Joseph Ki-Zerbo, the historian-philosopher

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of the intellectual trajectory of the renowned historian Joseph Ki-Zerbo, born in Burkina-Faso. I seek to highlight his self-construction as a “historian- philosopher” (Lucien Goldmann, 1979). In other words, a researcher focused on a dialectical compression of history, in which he seeks to reveal the conceptual essence present on the empirical phenomena analyzed. Especially when Ki-Zerbo intended to give concreteness to what he called the “African perspective” for the study of Africa; a theory that became a practice for the author, considering his intellectual and life trajectory.