This paper makes a methodological and theoretical intervention into the direction(s) in which the field of book history is progressing. It is argued that is essential to reaffirming two somewhat neglected aspects of Robert Darnton’s communications circuit—its holism and its internationalism—as we contemplate the future of the discipline today. To get a clearer sense of the stakes involved, and to approach these broader methodological concerns from the perspective of African studies specifically, attention is given to an idea for a holistic and international study of the book that arose independently of Darnton’s, in South Africa. In the 1990s, J.M. Coetzee proposed a course that sought to examine the history of the book in Africa. The implications of this thinking allow us to delineate significant opportunities for book history as an interdisciplinary field that can contribute to, and ideally reshape, the future of literary studies in and beyond Africa.

中文翻译：

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Semper Aliquid Novi：从非洲的角度重新审视图书史的未来

本文对图书史领域的发展方向进行了方法论和理论干预。有人认为，在我们今天考虑该学科的未来时，这对于重申罗伯特·达恩顿传播途径中两个有些被忽视的方面——整体主义和国际主义——至关重要。为了更清楚地了解所涉及的利害关系，并具体从非洲研究的角度来处理这些更广泛的方法论问题，我们关注了对这本书进行整体和国际研究的想法，该想法独立于 Darnton 在南非出现。在 1990 年代，JM Coetzee 提出了一门课程，旨在研究该书在非洲的历史。