Towards Sonic Resocialization Of POW-Recordings Produced In Germany During WWI

The Lautarchiv in Berlin holds a unique collection of Prisoners of War-recordings produced in Germany during World War I. Among these are 456 recordings of African POWs in German Camps, which Anette Hoffmann has identified as of particular value for the crafting of decolonial historiographies. These are also personal traces of the African speakers in Germany, as well as traces of an asymmetric constellation of knowledge production between German linguists and the speakers, under the coercive circumstances of WWI (Hoffmann 2015; 2020; 2021; 2024; Hoffmann & Mnyaka 2015). The Lautarchiv has agreed to share these historical sources in digital form, together with the rectified documentation, with the Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire in Dakar (IFAN).

To this purpose, the documentation and metadata needs to be translated from German into French and English; historical errors need to be corrected; provenance research with regard to the places of origin of many of the speakers and textual genres will be conducted. Further, the translation of selected examples is crucial for the understanding of these recordings, their significance for the understanding of colonial history and for creating a new index. Additionally, already available research will be added to the corrected documentation.

The project aims to undertake the process of making available this acoustic collection of historical sources in Africa/for African researchers, heirs, communities, artists, students and the interested public in close alliance with the IFAN Institute in order to develop a template of best practice for potential future sonic resocialization in form of further engagement and sharing of historical sound archives. This is a decolonial move that seeks not only to share knowledge previously held in Berlin exclusively, but also to engage with questions of ownership, future uses of this knowledge, the recorded voices and of recorded texts/songs.