Africa has an incredibly rich and complex history. Unfortunately, and for a variety of reasons, the west has a highly skewed and inaccurate perspective of Africa. In his “Myths About Africa, Africans, and African History: The Student’s ‘Ten Commandments’” Pier Larson critiques some of these perspectives and discusses where these western ideas of Africa come from. While these myths certainly are false, it is still interesting to see them and ponder why they exist and what that, in turn, reflects on western society. These reflections are very negative and limits western society’s perspective and ability to relate and identify with what is a vast and diverse continent. Part of Larson’s first myth states that “Africa has no ancient cultures, histories or civilizations and has therefore made no meaningful contributions to world history.” Larson is then quick to make reference to “one of the oldest of all civilizations, Egypt, from which the ancient Greeks, so favored in western history, borrowed and learned.” Egypt is an example of why this myth is false that many people may think …show more content…
He describes many other places he travels to in the same way, clearly appreciating a very generous, religious and wealthy host. Later, in West Africa, Ibn Battuta is much more critical and disapproving. He is very offended by the women in Mali and says, “Among the bad things which they do- their serving women, slave women and little daughters appear before people naked, exposing their private parts.” More of their “bad” customs are “putting of dust and ashes on their heads as a sign of respect… their poetic recitals… [and] that many of them eat animals not ritually slaughtered, and dogs and donkeys.” Both of these descriptions show the diversity of customs and values across Africa. Although, it is notable that Ibn Battuta is very biased in the telling of his travels, but no one person is free from
Mazrui, Ali A. "The Re-Invention of Africa: Edward Said, V. Y. Mudimbe, and Beyond." Research in African Literatures 36, no. 3 (Autumn 2005): 68-82.
Concerning the nature of myths, one can often find that they are built on broad generalization lacking the premises necessary to make a solid conclusion. Such was the same myths, Pier Larson sought to disprove in his essay “The Student’s ‘Ten Commandments’.” Larson discuss damaging and caustic stereotypes that have worked their way throughout history to create a narrative that often subordinates Blacks when promulgated by a more affluent European society . One myth in particular appears to be quite troubling for its contradictory nature-that being the myth: all Africans are Black. Additionally, to be African is to be Black, Africans are not culturally diverse, and that Africans share one, essentially unified culture. Not only do I find these troubling for their outright abasement of African culture, which is plain to see, but rather for the duplicitous logic that lead to the creation of such myths, and why they remain so harmful when they are continued to be spread in contemporary.
Europe, in the late 1800’s, was starting for a land grab in the African continent. Around 1878, most of Africa was unexplored, but by 1914, most of Africa, with the lucky exception of Liberia and Ethiopia, was carved up between European powers. There were countless motivations that spurred the European powers to carve Africa, like economical, political, and socio–cultural, and there were countless attitudes towards this expansion into Africa, some of approval and some of condemnation.
So many Americans today are in the dark about the true origin of the African descent. From my past experiences in history classes, the teacher of coarse job is to teach from the textbook. The problem with that is the whole truth does not lie between those pages of how African culture became about. I will discuss the first king of Egypt and how his story applies today.
“Different but Equal” is a video in which Basil Davidson, the narrator, attempts to expand and heighten the understanding that Western civilization has about Africa. Often thought of as underdeveloped or uncivilized, Basil focuses mainly on the accomplishments of Africans throughout the years and uses them to contrast the surprisingly popular belief of African inferiority. Just a few of the main issues being brought up are how Europeans routinely discredited African accomplishments, the often disputed race of the Egyptians and their society, and why the thought that Africans are ‘uncivilized’ isn’t accurate. The video uses science, archaeology and history combined with the input of well-known researchers to give a more accurate depiction of
Over time concepts of ‘Race’, defined as a distinct group with a common linage, and ‘Primitive’ which pertains to the beginning or origin, , have been inextricably linked with the perception of Africa. The confusion of the two in the minds of people at the end of the 19th centaury, and some of the 20th, caused a sense of superiority amongst the ‘White Races’ that affected every aspect of their interaction with ‘the Black’. The ‘Civilisation’ of Africa by conquest and force was justified by these views.
