The text assigned explores the theme of prejudice and stereotypical judgements. The text is a satirical essay titled How to Write About Africa, and written by Binyavanga Wainaina in the year 2005. In specific, this piece explores the ways in which non-African authors write about Africa with quick judgements, generalisations, and stereotypical descriptions in their writing, with the intention of having dominance, influence, or satisfying readers with sparse empirical evidence. There is great irony as non-African authors emphasise Africa’s destitution and dramatic events, when no specific action is taken place to help meet needs in Africa. This essay will explore the ways in which the author achieves his purpose of criticising other writers and authors whom view Africa with prejudice and pity, through various stylistic devices and structure.
Given the time period in which this piece is written, it is clear the text has been largely shaped by its contexts. This text was written in 2005 and consequently it is clear that the influence of the west at that time period was dominant, with styles and tastes of literature becoming modernised and disparity between the developed and undeveloped becoming more distinct. This could’ve impacted the way in which society have become oblivious to the truth, as people seek
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This is made evident given the fact that “Taboo subjects: ordinary domestic scenes…mutilation..” and “The Starving African…West.” When exploring the main purpose of the text, the author states “Never have a picture of a well-adjusted African on the cover of your book, or in it, unless that African has won the Nobel Prize.”As such it is evident that the text’s main purpose is to give insight into the reality of Africa, while mocking the ways in which non-African authors write and view Africa with ignorant stereotypes and
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.
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
In the novel Segu, Maryse Conde beautifully constructs personal and in depth images of African history through the use of four main characters that depict the struggles and importance of family in what is now present day Mali. These four characters and also brothers, by the names of Tiekoro, Siga, Naba, and Malobali are faced with a world changing around their beloved city of Bambara with new customs of the Islamic religion and the developing ideas of European commerce and slave trade. These new expansions in Africa become stepping stones for the Troare brothers to face head on and they have brought both victory and heartache for them and their family. These four characters are centralized throughout this novel because they provide the reader with an inside account of what life is like during a time where traditional Africa begins to change due to the forceful injection of conquering settlers and religions. This creates a split between family members, a mixing of cultures, and the loss of one’s traditions in the Bambara society which is a reflection of the (WHAT ARE SOME CHANGES) changes that occur in societies across the world.
After a journey into the dark history of Europe and Africa with Sven Lindqvist, I found myself shocked. It’s earth shattering. Ideas and historical events are presented through a journal/proposal of his unique view on racism. Lindqvist raises questions as to where racism was spurred and why what happened in late 1800’s and early 1900’s lead to the holocaust. Including religion, personal human values, advanced warfare and even societies’ impact as a whole. His travels through the Sahara and Africa in the early chapters show a more current day view of society over seas. The description of the desolate continent and harsh conditions paints a picture of what previous civilization lived through. He explains that part of the reason he has traveled to the desert is to feel the space all around him, a definite emptiness if you will. As his travels progress he introduces his own family life that pertains to the human emotion, which is also a big focus point in this book. Childhood beatings over taking the lord’s name in vain, dropped calls from his daughter that leave him torn and sad. He does an excellent job on taking the reader on a personal journey with him through his current day traveling and even his early life. Linking these personal experiences and tying in histories misconceptions of “right and wrong” is what makes this book so valuable. Lindqvist gives a relevant and educated answer to the question of how racism became such a terrible tribulation in all parts of the world.
Stoltzfus, Ben. “‘Sartre, Nada, and Hemingway's African Stories.’” Comparative Literature Studies. New York: Garrett, 2005. 205-28. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena Krstović. Vol. 117. Detroit: Gale, 142 vols. 214-21. Print.
Racism? Racism my fucking ass. This is about protecting OUT COUNTRY from ILLEGALS WHO ARE BRINGING IN CRIMES AND DRUGS INTO OUR COUNTRY. Any country, with any sense would have a stringent immigration law. You're right, there will always be illegals here. The goal is to endeavor to make it difficult for these illegals they enter our country. If these illegals want to come back to the U. S they can do so...
To show how stories can affect colonialism, we will be looking at British authors during the time of colonialism. During this period of British colonialism, writers like Joyce Cary, author of “Mister Johnson” wrote novels about Africa and more specifically, a Nigerian named Johnson. Johnson in this novel is represented as “[an] infuriating principal character”. In Mr. Cary’s novel he demeans the people of Africa with hatred and mockery, even describing them as “unhuman, like twisted bags of lard, or burst bladders”. Even though Cary’s novel displayed large amounts of racism and bigotry, it received even larger amounts of praise, even from Time Magazine in October 20, 1952. The ability to write a hateful novel and still receive praise for it is what Chinua Achebe likes to describe as “absolute power over narrative [and...
