Term · Global
Colonial Records of Performance
Accounts of Indigenous and colonised peoples' performances written by missionaries, officials, and travellers.
Much of what survives about pre-colonial performance in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania was written by outsiders who often described it as idolatry, superstition, or entertainment. These sources are indispensable and deeply biased: they filter practices through the writer's religion, language, and purpose — frequently conversion or control.
Historians read them alongside Indigenous sources, material evidence, and living traditions.