prof. Makoto Naoi (1935–2026) · 2026 · DOI

  • There are remarkably few historical studies of decolonisation as a whole, despite its importance. The paper identifies a gap in the literature on decolonisation, particularly in terms of the experience of decolonisation in different contexts.

    Conceptualising Decolonisation · 2026 · DOI

  • The historiography of African liberation movements has long been shaped by masculinist narratives that privilege male political leadership. Women's contributions to these movements have often been relegated to the margins of official accounts.

    Reclaiming Female Masculinity: Political Memory and the Re-imagining of Bibi Titi Mohamed in Mbogo’s Play · 2026 · DOI

  • To explore the potential use of TCM substances in neuropsychopharmacotherapy. To develop new treatments for Parkinson's disease and depression.

    A tribute to Prof. Makoto Naoi (1935–2026) · 2026 · DOI

  • This article revisits the understudied institutional history of the Abidjan School, founded in 1962, through this lens.

    The Abidjan School of Fine Arts: Negotiating an Ivorian Art Canon · 2026 · DOI

  • The four protagonists never quite cross the International Journal of Language and Literary Studies…

    When Prison Becomes Safer than Freedom: Mutual Entrapment in Prison Graduates · 2026 · DOI

  • By demonstrating the interplay between thematic meaning and stylistic form, this study establishes funeral tributes as a significant yet underexplored genre within African literary and cultural studies, where orality persists within writing as both aesthetic practice and cultural memory.

    Written Orature and the Poetics of Grief: A Thematic and Stylistic Analysis of Nigerian-Yoruba Christian Funeral Tributes · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in African history and culture studies

Most recent work

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) The lack of nuanced analysis of the phenomenon, going beyond simplistic portrayals of indiscriminate punishment (“Vigilantismus in Sphären sozialer Nähe: Zur Emergenz der Strafpraxis urbaner…”, 2026); (2) Future research could examine the ways in which other African dramatists contribute to the re-examination of postcolonial disillusionment (“Rethinking Postcolonial Disillusionment in African Literature: The Case of Femi…”, 2026); (3) Future research should explore the experiences of children born in captivity in other contexts (“Temporality of experiencing and overcoming stigma for children born in…”, 2026); (4) The lack of African participation and input in the preparation and development of IHL (“Pre-colonial Eggon Warfare and the Humanization of War”, 2026); (5) Future research could explore the potential of tricksterism in other speculative narratives (“Africanfuturistic Cosmovision: Tricksterism in Nnedi Okorafor’s "Remote Control"”, 2026). 167 gap statements have been mined from African history and culture studies papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 3,570 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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