In the first segment of his film series, Different but Equal, Basil Davidson sets out to disprove the fictitious and degrading assumptions about African civilization made by various Western scholars and explorers. Whether it is the notion that Africans are “savage and crude in nature” or the presumed inability of Africans to advance technologically, these stereotypes are damaging to the image and history of Africa. Although European Renaissance art depicts the races of white and black in equal dignity, there was a drastic shift of European attitudes toward Africa that placed Africans in a much lower standing than people of any other culture. The continent of Africa quickly became ravished by the inhuman slave trade and any traditional civilization
Before the arrival of European traders, Africa had successful in maintaining complex civilizations. The cities of Timbuktu and Mali demonstrate this with their qualities. A Moroccan traveler journeyed to Timbuktu and described it as a land of “many doctors, judges, priests and other learned men, that are well maintained at the king’s cost. Various manuscripts and written
Moroccan traveler, Ibn Battuta, is well-known for being one of the greatest travelers of his time. Battuta’s descriptive account of his travels to East and West Africa in the fourteenth century provides important insight into African Islamic life at that point in time. Although Battuta and the peoples in black Africa shared the same religion, he comes to realize that sharing a religion is not enough to completely relate to a different group of people. The story of Ibn Battuta in Black Africa illustrates the difficulties he faced in relating to these peoples due to the non-traditional role of women, different religious customs, and frequent misinterpretation of situations.
In sub-Saharan Africa, thousands of languages, cultures, and geographical regions helped influence our African society. The ways in which we produce our artwork, spiritual ideals, and ritual performances are organic and raw. From the tropical regions of Congo and Ghana, to the arid regions of Mali; I pass through the global gateway into a domain where the Western world lost its roots and artistic imagination and grandeur. Africa appeals most to me for its ability to create a realm where the living, dead, and artistic ideals come into a single unit of tranquil philosophy.
Egypt lies on the African continent, specifically in its northeastern region, yet traditionally historians have classified it as part of the “Near Eastern” (alongside Sumer, Babylon, and Israel) or “Mediterranean” (alongside Greece and Rome) cultural blocs. Whenever anyone makes a movie or television show set in Egypt, white rather than black actors are chosen to play the Egyptians, for instance, Yul Brynner as the pharaoh Rameses in C.B. Demille’s The Ten Commandments, or Arnold Vosloo as Imhotep in The Mummy. The implication here is that despite being in Africa, ancient Egypt was really a white civilization of European or Asian origin rather than being truly African. This view is wrong. The best evidence we have suggests that the civilization of ancient Egypt was established in the main by indigenous Africans.
Adas, Michael. 1989. “Africa: Primitive Tools and the Savage Mind” In Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Technology and Ideologies of Western Dominance, from Historical Problems of Imperial Africa. Edited by Robert O. Collins and James M. Burns, 30-39. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers.
Africa’s struggle to maintain their sovereignty amidst the encroaching Europeans is as much a psychological battle as it is an economic and political one. The spillover effects the system of racial superiority had on the African continent fractured ...
...’s depictions of both traditional and modern beliefs in varying degrees illustrate the importance of both in contemporary Nigerian culture, as well as the greater Africa as a whole, and how both are intertwined and cannot exist without the other. In effect, she skillfully subverts stereotypes or single perceptions of Africa as backward and traditional, proving instead, the multifaceted culture of Africa. She further illustrates that neither traditional African nor western culture is necessarily detrimental. It is the stark contrast of the fundamental cultures that inevitably leads to clashes and disagreements. In the end, what holds African countries such as Nigeria together is their shared pride. Modern, western influences can bring positive changes to society, but new cultures cannot completely eradicate the foundational cultures to which a society is founded on.
There is no doubt that European colonialism has left a grave impact on Africa. Many of Africa’s current and recent issues can trace their roots back to the poor decisions made during the European colonial era. Some good has resulted however, like modern medicine, education, and infrastructure. Africa’s history and culture have also been transformed. It will take many years for the scars left by colonization to fade, but some things may never truly disappear. The fate of the continent may be unclear, but its past provides us with information on why the present is the way it is.