"In the footsteps of ancient Фfrica" - unknown manuscript of Yurii Shumovskyi

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyze and publish the unknown manuscript of Yurii Shumovskyi’s monograph “In the Footsteps of Ancient Africa”, to clarify its significance as regards archaeology and ethnology of West Africa. The methodological basis of the study comprises the principles of historicism, scientific objectivity and systematicity that has enabled an objective understanding of the historical source. In the research, a number of methods have been used, namely, historical and genetic, comparative and historical, historical analysis and analogy. The Scientific Novelty. For the first time, the structure of the manuscript has been characterized, its content has been revealed and systematized by thematic group categories of photographic materials, a list of maps has been given, the epistolary with foreign scientific institutions and Ukrainian archaeologist Yaroslav Pasternak has been presented. The information component of the manuscript materials has been determined as the ethnological source of further scientific vision in the field of historical and cultural development of West Africa peoples. Additionally, in the research there has been discussed the author’s original way of describing the rituals of African tribes on the basis of not only his own observations, but also a comparative analysis with the rituals of Ukraine. The history of the scholar’s search of ways to publish monographs has been presented. Furthermore, in the study there has been established the importance of integrating the manuscript under consideration into a scientific circulation as it serves as the basis for the development of the courses in African studies of the 20th century, and its material is promising as regards its practical application to study the peoples of West Africa and provide insight into the history of African culture. The Conclusion. The study has substantiated the expediency of publishing Yurii Shumovskyi’s monograph “In the Footsteps of Ancient Africa” as a valuable ethnological source that highlights the scientific achievements of the Ukrainian emigrant community abroad and needs to be evaluated in Ukraine.