Introduction

The arrival of missionaries in the 1860s marked the beginning of literacy in Malawi (formerly Nyasaland). Planters and traders followed after the missionaries before the colonial administration was established in 1891. A large proportion of the country's historical records therefore comprises records of churches, early planters, traders and both colonial and post-colonial administrations. For many decades, and while preserved in the National Archives of Malawi, these records of continuing value have served different people – those who actually consulted them and those who, interestingly, never consulted them but exerted control over them. It is worth noting that prior to the arrival of the missionaries Malawi was exclusively an oralbased society – and still is, generally. As this chapter will demonstrate, from time immemorial people have ascribed value to both oral and written texts in Malawi, and this has been the case for various reasons.

Value of oral and written texts during the pre-colonial era

In general, public functions within a tribal society were carried out by the chief, the chief's councillors, court assessors, village headmen, messengers, initiation teachers and priests. Since all able-bodied men would be called up to fight when war broke out or when a raid had been planned, the men constituting the tribal army would also be considered as public servants of the tribal government. Continuity in the native public service was made possible by a succession of new officials to replace those who had retired or died. Mitchell (1951), Wilson (1972) and Phiri (1975) agree that successors to chiefly or ritual titles and senior advisors to chiefs were given formal instructions orally about their duties and responsibilities by their retiring predecessors. The handing- and taking-over briefs between the retiring and incoming officials were not written but oral, and were memorised by the incoming officials. In this way information about various public offices was preserved in the minds of serving public officials and passed on to succeeding generations.

Biabaku (in Phiri, 1975), Wilson (1972), Pachai (1972) and Phiri (1975) distinguish between official historical information and general community historical information in the pre-colonial era. These authors appear to agree that the need for the preservation of the former type of information was officially acknowledged. The responsibility for the management of vital public information was placed on such officials as the chief's councillors, advisors on community matters and shrine officials.