Artifacts, documents, or cultural items related to Africa and African people; a collection or study of African materials and literature.
From Latin 'Africanus' + '-ana' (suffix meaning 'a collection of things related to'). The '-ana' suffix (as in 'Americana,' 'Victoriana') creates nouns for collections of cultural items from a region or period.
The '-ana' suffix is how English creates elegant words for entire libraries or collections—'Africana' sounds more literary and scholarly than 'African materials' or 'African collection,' which is why museums use it.
The feminine form 'Africana' was historically used in academic cataloging and collection naming, often obscuring the contributions of male scholars while the masculine 'African' studies dominated.
Use 'African diaspora studies,' 'African studies,' or 'Pan-African studies' instead of gendered forms to be inclusive of all scholars regardless of gender.
["African diaspora studies","African studies","Pan-African studies"]
Women scholars like Cheikh Anta Diop's contemporaries and later Pan-Africanists contributed equally to African studies but were frequently categorized under feminized 'Africana' collections.
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