...le it may be impossible to separate the poisonous properties of language and literature from the medicinal ones, Cesaire seems to attempt to identify the former and espouse the latter. Though the scope and influence of language and literature may be wider than that of colonialism, the same essential hurtful and hopeful paradox rests at the core of each concept.
In Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie attempts to use history in order to gain leverage on the present, to subvert the single story stereotypes that dominate many contemporary discourses on Africa. Written in the genre of historical fiction, Adichie’s novel transcends beyond mere historical narration and recreates the polyphonic experiences of varying groups of people in Nigeria before and after the Civil War. She employs temporal distortion in her narrative, distorting time in order to illustrate the intertwining effects of the past and present, immersing deep into the impact of western domination that not only catalyzed the war, but continues to affect contemporary Africa. In this paper, I will analyze her portrayal of the multifaceted culture produced by colonialism – one that coalesces elements from traditional African culture with notions of western modernity to varying degrees. I will argue that Adichie uses a range of characters, including Odenigbo’s mother, Ugwu, Olanna and Kainene, to each represent a point in a spectrum between tradition and modernity. Through her juxtaposition, she undermines the stereotypes that continue to characterize Africa as backwards and traditional, proving instead that colonialism has produced a cross culture where the two are intertwined.
Khapoya, Vincent B. The African Experience: An Introduction. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998. Print.
History has been told through various forms for decades. In the past, history was more commonly expressed through word of mouth, but more recently in the past century, through written text. While textbooks and articles give formal information with little to no bias, novels give a completely new perspective from the people who experienced it themselves. The Novels, God’s Bits of Wood, written by Sembene Ousmane, and No Longer at Ease, by Chinua Achebe give a more personal account of the effects of colonization. These two novels tackle the British and French method of colonization. God’s Bits of Wood takes place in the late 1940s and sheds light on the story of the railroad strike in colonial Senegal. The book deals with different ways that the Senegalese and Malians respond to colonialism during that time. No Longer at Ease is set in the 1950s and tells the early story of British colonialism and how the Nigerians responded to colonization. Comparing the two novels, there are obvious similarities and differences in the British and French ways of rule. African authors are able to write these novels in a way that gives a voice to the people that are most commonly silenced during colonialism. This perspective allows readers to understand the negative ways that colonization affects the colonized. Historical fiction like God’s Bits of Wood and No Longer at Ease are good educational tools to shed light on the history and effects of colonization, but they do not provide a completely reliable source for completely factual information.
Often times, literature has enough power for the reader to generate their own reality through the writer’s beliefs although most of the times the reality generated by the readers are not correct. In a TED talk called “the Danger of a Single Story,” Chimannda Adichie discussed about how literature affected her views on people, and then through life experience she had figured out that the reality she was creating was all false. She had grown up in Nigeria where at young age she was able to come across western literature. She was an inspired writer, and had realized all her inspirations came from British and American literature because most of her pieces were based of British and American literature such as having her characters...
...econd African Writers Conference, Stockholm, 1986. Ed. Kirsten Holst Petersen. Upsala: Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, 1998. 173-202.
Given the peculiarity of African literature and other reasons critics in this part of the world have often been wary of the term ‘aesthetic’. For instance, African critics have always frowned at such quasi negative critical registers like Larsonist, Euro-modernist, Neo-Tarzanist etc. that have adumbrated the canon of their literature especially as they tilt the form away from its original meaning. Basically because the front-liners in the practice of criticism in Africa are the creative writers themselves – the likes of Ngugi, Soyinka, Achebe Osofisan, Nkosi, Armah, etc – it is not surprising that such feelings of disdain against the variegated portrayal of what is African are obvious in the canon of creative genres in the continent. Importantly again, the socio-political dysfunctionalities of the post independence era yield identical thematic form to the genres of African literature and what has become prevalent in Africa’s creative facets is the foregrounding of thematic variants from societies where ugly political and economic trends have remained un(re)solved after several decades of post-colonial self-rule. With these situations in mind, concerns about writer’s commitment in African literature have become as pertinent as the works themselves.
Having done the above analysis on my favourite text, “Anowa” by Ama Ataa Aidoo, I realise that my like for the text has heightened because the analysis of Anowa has given me a deeper understanding of Africa’s colonialism. I now know what actually led to our colonialisation (the betrayal) and how it began (the bond of 1844) through the personal lives of Anowa and Kofi.