The translation of German colonial archives in Africa, particularly into French and English, is far more than a linguistic task: it is an act of intellectual and cultural reclamation. These widely spoken languages open doors long closed to documents confined within limited linguistic corpora, making accessible to global scholarship knowledge that until now remained almost invisible. This access is a key to renewing our understanding of African cultures—their arts, religions, and epistemologies. Making these translated archives available enriches knowledge of historical and cultural dynamics that have often been misunderstood or obscured by colonial narratives. It allows African heritage to be revisited with critical eyes, free from the filters imposed by external powers, and lays the groundwork for a truly global and decolonial dialogue.
But translation is not merely the transfer of words from one language to another: it is the act of giving voice back to African peoples in the writing of their own history. It enables us to understand, directly from the documents themselves, the spiritual, artistic, and social practices of their ancestors, reintegrating this knowledge into contemporary consciousness. It also dismantles stereotypes and reveals the depth of African philosophies and systems of thought, long marginalized or ignored. In this sense, translating these archives is an act of epistemic justice. It is an investment in a living heritage, capable of nourishing contemporary research, informing cultural policy, and illuminating debates on Africa and its place in world history. More than an academic endeavor, it is an opening, a liberation of knowledge, and a reaffirmation of Africa as the subject and agent of its own memory.
